TIMES INTERNATIONAL€¦ · named in tribute to one of his daughters. Man-Guyana's Totem Pole 28...

DIASPORA TIMES MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 VOLUME 5

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DIASPORA

THIS IS THE FRUIT

Independence

What’s it

all about?

I n T h e N e w s

1966 Independence

Pocket Portrayals

INDEPENDENCE DIARY

Personal Landmarks

Health & the mystique of Forbes Burnham

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BARBADOS

Jubilee fever

TIMES I N T E R N AT I O N A L

GUYANA INDEPENDENCE MAY 2016

JUBILEE... MAY 2016

Let us Cooperate For Guyana


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By Karen Sinclair

Editorial - Karen Sinclair

INDEPENDENCE DIARY

Jubilee events: Guyana, Jamaica, Florida, Canada, New York & New Jersey 6 Personal Landmarks - Desmond Roberts

7 1966 Independence - Pocket Portrayals by Guyanese

11 Golden Jubilee Symposium - Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith

13 A shout from an iconic poem by Martin Carter

14 Health and the mystique of Forbes Burnham - By Hubert Williams

17 Prime Minister Burnham receiving instruments

of independence - photograph

18 The Nation's Leaders

19 The National Anthem

20 Independence: What’s It All About? By Frank A. Campbell

22 Coats of Arms

23 Independence Arch

24 This is the Fruit - Poem - Karen Sinclair

26 Jubilee Fever - Karen Sinclair

27 Guyana's Totem Pole

28 “Let us Cooperate for Guyana”- Francis Quamina Farrier

30 Happy Anniversary Barbados - Karen Sinclair

32 A cry from the words of Guyana's “singing cowboy”- Nesbit Chhangur

IN THE NEWS

Symposium on Guyana - Barbados Relations

CARICOM’s Reparation ‘Baton’ moves to Guyana

I know that my fellow Guyanese will be saying “eh-eh, is wah wrang wid she?” Ok, I’ve been away for a long time, but I do remember that Quamina street is neither in Stabroek nor Queenstown and that there is no physical junc-tion linking the three. Instead, today I am calling for us to embrace the disparate historic dimen-sions of our diverse heritage, whether notorious or celebratory.

This jubilee anniversary edition of Diaspo-ra Times contains many reflections about Guy-ana’s independence as other patriots passionate-ly call for the renaming of towns, streets, build-ings and villages as a sign of this independence. While I understand the sentiments, we cannot simply wipe out our history and run from its un-pleasant truths. We may perhaps be better served if we simultaneously acknowledge and embrace all the dimensions that make us who we are.

It was in 1814 that the then three colonies Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo first became one British Guiana. Prior to that, Essequibo and Demerara were possessions of the Dutch West India Company, while Berbice was a colony owned by the Society of Berbice, a Dutch compa-ny. So, while we may proudly acknowledge the symbols of our free heritage in the names Umana Yana, President’s College, Avenue of the Repub-lic, Cyril Potter College and the new Arthur Chung Convention Center, how could we deny the histo-ry echoed throughout the nation in names like

Berbice, Vlissengen, Ruimveldt, Bourda, New Am-sterdam, Vreed-en-Hoop? The musical tone of the name Beterverwagting, is as much a part of our heritage as that village was the home of Qua-mina Gladstone, a hero of the Demerara slave rebellion of 1823. Can we not ascribe our capital the heritage of King George, even if we have con-cerns about his legacy? British roots whisper in Regent Street, Princess Street, Duke Street, Queen Street and Alexander Street as well as in the layout of our Coat of Arms. Similarly, Linden, renamed for our first Prime Minister, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, is an echo of inde-pendence, as is the village, Melanie Damishana, named in tribute to one of his daughters. Man-dela Avenue forever recalls our support for the dismantling of South African apartheid in 1994, while the names of nearby Le Repentir Cemetery and villages like La Bonne Intention and Le Ressouvenir harbor traces of French occupation two centuries earlier, between 1782 and 1784.

Yesterday did contain atrocities. Like Mar-tin Carter’s protagonist, we “come from the nig-ger yard of yesterday”. Today we are free. Tak-ing ownership of our truth is freedom. Let us not forget nor bristle with denial. Indelible foot-prints of our complex history have brought us to this junction. Let us embark on a truly Happy Jubilee Anniversary with the strength to face our truths!

