Dear Editor,
SN’s editorial of November 27, 2024, titled, “A house divided” touched a twanging chord, several of them. The politics is cut through, the focus is on what is called the diaspora’s dilemma, the re-migrant’s challenge. The former thinks of here and then pauses; the latter is here, then rethinks. Hold my hand and walk with me.
To come back is the second dream, the old one that never dies. Many in the diaspora are of that mind. To invest time, talent, treasure. Honestly gained, hard-earned treasure. I can relate to such investments. Others think of business investment; no business ownership here, never had such an objective. One standing concern is of the bureaucracy and red tape. A no less troubling one is how divided and bitter and rancorous this society is. This country is the crab barrel in a cauldron. An overheated one, one that sometimes spillover. To all those, I can and will attest. Circumstances on the ground that are demanding, my own personal experience. Which diaspora member in his or her right mind would first contemplate and then move on visions of Guyana, knowing it is where it is? Wherever they may be, there is some substance of freedom, however slight. It is not easily exchanged for what is nothing but a pretense about basic freedoms here. Guyana would be an environment that is found to be suffocating by those who have no desire to barter, or grovel, for a lawful foothold in their homeland. I urge everyone to be honest with themselves.
In this homeland of ours, held so dearly, the SN editorial noted how the powerful coercions are to be of one side of the divided house or the other. Not to be is made into a badge of dishonour by those whose calling is to keep the pot boiling. God is appealed to for a favourable disposition to those who believe that a middle ground-neutral, independent, conscientious-is the best way. To be conscientious in this country is to be branded a subversive. To be contentious is best left to the imagination, regarding the reactions. It is minefield Guyana. The reflexive attribute, now an uncontrollable compulsion, is to blame that easily available, easily and traditionally acceptable, scapegoat. Always the other side. A hundred years from now, Guyanese here and abroad will still be living in the 1960s (and 2020). Like America, Guyana has its own unfinished, unsettled Civil War to live and relive. There are men sufficiently destructive to ensure that the environment and mindsets stay that way. Everything and almost everyone are stuck irremovably there, as the editorial pointed out. Many have asked what I am doing here. On days when mischief rises, I say something about the CIA. For many days and years now, I have progressed beyond that question that burns in others. The road is long, but the will must be strong. My belief is not in men, nor my own strength.
What is believed to be the best way, one that nurtures self-respect and personal dignity, is the most dangerous way. Take it from me. If there is one message apart from corruption that I can share with fellow Guyanese based overseas, it is this one. Come here. Mind business. Keep quiet. Stand apart. Manage mind. Get ahead. All of that may serve poorly, because if one is not for, then one can only be against. To be clear, it cannot be a lukewarm relationship with the movers and shakers: outsiders have to prove themselves. Presence and generosity from the pockets go a long way. And, should one be a seller of self, then a new winner is assured. It is demand and divide. Divide and diminish. Diaspora members need to understand something. Those who were long groomed in, expanded by, and prospered from, the power of totalitarianism, they do not willingly retreat from that state of mind. No matter what is shed, and the big production made out of such a development.
So what are my closing recommendations as a former diaspora member and now a re-migrant, having lived both lives? To young Guyanese here who are thinking of greener pastures, open pastures, it is simple. Go! Go and build self. Build more than a bankbook. Build character. Build a record of effort and self-reliance. To those Guyanese overseas, I will again be frank. Come to Guyana. Come and live the dream, whatever that is. Come and give, whatever has to be given, and however that pleases. Come and rise above the mob and madness. If strong enough and resilient enough (some wisdom and courage help), the Guyana Dream can still be extracted out of the nightmare. I have and I continue to do all these things, carve-out these existences, then some more. Others can, too.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall