Dear Editor,
In a Stabroek News letter dated September 2, 2017 and captioned `Suppression of news’ – I referred to the media’s inclination to neglect issues that specifically speak to the discontents as well as the aspirations of African Guyanese. It should be noted here – that this tendency is also endemic – it’s global. Short shrift is usually given people of African descent everywhere; unless (as with African Americans) they make a conscious effort to ‘go to the barricades’ and not keep “Talking in Whispers” about their grievances.
In Guyana – this does not augur well for all-inclusiveness in our Government’s much-vaunted Social Cohesion approach to National Development in an Oil and Gas Future.
…am bringing this up again because the consensus among African Guyanese (based upon empirical evidence) is that we’re not treated equitably by Banks in Guyana; don’t take my word for it – conduct a survey. You’ll find it’s easier to get a loan to buy an outfit and pay the entrance fee for a cultural show featuring overseas artists – than for a computer; don’t even bother to request a loan for a house.
However two Sundays ago – as a result of a vexatious Republic Bank travesty with no money coming from any ATM machine – the poet Martin Carter’s point was hammered home –
“…all are involved – all are consumed!”
There we all were – Africans, Indians, Chinese all discommoded…in the same dilemma wondering how in hell it’s possible that there could be zero funds in all our accounts; and who will compensate us for travelling from one ATM to another – using up gas – paying taxis; or – for those who couldn’t afford taxis and didn’t have their own transportation or food in the house or milk for the babies; just standing in our shoes – heartsick and wondering –
Is this the kind of thing that begs a class action suit where we join forces to demand accountability from the corporate institutions that serve us; or should we look to our Government to help us claim redress?
I’ve always argued that African Guyanese are in general terms devoid of that essential sense of identity which makes them the least prepared for Social Cohesion. For example – no member of any other ethnic group in our Guyana melting pot of six races is ever heard expressing such self-denunciation in defence of her/his national identity as: “Doon kaal mii noo Afrikan ai en noo Afriikan”. (Don’t call me African…I am NOT an African).
Even the blind would agree that this attitude in a socially cohesive environment – could inform the depreciation of African Guyanese identity – the diminution of its flavour – its distinctiveness; reducing it to insipid insignificance having been plunged ‘Into the Mainstream and Oblivion’. This was the title of a landmark paper by Julian Mayfield…a Senior Political Advisor to President Forbes Burnham. The paper was delivered at the First Conference of Negro Writers organized by the American Society for African Culture (AMSAC) in 1959, and published in an AMSAC compilation, The American Negro Writer and His Roots (1960), and in several anthologies.
Dr David Romine states inter alia – in the introduction to his doctoral thesis exploring “…Julian Mayfield’s Black Radical Tradition, 1948-1984” that –
“Into the Mainstream and Oblivion” is a study of the intellectual and political biography of the African American writer and political activist Julian Hudson Mayfield. As a member of the black Left, Mayfield’s life of activism and art bring the complex network of artists, activists, and political theorists who influenced the construction, tactics, and strategies of social movements during the latter half of the twentieth century into sharper focus revealing the ways in which black, modernist writing served as a critical site of political, social, and cultural ferment during the Cold War. Using art to communicate ideas and arguments about the relationship between race, gender, and political economy, Mayfield and his contemporaries illuminate the broader influence of black writers on American culture and politics”.
I’ve said all the above – to illuminate the fact that in addition to the obligatory ingredients – full measures of self-esteem – any palatable successful recipe for social cohesion in Guyana must include the commitment of every Guyanese to play their part in stirring the brew. By raising our voices in unison against infractions – artists, activists, political theorists of all ethnic origins – could conceivably fashion a national culture of militant consciousness based on mutual respect of every group’s right to an equitable share of an abundant future.
And this process – this journey to the ideal of Social Cohesion must be fueled by the focus and inspiration of our Govern-ment.
In an erudite presentation entitled “The Eldorado Complex In The Shaping Of Indo-Guyanese: A Revisionist Perspective” which came to my attention only recently (thank you Eric Phillips) Clem Seecharan – Emeritus Professor of History at London Metropolitan University offers some relevant perspectives on the critical path to Social Cohesion.
Guyana will progress only when all its peoples are engaged in the process of building a nation, all its people feel that they belong and are inspired to work towards the shaping of this elusive nation… Indo-Guyanese, as I argue in my book, Mother India’s Shadow over El Dorado (2011), have benefited enormously from an enduring engagement with their ancestral land, however imagined their conceptualization of that land and its legacy. African Guyanese, like those in other parts of the region, have sought continually to engage with an imagined Africa in building self-esteem. However, that link has been less vigorous for a number of reasons, but that does not invalidate the endeavour….That process must be encouraged and accelerated, by the Guyanese state, because Guyana’s long-term security and prosperity is predicated on its diverse peoples building self-confidence within their groups, if they are to have the courage and resolve to collaborate in building a nation.
A luta continua!
Yours faithfully,
Joan Cambridge