EDITORIAL

At the junction of Quamina Street, Stabroek Market and Queenstown


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Diaspora Times May 2016

Issue 2, Volume 5

Editorial Board:

Chairman: Desmond Roberts

Editor: Karen Sinclair

Members: Dr. Rohan Somar,

Ave Maria Haynes, Dr. Lear Matthews,

Hugh Hamilton, Freddie Shivdat

May 2016 Design and Graphics:

Richard Hooper Distribution:

Eleanor Hunte

Submissions & Letters:

[email protected]

Advertising:

[email protected]

Reprints & Copies:

[email protected]

Disclaimer:

The views expressed and information provided in articles published in this magazine are the responsibility of

the individual contributors and not of the Diaspora Times.

Table of Contents Editorial - Karen Sinclair

INDEPENDENCE DIARY

Jubilee events: Guyana, Jamaica, Florida, Canada, New York & New Jersey 6 Personal Landmarks - Desmond Roberts

7 1966 Independence - Pocket Portrayals by Guyanese

11 Golden Jubilee Symposium - Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith

13 A shout from an iconic poem by Martin Carter

14 Health and the mystique of Forbes Burnham - By Hubert Williams

17 Prime Minister Burnham receiving instruments

of independence - photograph

18 The Nation's Leaders

19 The National Anthem

20 Independence: What’s It All About? By Frank A. Campbell

22 Coats of Arms

23 Independence Arch

24 This is the Fruit - Poem - Karen Sinclair

26 Jubilee Fever - Karen Sinclair

27 Guyana's Totem Pole

28 “Let us Cooperate for Guyana”- Francis Quamina Farrier

30 Happy Anniversary Barbados - Karen Sinclair

32 A cry from the words of Guyana's “singing cowboy”- Nesbit Chhangur

IN THE NEWS

Symposium on Guyana - Barbados Relations

CARICOM’s Reparation ‘Baton’ moves to Guyana

COVER

President

David

Granger,

and his wife

Sandra

Granger


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DIASPORA GUYANA EVENTS MAY 2016 LOCATION DATE

National Museum Day 18-May-16

Literary Street Fair Region 6 20-May-16

Jubilee Festival Region 4 20-May-16

"Tales of Our Fathers" Play Region 10 21-May-16

Ex-Athletes Track & Field 22-May-16

Boat Cruise Region 10 22-May-16

National Symposium 23-May-16 TO 24-May-16

Guyana Golden Jubilee Distinguished Lecture 23-May-16

Legacy of Iconic Women 23-May-16

Guyana at 50 24-May-16

National Symposium 24-May-16

Flag Raising Ceremony Countrywide 26-May-16

Float Parade Region 4 26-May-16

Guyexpo 27-May-16

Football @National Stadium 28-May-16

T-20 Cricket @Albion Region 6 28-May-16

Folk Festival 31-May-16

EVENTS MAY 2016 JUBILEE DIARY

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY


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DIASPORA INTERNATIONAL

TIMES

Extends Best Wishes To Guyana on its


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MAY 26TH Personal Landmarks

By Desmond Roberts

I was the person who hoisted the new Guyana flag up

that flagpole at midnight, to signal the achieve-ment of independence for British Guiana on May 26, 1966. The hasty construction of the new site at D’Urban Park for the 50th anniversary flag

raising ceremony reminds me of the new tarmac laid at what was the old Golf Ground, then labeled Queen Elizabeth Park. The wind reluctantly snapped the Golden Arrowhead to attention 50 years ago and, similarly the huge flag was winched up to receive the strong winds atop the pinnacle of the high flagpole built for the celebration of Republican status in Feb-ruary this year. We are no longer British.

I was a Second Lieutenant in the fledgling Guyana Defence Force. I was based in the still ‘under con-struction’ Camp Ayanganna, sharing a bungalow with the British officer, Jimmy Jonklass, who was also a Second Lieutenant. We were about the same height; he was honey blond and I, very dark. He would lower the Union Jack. Jimmy had a very pleasant, happy personality. I have not seen him again during these fifty years.

