Dear Editor,
When Martin Carter sat down and scribbled on a sheet of paper, ‘For a dead Comrade’ and sent it to Janet Jagan, he was doing two things at the same time. First, he was recording history by way of poetry and secondly, he was paying homage to a Barbadian trade unionist and Comrade by the name of Ivan Edwards who had died by drowning.
Carter’s original title ‘For a dead Comrade’ was eventually changed to ’Death of a Comrade’
With the passing of a Comrade or trade unionist, high or low, it is this poem that comes to mind. And so it must be with the passing of Cyril Calvin Lewis Belgrave, a stalwart of the PPP, leader of waterfront workers, outspoken City Councillor, outstanding member of Parliament and veteran trade unionist.
Cyril, as he was popularly called, passed away at the age of 82 on October 10, 2019.
Cyril Belgrave was ‘Born in the land of the mighty Roraima’ but died in the ‘Land of the free and home of the brave.’
A committed family man, after shuttling for a while between Georgetown and New York, he finally left Guyana in 2014 to settle permanently with his wife and children in the USA.
Comrade Belgrave was one of the thousands of Black supporters of the PPP who ‘went through hell’ with the PNC because they joined the PPP. But Belgrave never wavered nor did he bend. He stood firm.
Cyril joined the Party in the late 1950’s and was witness to, and participant in, the many challenges his party and country faced.
During the CIA financed 80-day strike by trade unions hostile to the Jagan government of the 1957-1964 period, Cyril Belgrave along with many of his stevedore colleagues, notwithstanding the pressure from others, refused to join the strike against their government knowing that it was part of a general plan to bring down the PPP government.
Belgrave was an ardent supporter and follower of H.N. Critchlow and Ashton Chase, one a labour leader, the other a politician and Attorney-at-law, who defended the rights of waterfront workers in particular and the working class in general.
Belgrave became an outspoken and outstanding member of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU). He participated in all the congresses and other activities sponsored by the Union He was elected an executive member of the Waterfront Branch of the Union and later, to its National Executive Council.
Belgrave was a rootsman. He could be depended upon to articulate anywhere and at any time the burning issues affecting working people and to fight for the rights of working men and women.
These outstanding attributes together with his political courage and audacity were recognized by the PPP.
From a longstanding member of the Central Georgetown PPP Group, to the District and Regional committee levels, Cyril was eventually elected to the Central Committee of the Party where he served for many, many years.
Cyril was a seasoned campaigner. Together with other Black Comrades in the Party including EMG Wilson, Clinton Collymore, Shirley Edwards, Gladwin Levius, Maurice Herbert, Harold Snagg, Charlie Cassatto, Clement Snell, Edwin James and Louis Mitchell, they formed a powerful team who, knowing Georgetown ‘like the back of their hands’ did their political work in every nook and cranny of the city but more particularly, in the Black dominated neighbourhoods.
Belgrave stood out as the primus inter pares and was selected along with Narbada Persaud to serve as a Councillor in the Georgetown City Council. Later, both men became members of parliament one to shadow the then minister of finance Frank Hope, the other along with ‘Boysie’ Ram Karan to shadow the then minister of Labour Winslow Carrington.
Cyril served in Parliament for thirty years, from May 24, 1976 to May 2, 2006.
As an MP Cyril contributed to debates on the Labour Amendment Bill, Bill on Working Conditions of Domestic Workers, Old Age Pensions Bill, Housing lots in Linden Bill, Bill on Working and Living Conditions of Workers, Holidays with Pay Bill and in numerous budget debates.
His last contribution in the National Assembly was on November 30, 2005 when he spoke on a tribute to Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow.
Belgrave was the first Chairman of the Trade Union Recognition Board (TURB) His main task was to set the tone and direction for the work of the Board.
In the year 2000, Cyril was awarded the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH) during the Presidency of Cheddi Jagan, ‘For long service of an exceptionally high quality in the field of trade unionism and as a parliamentarian.’
Cyril Calvin Lewis Belgrave was, along with others, a consensus builder in the party, the union, the Council, the parliament and the country he served with dedication and commitment.
May his soul Rest in Peace.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee
