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A change gonna come. It came for me

May 20, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

“Here are the lyrics of one of Rhythm and Blues’ most famous songs by one of Rhythm and Blues’ most famous names, Sam Cooke
I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ev’r since
It’s been a long time, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin’ me don’t hang around
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will
Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin’ me
Back down on my knees, oh
There have been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will”
I guess May 11, 2015 has now taken its place in the calendar of historical dates of this country. Will we make it a holiday? I doubt it. This country already has too many holidays but I would suggest we replace Caricom Day with Democracy Day, May 11. What purpose does Caricom Day serve? How important has been Caricom to Guyana? When we needed Caricom after Parliament was prorogued the Caricom Council of Ministers endorsed the prorogation. I hate living next to that Secretariat. If I am given a house-lot, I may build another house and move out.
The change came on May 11. I was never in doubt that the change was not going to come. There is a line in the song that says; “There have been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long.” I never felt that way during the sadistic moments of PPP dictatorship.
I would be lying if I said that there were not mornings and nights, I felt the overpowering pangs of angst. It happens to all of us who struggle against dictatorship. Let no one fool you; there are episodes of pain and chagrin. They may pierce your psyche with questions of time and purpose. I remember moments in the Brickdam lock-up when Mark Benschop asked me if I was sleeping and I didn’t answer.He became silent because he thought I had dosed off. But I was going through some personal reflections.
Why was I in a dirty, stink cell for a mere traffic offence? Is this what my life will be? Will I ever see a new horizon and enjoy a new Guyana with my wife and daughter?
In the afternoon Nigel Hughes, Khemraj Ramjattan and Gino Persaud turned up at the station. That night, Lincoln Lewis and Dale Andrews stood on Brickdam, outside the police station and yelled out for us. That is when you know that you are not alone and there are others out there who will stand by you.
I remember when I came home from the hospital after I was attacked and my car stolen at my home in Wortmanville, my wife knew it was not robbery and her looks were of mental burden. Then her boss at GOINVEST, Geoff Da Silva walked into our yard. Mr. Da Silva jeopardized his job with the Government to do that and it transformed the mood of my wife.
I will never forget that courageous gesture by this man. Then Raphael Trotman walked in minutes after Da Silva and it lifted my spirits too.
These are the tiny moments that have large meanings in the life of a human rights activist. And they give you the strength to go on. You know you are not alone. As the years pass, the angst remains but the passion and the purpose compete with it for space in your mind and the passion and the purpose win out and guide you to higher levels of soulfulness.
I know a change was going to come. I never despaired that the world would forever leave Guyana out of its embrace. In Guyana, dictatorship had occupied frightening levels of evil under the PPP. Broken bodies and lacerated spirits filled the jar of hope. But hope is a flame that burns incandescently. It illuminates the heart, mind and soul. And it convinces you that a change will come. On May 11, 2015, it came for me.

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