But May 26 was important to me for other reasons. My older brother, Walter, was born on May 26th. He had returned to Guyana for the historic evening but had not been wicked enough to suggest that the fire-works had all been arranged for his 23rd birthday. He had been studying in England and would be the last time he would return to Guyana. He died in England 30 years later.

Later, my eldest brother, Arthur, was gravely ill in a Barbados hospital in 1982. I had taken him there and had visited him several times. He was very low and had been asking for me. I was Chief Umpire on our annual Force Field Exercise which ended in Bartica. I had signaled that I was leaving for Barbados that very evening. Just as the ceremonies ended I saw a young officer coming to me with a message; and I knew. My brother had died on May 26th in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown. My best friend’s father also died on May 26th.

The main three ceremonies of life are said to be birth, marriage and death. May 26th has shown me both birth and death. If I had thought about it then, I might have been married five days earlier than I did.

Desmond Roberts is a former Director General of the Guyana National Service and is Chairman of the Edi-torial Board of the Diaspora Times.


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INDEPENDENCE Pocket

Portrayals A

s a teenager I grew up in the pre-independence era. I can remember the

80-day strike and February 16 ri-ots, the Sun Chapman ferry and McKenzie/Wismar incidents, the pipe bombs in Georgetown, the violence on the coast and the creeks and racial dislocation of the population. I lived opposite the main entrance to the Public Hospi-tal in the vicinity of the Casualty Department. I could see the bloodied bodies being rushed in on the stretchers. I witnessed the ar-rival of the British troops, some of whom were billeted at Queens

College, causing some disruption. In my later teens things were more peaceful and we would go out in the evenings to El Globo for beer and to Itabo for coffee and listen to our seniors discuss politics while the politicians were negotiating with each other and Whitehall about independence. I soon joined the Special Service Unit and later the GDF. It is with that back-ground that I greeted independ-ence. I was in charge of security at Thomas Lands Barracks (later Camp Ayanganna), but I was not stationed in the National Park.

It was with great pride, excitement and joy that I listened to the speeches broadcast on the radio and watched the fireworks. I was elated, I don’t think it hit me then that I was a member of one of the agencies responsible for the new State, its protection, the preserva-tion of the Constitution and the creation of an environment to ena-ble Guyana to develop and realize its full potential. This was a tre-mendous responsibility. On reflec-tion our generation failed.

Carl Morgan


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T he younger generation of Guya-nese was all full of excitement and expectations of change.

Here was a chance to take responsibility for moving the country forward! I must borrow the Obama slogan of 'hope and change.' Older Guyanese were sad to see the Union Jack lowered, and to sing God Save Our Gracious Queen for the last time. Both generations, though, looked forward to the symbols of a new era; one with our local leaders in charge of political change, social change, and educational change, new flag, new national anthem, new na-tional pride. We were comrades working to see change in the new era of all things Guyanese. The Kabaka, as LFS was fondly known, was going to show the Queen that we could run the country without the British. We were going to bargain with Canada over bauxite. Oh, we were going to show the world that 'tings gun change.'

I do not remember growing up in a home hearing how "bad" and unfair being governed by the British was, but still I had a sense that what was happening

was going to be unique and very necessary for the coun-try. On the night my heart almost "burst" with emotion, with pride, as the Arrowhead was raised on that Flag Pole. Absolute joy and happiness!

Joan de Chalus

I was 15 years old when Guyana became Independent. I can recall a conversa-tion I had with my father, a business-

man, about whether getting independence was a good thing for Guyana. Without hesi-tation he said “Yes!! at long last Guyanese will be free to make their own decisions and plot their own directions without the encum-brance of the white colonial masters. The people may fight and there will be many im-pediments to smooth progress but in the end it will be worth it”. It surprised me because I thought that the older people especially those in the business community were afraid of moving away from being under the yoke of colonialism.

I had a most wonderful life during my teen-age years in Guyana.

Romesh C. D. Singh

1966 INDEPENDENCE POCKET PORTRAYALS - continued

We had the best quality gold; we had sugar; we had rice; nobody could starve in a country with so many different fruits. We had the world's highest waterfall, and best of all, we had a generation of bright young men willing to fol-low the Comrade Leader, and capable of being groomed for positions of leadership-- our new technocrats. It was a brave new world. We were filled with pardonable pride as we saw the Golden Arrowhead flutter in the air and we raised our voices to 'Dear Land of Guyana'.

