A group of Linden women braved heavy showers on Tuesday to march through their community to denounce the unwarranted killing of several young men by police across the country.
Led by Region 10 APNU Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon, the women, who were mainly members of the National Congress of Women, marched from the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge, along Casuarina Drive, onto the Washer-Pond Road, then onto Sir David Rose Avenue, along Republic Avenue, before assembling at the Regional Office on Co-op Crescent.
Dressed in the traditional mourning colours of black and white and chanting the lyrics of John King’s “How many more?” the women bore placards, which read ‘Stop the killing’ and ‘Guyana, speak out.’
Along the route, the women spoke openly about the shooting to death of Lindeners Shemroy Bouyea, Ron Somerset and Allan Lewis on July 18; the execution of Shaquille Grant at Agricola on September 11 and the death of Dameon Belgrave from a stray bullet from police gunfire on October 5.
The women called the manner of these deaths “barbaric” as Kissoon lamented “the age of our young men that were killed, they’re between 16 and 25 years old, these are our future.” Kissoon said too many young lives have been lost by the reckless acts of the Guyana Police Force. “These are the people those very young men might have been looking forward to for protection,” she added. Kissoon also said that the call for the reform of the police force and adequate professional training for officers is justified.
One woman urged all women across Linden to come out in solidarity with the call as they will be taking to the streets again today.
According to her, they did not achieve the desired outcome yesterday due to the weather. “…But we are not going to stop until we see justice for those mothers and fathers who lost their sons, those love ones who lost brothers, friends, girlfriend or relatives,” she added.
