Black my story, not his-tory: An Indian on Black History Month

Feb 13, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Kaieteur News – I could not get a job in 1978 even in the private sector despite the fact that, I had won more university awards at the time than any other previous best graduating student at UG. An African Guyanese president declared me persona non grata in my own country.
I remember talking to the then Minister of Education about Burnham’s fatwa on me. Vincent Teekah could not look me in the eyes. Teekah knew that I knew that Burnham was a con artist and he, Teekah was Burnham’s jackass. I married Janet Mohamed, and left Guyana for post-graduate studies in Canada without giving my mom and dad a cent after failing to find employment.
My father died within months of me leaving. My mother went through déjà vu in 1984, after I returned from studies abroad, and after a short stint with the Maurice Bishop Government in Grenada. Burnham renewed his employment fatwa against me. This time, he included my wife. What a despicable, demonic creature Burnham was. Why bring my wife into his horrible focus?
I am now in advanced age and I will go to my grave never knowing if Burnham was afraid of me. If he were, he was a fool and I don’t think Burnham was ever a fool. So maybe the only conclusion was that he was afraid of me. Why victimise me in 1978, then again in 1984 and add my wife to the embargo? Of course, there was no reason to be afraid of me in 1984. I had a wife to look after so I was not interested in a violent overthrow of Burnham.
My father died in 1979 without me giving him a cent. My mom died in 1985 without me giving her a cent. Burnham died the same year as my mom. That is part of my story in Guyana. Ziggy Marley wrote the song: “Black my story, not his-tory” and my friend Professor Hubert Devonish of UWI in Jamaica, titled his Bob Marley Memorial lecture, “Black my story, not his-tory: The Walter Rodney Story.” Maybe I should write about what Burnham did to me and title it, “Black my story, not his-tory: The story of Burnham’s fear of me.”
In this month, Black History month, there are a lot of stories to be told of violence, exploitation, manipulation and betrayal of Black Guyanese by Black Guyanese. And also Black violence on Indians which must be part of the counter-narrative that young African Guyanese must be introduced to. Why can’t the counter-narrative be written by a Guyanese who is not African?
I didn’t spend time at three universities, lived all my life in my country, for someone to tell me: “You can’t write about Black people in Guyana because you are not Black.” My answer is I can write about the history of the Guyanese people because I lived in Guyana and I know it.
The opposing narrative must be composed to counter who will use Black History Month to fool African Guyanese as David Hinds did last week. Here is Hinds; Africans in Guyana continue to feel the “crack of the whip” in the form of economic policies, cultural alienation and structural racism, which permeate the institutions of the society. Our Guyana is a perfect example of the unfortunate persistence of anti-Black racism in a non-white environment. We observe Black History this year as the universal cry of Black agony fills the air in Guyana. From the extrajudicial killing of Orin Boston to the racially tinged murders of the Henry cousins to the official persecution and prosecution of Black political leaders…”
There must be a counter-narrative to this fetid, fictionalisation of Guyanese history. The counter-narrative is that from the Wismar massacre at the beginning of the 1960s right up to the anti-Indian mayhem in September 2021 in Region 5, Indian people have seen unlimited violence thrown on them with horrible manifestations. This columnist investigated anti-Indian insanities in Buxton from 2002-2006.
If a person comes from another planet and read Hinds, that person will never believe that Black leaders proclaiming the entitlement of Black Guyanese ruled Guyana for 33 years from 1964 to October 1992 then again from 2015 to 2020. In that latter part, David Hinds’ party, the WPA, was in power and that power was used to arrest and charge Indian politicians who appeared handcuffed in all the newspapers and on television.
And as 2021 was about to end, an Indian Finance Minister couldn’t speak in parliament; denied his right by African Guyanese politicians. Black my story not his-tory. His-tory is the denial of Black violence on Indian people. His-tory is the continued manipulation of Black Guyanese by Black Guyanese. His-tory is false and fraudulent.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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