Serena Brathwaite-Hewitt


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W hen my granddaughter, Kai, said to me

recently "Grandfather Fabie, Mummy

told me that at Guyana's Independ-

ence 50 years ago you were in England training.

What did you do?" it forced me to reflect a little.

After having the privilege of signing on the dotted

line and joining the Guyana Defense Force on the

29th of December 1965, my birthday, along with

David Arthur Granger, Joseph Govinda Singh and

Haydock Egbert West, we all travelled to the UK

early January 1966. Haydock and I went to the

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, while David

and Joe went to Mons Officer Cadet School. They

were subsequently joined by Harry Hinds.

Sometime around May 1966, I was contacted by

the Guyana High Commission in London and the

then High Commissioner, Sir Lionel Luckhoo invit-

ed me to participate in the Independence Celebra-

tion in London. Haydock, Harry and I were asked

to be dressed in military uniform and to partici-

pate in the Independence Church Service which

was held at Westminster Abbey around the 6th or

7th of June. My moment of glory was taking the

Golden ArrowhHead down Westminster Abbey

aisle escorted by Haydock and Harry all dressed in

our Officer Cadet Uniforms. Even though I had no

clue of life 50 years down the road and can hardly

remember things 50 years ago, I can still remem-

ber the fanfare of trumpets as we stood on the

altar of Westminster Abbey and as I presented the

Golden Arrowhead to the congregation of Digni-

taries and Guyanese in the UK Diaspora. The re-

cent efforts of a friend of mine to get some picto-

rial evidence of my claim to fame from the British

Archives proved futile."

Fairbairn Egerton Liverpool

I t was a terrific highlight event and a real memo-rable way to close out my seven years at Queens College, at the flag-raising ceremony at the Na-

tional Park, on the evening of 25th May 1966. There we were as QC student-cadets dressed like Bucking-ham Palace guards...resplendent in black top hats, red jackets, white trousers and armed with real-looking, but wooden, rifles. Our platoon performed the symbolic act of a departing British Army with si-lent drills. At the end of our presentation, and as we fell to the ground on our faces, all the lights in the park went out. We scampered off the square, the lights came back on, ...and on marched the military of the new Nation...the GDF. It was one of the proudest moments in my life. Two and a half years later I would become an officer in that fledgling army.

Ian C. Fraser

I felt nervous when at the State Dinner I saw the casual manner in which the invitees at the head table were moving knowing full well that the

entire programme was timed for the exchange of flags to be at midnight. The programme fell behind and the children's item was dropped. I was very sad that they who had put in so many hours/nights re-hearsing had been disappointed. Those who are to-day, the then future generation of the new nation, now in their sixties, must feel some anguish remem-bering that night. I do.

Colonel Edgar 'Pluto' Martindale

I was at the Queen Elizabeth II National Park among the thousands present for the flag-raising ceremony that fateful May, 1966 day. I remem-

ber standing ramrod-straight - heels together, toes out - and singing the words of all the verses of the National Anthem, and puzzling over the linguistic sig-nificance of the preposition-free "more worthy our heritage.” Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I silently pledged to work harder and smarter to build a better Guyana for my children and theirs. I had high hopes over our agricultural and mineral po-tential, but was fearful over the ethnic divisions I had witnessed at first hand a few years before. Neverthe-less, I had confidence that Sport and the University of Guyana would help see us through. Fifty years on, we are still a work in progress.

George N. Cave.


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A Message from

Dr. Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, Chair

Symposium Sub-Committee, 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebra-tions Committee, New York

and

Dr. James Rose, Director of Culture

Academic Working Group

National Commemoration Commission of Guyana

Fellow Guyanese and Friends of Guyana,

In penning “The Song of Guyana’s Children” many decades ago, W. Hawley-Bryant captured presciently the sense of our young nation’s Being

and Becoming. The chorus, in particular, both commands and entreats us thus,

Onward, upward, may we ever go

Day by day in strength and beauty grow,

Till at length we each of us may show,

What Guyana’s sons and daughters can be.

