A martyr is someone who dies because of a cause or belief. Many of us have stood for causes or have sounded our voices in the face of oppression, but we did not lose our lives because of it. Would any of us volunteer to be martyrs? Even if our dying meant that the systems that have oppressed us and the discord that conquers and controls us would collapse and give way to a more balanced and peaceful world?
In the Christian faith, Jesus Christ, who the story tells was put death by being nailed to a cross, would be considered a martyr. It is also written that his purpose was to give his life to save the world, but this is not a theological piece to discuss the truths or untruths regarding that.
There are countless people who would have died during the transatlantic slave trade and could be considered martyrs. Emancipation is about two weeks away and we will call names like Cuffy, Damon and Quamina, who along with thousands of others died for freedom.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who was an African American civil rights activist and a minister of the Christian faith, was assassinated in 1968. He believed in nonviolence and civil disobedience. Martyrs are often those who call for peace but have often lost their lives because they chose to defend themselves against bullets and bombs with words.
In Guyana, we have had martyrs in recent times. Some are recognised and some seem to have been forgotten.
The Enmore martyrs are not forgotten. In 1948, sugar workers went on strike. They were protesting the ‘cut and load’ system, which forced cane cutters to have to load the cane they cut on punts. They were also demanding better wages and living conditions and wanted the Guyana Industrial Workers Union to be recognised as the official union of field and factory workers. On June 16th, there was a protest. About 600 hundred gathered and there was a confrontation with the police as workers tried to enter the factory compound and police opened fire, killing five men – Lalabagee Kissoon, Rambarran, Pooran, Dookhie and Harry.
In 1980, historian and activist Walter Rodney was assassinated. He has not been forgotten. There have been many discussions, theories, and a commission of inquiry regarding his death and whether the state had a hand in it. I was not born when Rodney was assassinated but throughout my life, I heard great things about the man he was. Reading his masterpiece, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,’ exposed me to his brilliance. In the introduction of the copy I own, when asked about concerns regarding his safety a few weeks before his death, Rodney was quoted as saying “As to my own safety and the safety of a number of other persons within the WPA, we will try to guarantee our safety by the level of political mobilization and political action inside and outside of the country. Ultimately, it is this rather than any kind of physical defenses which will guarantee our safety. None of us are unmindful of the threat that is constantly posed. We don’t regard ourselves as adventurers, as martyrs or potential martyrs, but we think there is a job which needs to be done and at a certain point in time we have to do what has to be done.”
Ronald Waddell was killed in January of 2006. Some may have forgotten about him. He boldly spoke out against injustices by the then regime, especially against Guyanese of African descent, and many believe that is why he was killed.
On July 18th, 2012, three Lindeners were shot and killed as they protested the then government’s plans to increase their electricity rates. Have they been forgotten?
Linden is a community that had been neglected for years; a community that still needs to rise out of the hopelessness and poverty that many of its people experience. For the police to have shot and killed three of their sons was one of the greatest tragedies. Those who died were Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Alan Lewis. Two of the families received three million dollars and the family of the youngest, who was an eighteen-year-old student, received one million dollars. Life is priceless, but the compensation those families received was an insult.
2012 was not too long ago. We cannot time travel to moments just before those triggers were pulled, but we can honour those who died by keeping them alive in our memories.
Within the last few years, the fears of protesting and dying because of it have greatly subsided. But the dangers of history repeating when there is no respect for the laws of the land, or the rights of the people is always possible in a world where loyalty is often to the ones who offer the largest pieces of silver.
The rights of the people to peacefully protest is a right that should always be protected. We often hope that change would come without the sacrifice of human life. How great were the changes we witnessed here because of it?
Many people have boldly confronted systems of oppression with death in sight and given their lives because they believed that their sacrifice would advance us in achieving equality. Every martyr should be remembered and honoured because they all stood for a cause during their time, whether they knew they would become a martyr or not.
We are a country mostly divided into two main political opponents and often we allow the manipulation to influence how we act and think about the state of affairs in our country. Martyrdom in our small country puts us all at risk or condemns us to silence.
The days when there was tear gas and water cannons to scare the people from protesting, and guns that actually killed people, may seem like a distant memory for some of us. But it was not that long ago. To destabilise our country, to further the divide, those who thrive and conquer during dark days will always threaten any progress we have made if we the people allow ourselves to be manipulated.
2015, the same year we had a change of government, was the same year Courtney Crum-Ewing was killed. It was not that long ago; just four years. He boldly stood in face of oppression. Whose martyr, is he? What have we learned from his death? Has he been forgotten?
