Norman Brown asked me to debate Rickford Burke

Oct 13, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – Norman Brown, the UK PNC activist, and I do not share anything in common politically. I am supportive of the direction President Ali is heading into. I think, Anil Nandlall is closest to the Jaganite foundation of liberating working people.

I have words of support for the Ali presidency and they come after an ongoing class analysis of the Guyanese society. If you cannot use class analysis then you will become a pawn in the hands of enemies of democracy and racial stability and you will find yourself in immoral company as I did for many, many years much to my psychic destruction.

Please read my last Sunday and last Tuesday columns of the sociological analysis of Guyanese society in which Professor Percy Hintzen omitted completely any type of class analysis and he ended pointing Guyanese to saviours of Guyana who are in fact anti-democratic and shameless class defenders of racial hegemony. Hintzen avoids any mention of the working class, trade union, GAWU.

Mr. Brown on the other hand, is a relentless critic of the president. He does not support the PPP government. But over the years, we have maintained a friendship because people do not have to discontinue associations because they support different political parties.

Mr. Brown has a trait which is fantastic in this country and it is fantastic because of the social wasteland Guyana is. Norman supports the PNC and openly says he is for the defence of African Guyanese. But he has been known to disassociate himself from African Guyanese who he thinks are unfit to speak on behalf of African Guyanese because they are self-interested leaders with no character substance.

Mr. Brown has a social media platform and I agreed to his request to debate Rickford Burke but I did tell him in the end, I will decline because as soon as the debate is over, Burke will look at the video and send dozens of libel writs.

Burke is a puerile, infantile political activist that refuses to stand up like a man and confront and debate. He resorts to libel to threaten and silence people. He should know that he will not succeed because his libel writs are not complaints of a serious nature but a mechanism for scaring people. He will not scare me and he cannot intimidate me.

When you look at Burke’s videos over the past two years and the derogations of and accusations against other people then you wonder how anyone like that could resort to libel crying out his character has been damaged.

Burke is a fiery contestant in the Guyanese political arena. He should stand tall and defend what he belies in. He is in the kitchen and he knows he has to take the heat. His kitchen escapism is in libel threats.

The very Burke has said ugly things about me but I do not sue anyone. I am more effective with my voice and pen than any libel writs. Those who support Burke should advise him that he is looking silly going all over the place threatening people with libel.

If he has any supporter that cares about him, they should advise him to dish it out just as he receives it and cease the resort to the infantilism of court action that mysteriously he thinks offers him mental comfort.

It is up to Norman to seek assurance from Burke that he will confront and debate and not stoop to the indignity of threatening people with court action. I will not debate anyone who when you call them a propagandist, they cry and run to the court. I will not debate anyone that when you accuse them of fooling the Guyanese people, they cry and run to the courts.

The fact is the police in Guyana want to question Burke in relation to statements given against him by two journalists. That is a fact. What is not factual as yet is whether the statements can prove Burke did anything wrong.

I repeat the police want to question Burke. He cannot deny that is not a fact. What he can deny is that he did anything wrong. To say that two journalists gave statements against Burke is not an accusation that Burke has committed any crime. I have not accused Burke of any illegal conduct. If Mary says Frederick Kissoon was written to by the bank manager for accusation of bounced cheques and the manager did write me, it does not mean that I wrote bounced cheques.

I will debate Burke and in the exchange, I will tell him exactly what I think of him. He can do likewise. But Norman has to get Burke to stop his nonsensical threats.

(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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