Guyana has, indeed, moved onward and upward in many respects since gaining political independence in 1966. Our nation has had much to

show—both positively and negatively—over the five decades of its nationhood. This symposia series takes the opportunity, nay, exercises the

obligation, to show what some of Guyana’s sons and daughters have been and have produced intellectually with regard to our society’s myriad

dynamics and the regional and global environments in which we have pursued our political independence journey since that historic day in

1966.

Understandably, these three days of this symposia series—two in Georgetown and one in New York—can only provide a glimpse at, and a few

vignettes of, the intellectual labors of Guyanese at home and abroad. Allow us to thank the various paper authors, roundtable presenters, panel

moderators and respondents, and cultural artistes for allowing us to engage and enjoy the fruits of some of their intellectual and artistic labors.

Permit us, too, to applaud the attendees of this series for seizing the opportunity provided at this momentous national milestone to ponder the

following four interrelated questions: Who we are? What has the journey been like? What can we become? How can we get there?

Needless to say, while these four vital questions are being explored in this symposia series in relation to our nation, this conversation also occa-

sions the opportunity to probe these questions at the individual level. Whether the interrogation is done at the national and individual level, it

behooves us to face the realities as they are so we address them appropriately. As James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can

be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” This symposia series provides the safe academic space to face our realities so we can

fix them, as needed.

Thus, we commend this symposia series to you, and encourage you make the best of this opportunity to see how and whether we have truly

gone “onward, upward” and what our nation’s sons and daughters can be and have done. Let us end by expressing our deep appreciation for

the hard and smart work done by the members of the symposium sub-committee, the co-sponsors of this series—the Symposium Sub-

committee of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York), the Academic Grounding Working Group of the

National Commemoration Commission of Guyana, the Guyana Cultural Association of New York, Inc., and the University of Guyana—and the

many volunteers who contributed to the successful design and delivery of this initiative. Enabling this success also were the many officials of the

Arthur Chung Conference Center and York College. Our thanks are extended to them, as well.

Enjoy!

Professor Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, PhD

Executive-in-Residence, The University at Albany, State University of New York

Tenth Principal and Vice Chancellor Designate, The University of Guyana

James Rose, PhD

Director of Culture

Academic Working Group

National Commemoration Commission of Guyana


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Reflecting on the Journey to Independence POET MARTIN CARTER

From the poem “I Come from the Nigger Yard” by Martin Carter

“From the nigger yard of yesterday I come with my burden

To the world of tomorrow I turn with my strength”


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Health and the mystique of Forbes Burnham By Hubert Williams

Bridgetown, Barbados -- I have long marveled, and still

do, at the remarkable perspicacity, in some matters, of

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, the first paramount

leader of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, now dead

30 years.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes and that

familiar chuckle “heh, heh, heh, heh”, he at times re-

marked that whatever Rickey Singh did so also would do

Hubert Williams, and wherever Hubert Williams went

there also would go Rickey Singh… because they are like

each other’s shadow.

He called his humour ‘tantalize’…or teasing…

very familiar to Guyanese as a form of making fun of oth-

ers, which other cultures would refer to as ‘ragging’ and

by various other names.

And because he felt that despite one being Black

and the other East Indian, we were two of the same and

virtually unseparable, he took some strange delight in

personally ‘rechristening’ us Hubert Singh and Rickey

Williams, and would at times, in the presence of his polit-

ical colleagues, address us as such.

There were occasions where at cocktail parties

he would switch the surnames of our wives, referring to

Rickey’s Afro-Guyanese wife Dolly as Mrs. Williams,

and to my wife Eugenie, of part Indo-Guyanese stock, as

Photograph courtesy of KnowledgeWalk Institute. Updated: Wednesday, 11 May 2016. Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. Retrieved from

www.caribbeanelections.com


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Mrs. Singh.

We all took it rather light-heartedly, but know-

ing the man, we were always on guard against any ser-

pentine spring with bared fangs.

It must have pleased him no end, and our ac-

tions seemed to match his expectations, when first one

and then the other de-linked from the staff of the Guyana

Graphic Ltd., publishers of the country’s leading daily

and Sunday newspapers, a regional paper called “Berbice

Times” for the eastern-most county and the "Mackenzie

News" for the Upper Demerara River mining district -

the latter two of which Williams edited.

