Dear Prime Minister Phillips – speak only to what you can deliver

Oct 19, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Let me make it abundantly clear that I have never been a racist nor a person who hates another person because of his/her ethnicity or religious beliefs. I am the product of basically Afro-Guyanese parents and have always been and will always be proud to be an Afro-Guyanese, and hold the firm belief that you cannot love and appreciate others unless you love and appreciate who you are.

I am also acutely aware of the massive damage done to us as Guyanese as a result of imperial domination and the atrocities of colonialism. Historically, there is no doubt that the Afro-Guyanese have suffered the greatest beginning with the inhumane capture of my ancestors in West Africa, (of interest with the connivance of their own kith and kin).  The horrors of the journey from ports in West Africa and the above completely severed their ancestral roots unlike the immigrants who were brought to replace the labour on the sugar and cotton plantations. When the immigrants arrived after 1838, using crude implements, being beaten and their soul brutalized, the African slaves had civilized our entire coastal belt, some of which was below sea level.

I have elsewhere always congratulated and shown great respect for and in particular, the Indo-Guyanese for their hard-work industry and the practice of deferred gratification. After generations of struggle on the 26th of May 1966, in the midst of an all-consuming Cold War, we gained Constitutional Independence. However, more than half a century later, as a people, we are yet to be truly liberated where we say these prayers, an adaptation from the words of Rabindranath Tagore – “Almighty God, we who are gathered together, do most humbly beseech Thee, to guide us in all our consultations, so that we may together build a land where knowledge is free, where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, and where words come from the depth of truth.

Grant us, O God, Thine aid and guidance, so that we may deal justly with the several causes that come before us, laying aside all private interests, prejudices and personal preferences, so that the result of our counsels may be to the glory of thy Blessed Name, the maintenance of true religion, the preservation of justice, the safety, honour and happiness of the President, and the peace and prosperity of Guyana. Grant us, O God, the vision so as to lead, that all the people of this fair land may enter into that state of brotherhood and unity, where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action.”

The rumble and tumble that has characterized Parliament suggests our MPs neither understand nor mean what they say. As a teenager, almost seven decades ago, I entered the social and political arena guided by our two Titans, Dr. Cheddi B. Jagan and Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham who from my experience neither were racists. This brings me to our annual celebration of African Holocaust Day held last Wednesday October 12, 2022 organised by ACDA. For reasons which are beyond belief but which are now being investigated, for the first time since its inauguration years ago, I was not invited. Hence, my absence from this significant event which took place at the Georgetown Seawall Bandstand. This event has always been used to share knowledge of our history and to remind young and old that the effort for total emancipation or if you prefer liberation, must continue since many of us have had the chains  removed but mental slavery in some quarters lingers on.

I am told that the Government was represented by Hon. Minister Ramson, Minister of Sports and Culture, and Hon. Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips. Hon. Prime Minister Mark Phillips from those present and representing the African community of Guyana assured Afro-Guyanese that the Government is committed to inclusivity and values the traditions and customs of all Guyanese. Along with calls for inclusivity and denouncements of all forms of hate and prejudice, the Hon. Prime Minister was adamant that every Guyanese must benefit from the impending wealth of the country.  He said, “There is no place for racism, marginalization and oppression in Guyana. It is all about development, inclusivity and improving all the lives and livelihoods of all Guyanese inclusive of African Guyanese.”

I was amused and bemused by Hon. Prime Minister Phillips who is a nice and charming individual, but we know he has neither the authority nor as we say in Guyana the political clout to speak on behalf of the PPP on matters such as how this vast wealth is to be distributed. Throughout the world so-called democratic, socialist, so-called communist or whatever, every country is managed by a handful of men or women. Those who follow the British system speak about an inner cabinet whose members are the real powerbrokers and decision-makers. Guyana is no different and our very nice Prime Minister must be cautious and careful to make statements as he did on Wednesday, whether from a prepared script or ad lib to say things that truly speaking he has little control over. It is no secret, the Prime Minister is not in charge of the Natural Resources Fund, neither his subjects under his portfolio gives him the ability to make ex-cathedral decisions, speaking to a group of Descendants of Manumitted Africans as to how did abundance of wealth we now have is to be spent.

My advice to the good gentleman, therefore, is when next he is asked to speak to an Afro-Guyanese event to be careful to say only those things that he is capable of delivering or unless he is following in the footsteps of a predecessor in that office- Prime Minister/President, Samuel Archibald Hinds who told a gathering of Afro-Guyanese to celebrate Emancipation Day that they must forget the past. A comment on this folly is unnecessary, safe to every nation state has built its present and future on the foundations, mis-steps and glory of its past.

The years of slavery which is the cause of the event on Wednesday points to a well-practised strategy where the Master identified certain enslaved Africans, treating them very well. The result is that they themselves as many stories point to didn’t realize they there were still slaves and that they should be part of the struggle for freedom, physical and mental. If the Hon. Prime Minister and First Vice President wishes to serve the Afro-Guyanese community, he can begin by persuading his government to treat Haitian immigrants with the same favour that immigrants from Venezuela and like-looking countries are treated.

I end by posing this conundrum raised by Professor Ali A. Mazrui when he addressed a group of us at an International Conference to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Emancipation when he noted ‘But Blacks have neither sacralized their suffering into a sacred doctrine nor exploited it as a political Fund as the Jews and many other groups have done.”

It may be useful if Hon. Prime Minister Mark Phillips and others help themselves to reading that booklet entitled Selected Papers edited by Winston McGowan with a Foreword by the Late Professor Joycelynne Loncke before he speaks to another group representing Afro-Guyanese. My dear Prime Minister, these are serious times and we have no time for disarming platitudes.

Regards,

Hamilton Green

Former Head of Clerical Section, Transport & General Workers’ Union

Former GS, PNC

Former Prime Minister

Ex-Mayor, City of Georgetown.

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