Latest update December 20th, 2024 4:27 AM
Apr 06, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
Last Sunday, I attended the symposium on the state of African Guyanese at the Bagotville Community Centre, West Bank Demerara. There was hardly any standing room so Troy Kellman of the 1823 Coalition and I sought space on the verandah. A kind young lady decided to favour us with early snacks that consisted, among other items, a delicious slice of “sponge” cake with lovely channa.
With channa in my mouth, talking to Troy about how tasty it was, I heard the chairman introduce the next speaker, Nigel Hughes. As Hughes took the microphone, a weird thing happened to me. These are things very personal to a human that only can be explained in Freudian terms. As I looked at Nigel, I was seeing Clive Thomas. For a moment, my psyche went back in time and played with my imagination and emotions.
I once read that the great 19th century English poet, John Clare, was rushed to a mental asylum when he pointed out to the people he was walking with, his former friend Mary Joyce, was walking up the road, but Mary had died years ago. These things happen to your mind. I will never understand it but in a fleeting moment, Nigel Hughes looked like Clive Thomas.
How do you explain this phantasmagoria? Resort to Freudian psychology may help. I think when I saw Hughes speaking, in my mind I wanted to relive the era of the seventies with the phenomenal WPA and people like Walter Rodney and Clive Thomas in mesmerizing awe as they moulded young minds like mine to seek liberation for the poor and powerless.
The image of Clive Thomas represented what was in my subconscious and the presence of Hughes with the mike in his hand, addressing a large audience on the need for liberation, brought that subconscious to the surface.
Then on Wednesday afternoon, I was driving west on Cowan Street in Kingston, and as I looked up at the house of Miles Fitzpatrick, Clive Thomas came into my mind again.
The awareness immediately dawned on me that I have written thousands of columns since 1988 and I have never allocated an entire column to one of the most respected freedom fighters this country has produced, someone I have admired intensely since I first met him in 1972 and still do, and someone who helped to make me into a person that cares for the poor, the powerless, the exploited, the downtrodden.
I believe I am a good human being, and I honestly believe that value came about because of the influence of people like Clive Yolande Thomas.
I didn’t know Walter as well as I knew Clive back then. I was a student at UG and Clive was the biggest name at UG, so I saw him more often than I did Walter. I believe Walter overshadowed all other WPA leaders, but for most youths in those days and for all the people in the WPA, if you had to name three persons in the struggle against injustice in Guyana that you admire intensely, Clive would surely make everyone’s list.
There are some people in this country that do not come into existence often, and it will take a long time to see others like them. Obviously Rodney and Eusi Kwayana are two such persons. And though I am no admirer of Burnham and Jagan, I will admit they were unique and we will have to wait very long to see others like them. Clive Thomas definitely makes my list. I consider Clive Thomas a Guyanese hero.
A fantastic scholar, an indefatigable crusader for human rights, a passionate nationalist, a true Caribbean man and a human being that possesses the quality of likeability, Clive Thomas has nurtured a generation of Guyanese to think in terms of justice and equality.
Clive Thomas is one of the greatest citizens, sons and anti-racist activists this nation gave birth to. And although he has taken his place in history, the young population of this country must know their heroes.
There are little conversations with great humans that forever stick in your mind. The one I remember with Clive occurred at UG. The advice he offered certainly helped to purify my perspective on life. I was a student then and a group of us sponsored a talk on apartheid.
During the discussion, the Hungarian lecturer walked in and demanded his classroom, which meant we had to end the discussion.
I thought he should have been more respectful to the oppressed people of South Africa and a loud, verbal clash followed. Many in the audience were harsh on me, particularly Mike McCormack of the Guyana Human Rights Association. In talking to Clive about it, he said, “Stop ego-tripping and learn to live with those who don’t share your ideals.” Thanks Clive and thanks for the revolution that you helped to create in me and in our country.
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