Dear Editor,
A few weeks ago, I went to a party at the elegant and unbelievably gorgeous Parc Rayne. A place that is great and is known for creating treasured memories. Parc Rayne is a modern, spacious and elegant centre.
At the party, it felt like I was at a party for social cohesion because of the diversity of the people who were there. For example, there were people there who are normally deeply divided. There were people there who don’t speak to each other.
There were people there from every political party. People who support the government and opposition. There were friends and foes. People from the slums of Tiger Bay, Albouystown to the palaces of Pradoville 2.
People who are learned and highly educated to the unlearned and highly uneducated. People who are extremely wealthy and powerful and extremely poor and powerless. People from every ethnicity and not just a few or token. People from every region and religion.
Editor, I’ve never been to a more diverse, unique and yet united and unifying party. People who are normally divided over issues such as race, religion and politics were united together in one place and under one roof. I don’t think that the Americans, Britons or Canadians would have been able to get some of these people to come together. It felt like a United Nations party.
Editor, so who was the person that was able to bring bitter enemies and diverse groups of people together without a struggle or fight? That person is David Coates, more popularly known as David Lamb or Lammy.
Editor, what was the occasion for the celebration? It was Lammy’s 66th birthday celebration. How was he able to pull it off?
Lammy is a special person and because of it, many people gravitate to him. I’ve met very few people like him. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to unite and make people feel important, equal and worthy regardless of their ethnicity, rich or poor, educated or uneducated.
He’s one of a few people who I know that has never forgotten where he came from and doesn’t distinguish between rich or poor, famous or not so famous. He doesn’t distance himself from his humble upbringing, and as a result of his upbringing he doesn’t detach himself from those people who are less fortunate.
Editor, at the party, this was practically demonstrated by the people who he invited. Everyone felt welcome and everyone was treated equally important. Although there were many, many very important people, there were no special tables for VIPs. He believes that everyone is a VIP.
In fact he believes the true VIP are not the rich and powerful but the poor and powerless.
He feels more comfortable among the poor and powerless than with the rich and powerful. This is a great character strength that is rare in our country.
Most of the parties I have attended were always only for the rich and famous or a certain ethnic group. Rarely, those who are from a lower economic class are invited to dine with the one percent (wealthy). And even if the poor are invited, very few feel treated equally. This is what made Lammy’s party special and different than any other party.
I strongly believe that who a person invites to his or her party tells you a lot about the character of the person. Because most people only invite their closest friends to their parties. And judging from the people who were at the party, Lammy has a diverse set of friends from all walks of life.
And this is what makes him an exceptionally rare person in a deeply divided country. His party was the epitome of social cohesion working in the land. Maybe, he can teach the political leaders and the rest of us how to foster a more united Guyana and bring about social cohesion.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
