Dear Editor,
If there is a Guyanese woman who dedicated her life to the struggle to uplift the living and working conditions of sugar workers in particular and workers in general in Guyana, that woman is Philomena Sahoye-Shury. Growing up in the Progressive Youth Organi-zation (PYO) youth arm of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), I saw Philomena at work in the field and at meetings with her trade union colleagues including Ram Karran, Harry Lall, Maccie Hamid, Albert Bodhoo, Ramprashad, Guy Fredricks, Komal Chand, James Dastigir and other outstanding trade unionists associated with the Guyana Agricultural Workers’ Union (GAWU, later named the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union.
It was from her feisty political activism as a leading member of the PPP and her fiery speeches at public meetings at sugar estates with the workers that Philomena was branded ‘The Fireball’. Philomena had a distinct and unique voice that she could express with a certain pitch or highness. She spoke in a way her audience could understand the ideas and messages she sought to convey. Philomena was neither a dull nor monotonous speaker, she was a natural speaker, never artificial nor disingenuous. She had her own distinct style, never speaking as if at a funeral dirge. I had the privilege of listening to Philomena and sometimes joining her at GAWU-sponsored May Day rallies in the countryside, and on numerous and memorable election campaign trails, at bottom house meetings.
The thin line that demarcates fear from respect was how she was viewed by the labour bureaucracy who controlled the sugar industry before and after nationalization. Philomena loved going on House-to House campaigns. She would ‘load’ a group of young boys and girls into an open-back vehicle and take them along with her on such campaigns, encouraging those we visited to join the PPP, to buy the Mirror newspaper or Thunder, or simply to distribute handbills about a political or economic issue in Guyana. Philomena knew the vagaries of the industry ‘like the back of her hand.’ ‘Philo’ as we called her, knew quite well the woes and distresses of the workers at every sugar estate. She knew how to ‘fire them up’ to encourage them to continue and never give up their struggle for better wages and working conditions; to be confident with the demand for recognition of their Union and to imbue in them hope and inspire them with optimism.
Whenever she rose to speak as a member of the National Assembly, the entire House would be silent knowing they would be treated with real life experiences, conveyed with energy that compelled members on both sides of the House to listen about the struggle for independence, social justice and why economic development must be for the benefit of the working people. What many people do not know is that Philomena understood well the importance of popular or grassroots culture as a means of communication and what it meant for families of sugar workers who hungered for progressive and healthy entertainment. In the absence of television and social media and when cinema-going was the only entertainment outlet available to the few at the estates who could afford to take the entire family to the cinema, grassroots cultural entertainment was greatly appreciated by people at the sugar estates. It was under those conditions, and in the face of that reality, Philomena organized groups of young girls and boys who would perform skits and recite poems reflecting life on sugar estates.
Philomena and her friend, Shirley Edwards, helped form choirs of five or six who would be taught to sing revolutionary, patriotic or individually composed folk songs at ‘Penny Concerts’ held either at community centers or school halls in the villages and communities in the rural areas. Talk about defending women’s rights? Philomena must be placed in the pantheon of outstanding Guyanese women who, from the time she entered politics and trade unionism, weathered the storm in defense of the rights of women in general but female sugar workers in particular. Whatever the level or forum, Philomena was there speaking out in her unique fireball style, championing the rights of working women in Guyana and the world at large. Learning of her passing, her comrades and friends would know that her energetic voice and passionate speeches will no longer be heard. It is that characteristic feature of our ‘Fireball’ we will miss most of all. And while we bestow garlands upon her, we recall Richard Strauss’ words; “The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play”
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
