Dear Editor,
I read the statement by Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Sir Hilary Beckles and am replying on behalf of the Guyana Reparations Committee.
I have known Sir Hilary Beckles since 2013 when I became the Chairman of the Guyana Reparations Committee and he was the Chairman of the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) of which I am now a Vice Chair. The CRC reports to a Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations which is currently chaired by PM Mia Mottley and is also comprised of President Granger (Guyana), PM Gonsalves (St. Vincent), PM of Haiti and the PM of Suriname. A week ago, Sir Hilary Beckles, PM Mottley, Minister of Culture Grange (Jamaica) and Prof. Verene Shepherd, Head of the Caricom Reparations Research Centre based at UWI in Jamaica were involved in a Press Conference on Reparations in the context of the Black Lives Matter.
On Monday, there is another webinar in which Sir Hilary, PM Mottley and PM Gonsalves will be speakers.
As I read the statement of Sir Hilary, whose father could not obtain a job in Barbados because he was Black and therefore had to migrate to Guyana where he spent many years at QC etc, I am convinced he has been given a particular view by both PM Mottley and Gonsalves, a view we are all aware of. Unfortunately, the Guyana Government has not been proactive like Mercury and the PPP and offering a view that the elections were rigged.
Sir Hilary spoke about “the children of indigenous survivors, the chattel enslaved, the deceived indentured, and others in between, must now converge at the rendezvous of victor”. It is again evident that the professors and students at the University of Guyana have had very little contact with the professors and students of the University of the West Indies as the situation in Guyana is comprehensively misunderstood even by scholars in the Region as winner-take-all politics will never work in Guyana . Furthermore, racism is Guyana’s biggest pandemic and one used by former President Jagdeo to divide the nation.
I have called for shared governance more than anyone in Guyana over the last 10 years. Over 100 letters, TV appearance etc.“. This is where Guyana must go.
Guyanese should be aware of the African Proverb: “When 2 brothers fight, the foreigner inherits the land”.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Phillips
Chair
Guyana Reparations Committee
