Dear Editor,
I find it very strange that an international organization known for its struggle on behalf of women worldwide would seek to lay claim to something they did not do. Let me make it pellucidly clear: Global Women’s Strike did not call or organize the July 25, 2012 protest in London. They were invited to support the protest. I was informed that it was Andaiye of the WPA and Red Thread who asked Global Women’s Strike to support the protest set for that day.
The venue, time and date was decided by myself and the first advert was done on wwwbenschopradio approximately five days before the day of protest. The information was also placed on my facebook timeline and Guyana Human Rights Watch blog.
While I had every intention of calling a protest to highlight and condemn the slaughter of the three peaceful and unarmed protesters at Linden, it was Mark Benschop who put me on the spot to immediately get up and make that call. Benschop was organizing several protests in the USA and was urging his listeners worldwide to go out and protest the police killings of the three Lindeners. He called on the UK and Canada to protest. My first available day off work was Wednesday July 25, and I immediately messaged Benschop via facebook with the time, date and venue. Mark Benschop immediately announced it on the people’s radio and of course Guyanese around the globe were listening and heard the first call.
A day later the organizing began, and I asked AFC’s political dynamo Gerhard Ramsaroop to contact AFC supporters in London to come out in support. I asked Mark Benschop to see if he could ask someone in the PNC/APNU to ask their supporters here to also come out in support. We joked about who had easy access to calling David Granger to ask the favour and I told Benschop, he did. He promised to contact the APNU boys but said he wouldn’t be calling Granger.
I contacted Errol Harry an old WPA activist here and he contacted Luke and other WPA people who had previously supported protest actions I called here in the UK. Leroy Nelson in the USA was contacting his people in the UK. Leroy’s people began contacting me on facebook for more information.
I received an email from a female WPA activist in London who asked for the link to Guyana Human Rights Watch page. She came to the protest and seemed to be more concerned with not finding the page and demanded rudely I email her the link. I have been around politics too long not to realize what was happening. These are people who always boasted of the personal relationship they had with Walter Rodney. These people have direct contact with Andaiye and Karen DeSouza of Red Thread. Red Thread is associated with Global Women’s Strike. Alissa Trotz who wrote in her ‘In The Diaspora’ column in Stabroek News, that Global Women’s Strike organized the July 25 protest in London, is associated with the WPA and Red Thread.
Global Women’s Strike arrived about a half hour late to the protest in their numbers and led by their leader who is the widow of CLR James. She was late but tried to ‘stamp her authority’ and she continued that throughout the protest.
At one point, Dr Michelle Asantewa of a global African women’s movement had stern words for the GWS leader. GWS wanted to take a group photo with protesters and their banners. A Guyanese protester had a banner calling the PPP a “racist” government. The GWS leader asked him to take it down and the good doctor exchanged stern words with her. The banner stayed.
I suppose Andaiye advised GWS to carry placards and banners promoting racial unity, etc, because all their placards talked about Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese are one people, etc, which of course is all right and understandable and must be promoted. But the truth also is, many people in Guyana are of the view that the PPP government is not promoting racial unity. The gentleman had every right as a protester to air his view. Why did she not want it in her photo?
More happened at that protest worthy of mentioning as it relates to GWS, and how they wanted to dominate. Should I clear the air on the untruth Alissa Trotz peddled in her column?
Dressing white people in Walter Rodney T-shirts at the protest does not make make it a WPA thing, either. The people did not even know who Rodney was. I asked one of them wearing the T-shirt what he thought of the book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. He didn’t know what I was talking about.
Alissa Trotz should correct what she said about Global Women’s Strike being responsible for organizing and calling that protest in London, outside the Guyana High Commis-sion on July 25, 2012.
Yours faithfully,
Norman Browne
