My two Guyanese personalities of 2022

Jan 13, 2023 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

---

Kaieteur News – There comes a time when one person stands out from the multitude and says or does something that changes history and allows them to record themselves in history.

It is an exemplary act of bravery and it instills in humans the belief that people are unpredictable and worthy of the most courageous acts that preserves what is good about life. The names Karl Marx, Oliver Cromwell, Mohandas Gandhi, MIkhail Gorbachev, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mohamed Ali, are the popular unique personalities that readily come to mind when we talk about phenomenal courage in human endeavours.

But it will not stop with those names and it has not stopped. Since those great humans listed above wrote their names on the face of world history, others have continued the journey these great people started out on.

The name Colin Kaepernick stands out in the 21^st century. He knelt when the American anthem was played at a football match to protest against racial discrimination in the US. Then one of the most tragic ironies ever to occur showed its face. Just when you thought Kaepernick’s inspiration would inspire the US, no team in the US wanted him any longer. Today, Kaepernick’s action is emulated around the world and he has been the recipient of some prominent awards in the American sports industry, the media and American society in general.

I believe two Guyanese should be awarded the Order of Democracy that is being planned by the Guyana Government. The award is for courage in defying election rigging of 2020 but I feel it was Charrandass Persaud’s bravery two years before in voting against his own government that allowed the opposition motion to pass.

My unshakeable belief is that from 2016 the three parties of PNC, AFC and WPA planned to stop free and fair election and return to permanent rule. Charran’s courage initiated a series of events that eventually led us to August 2020 when the people’s votes were recognised.

The other is Dominic Gaskin. I had a telephonic chat with Mr. Gaskin this week and I was elated when he told me that he has not finished with politics. He said though he would not like to be a parliamentarian or minister he still has an interest in politics. Mr. Gaskin, based on his powerful, persuasive status in 2020 risked his life to reject election rigging.

Here now are my two Guyanese personalities for 2022. The first is literary icon, Ian McDonald. To date, Mr. McDonald is the only Guyanese and remains the only Guyanese to publicly reject a direction the press went into last year that seriously threatened freedom of expression.

Professor Randolph Persaud publicly informed Guyanese that the Stabroek News told him that his letters will not be carried if they criticise civil society groups. All media houses have their likes and dislikes but for an important independent newspaper to openly admit that it will censor opinions is something I have never seen before in 55 years of social activism in my country.

The second person is the Traffic Chief (TC), Dennis Stephen. Over the past 30 years, I have come to know many of the top officers in the Guyana Police Force. I had taught many of them at the University of Guyana. It is popular pastime for us to knock police officers as arrogant and insensitive. But the sober temperament Mr. Stevens showed in an incident last year in my presence proves that they are professional police officers whose conduct is exemplary.

I had accompanied the TC to Thirst Park because the company had put cones on a long stretch of the public parapet preventing any form of parking for people visiting Third Park. I was told there was no parking inside the company. On the public parapet on the roadway, more than a dozen vehicles could have been be accommodated.

So I asked that the cones be removed so I can park because I was visiting Banks DIH. I was refused. So the Police Commissioner sent the TC. No one attended to the TC and his senior rank. He asked to see a senior employer of Banks DIH. When the receptionist she telephoned inside, they said no one was available.

After waiting for 20 minutes, the TC left. This officer showed no anger, no impatience, no unbecoming demeanour. He just informed the receptionist that he would return. This was indeed a gentleman who refused to throw his weight around. I know more than a dozen senior police officers that would not have tolerated that contempt. For me, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Stephens deserve our admiration. They are fine examples of good Guyanese.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

---

• Charrandass Persaud, Colin Kaepernick, Dennis Stephen, Freddie Kissoon, Professor Randolph Persaud, Traffic Chief (TC)

---