In the face of growing Burnham control, and

legislation in 1971 which provided legal cover to politi-

cal manipulation of the privately-owned media enterpris-

es, and Burnham’s strongly influential personal relation-

ships with the top echelon of the Graphic’s editorial de-

partment, Williams resigned to become an independent

operative in Guyana for the London-based Reuters News

Agency.

It was of considerable import, too, to that deci-

sion, the tragic death in a road accident of then General

Manager D. A. "Bob" Grandsoult, the strong hand that

had steered the company, and about which event Wil-

liams had remarked in a message to the Reuters head of-

fice that "the Graphic is dead".

In the case of Singh, his going was the direct

result of pressure exerted by Burnham on the then British

owners of the newspaper, which had first moved out of

its founding Booker sugar company ownership into the

hands of the Mirror Group of Cecil Harmsworth King,

and then became a property within the spreading empire

of Roy Thomson, a wealthy and very influential Canadi-

an, subsequently deemed the king of Fleet Street, and

recipient of a British peerage.

Among the several experiments in the conniv-

ance of Burnham and big business to silence Singh, was

the extraordinary banishment of this foremost Guyanese

political reporter to England to cover cases in a magis-

trate’s court for a provincial newspaper within the Thom-

son chain.

Extraordinary in the sense that this was a rever-

sal of standard colonial practice where political and other

sorts of irritants (prisoners, also) used to be sent packing

off to the colonies to get them out of the way; but in

Singh’s case (a virtual unknown outside of his own juris-

diction), he was sent up to the Mother Country from a

recently colonial possession - to get him out of the way.

When he eventually decided that being away

from his family and wasting his talent covering innocu-

ous court cases in a foreign land was totally unaccepta-

ble, to the utter dismay of the Thomson authorities in

London, he high-tailed it back to Guyana.

No one but Williams had been advised of his

intended return, and it was Williams who met him at the

airport, chauffeured him home, and when the door was

opened, was there to witness the shock and great joy of

his family.

Not too long thereafter both Singh and Wil-

liams were to relocate in neighbouring Caribbean coun-

tries…. one in Trinidad and Tobago, the other in Barba-

dos. In 1979, both the Singh and the Williams families

were resident in Barbados.

Burnham must have chuckled “heh, heh, heh,

heh” that his thesis about the two was alive and well…

whatever one did, that likely would the other do.

I was to discover subsequently that some of his

thinking had been shared with J.M.G.M. “Tom” Adams,

the then Prime Minister of Barbados, when in attempting

at his office to sort out an issue over which we had dif-

fering perceptions, he revealed that Forbes had warned

him about me and Rickey… that we were very difficult

people to cope with.

It is now a part of historical record that the re-

lationship between Rickey and Mr. Adams reached their

lowest point during the Grenada invasion by American

troops in 1983, that Rickey’s residency permit was re-

voked and that he was invited out of Barbados, a deci-

sion enforced despite the intervention of the gentleman

politician, now Sir Henry Forde, who then held responsi-

bility for immigration matters in the Adams cabinet.

What may not be in the general record is that

Rickey found a means of frustrating the Adams intent by

exploiting the island’s image as a tourism destination,

although it was a formula that carried a significant finan-

cial cost. He did initially exit on a one-way ticket, but

returned shortly thereafter on an extended visit as a tour-

ist, with a ticket showing a date of departure; and when

that time came, he would depart and return to do it all

over again.

It must be the case that the immigration authori-

ties knew what was happening, but winked at his tactics,

for if they had so wished, they could have frustrated

them.

It was my view at the time that Mr. Ad-

ams himself, having made his initial public strike against

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17


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www.guyfolkfest.org/guyana50

Monday, May 23, 2016

Arthur Chung Conference Center, Liliendaal

9:30am- 7:00pm

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Arthur Chung Conference Center, Liliendaal

9:30am-6:00pm

Sunday, June 5, 2016

York College, The City University of New York,

94-20 Guy R Brewer Blvd, Jamaica, NY 11451

8:00am-6:00pm

Golden Jubilee

Symposia Series

http://www.guyfolkfest.org/guyana50


17

Rickey, did not wish to incite an international human

rights/freedom of expression issue and further sully the

island’s reputation, so he saw through what Rickey was

doing, but decided to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’.

Following Mr. Adams’ sudden death in March

1985, Rickey enjoyed much better relations with one-

year successor as Prime Minister, Harold Bernard St.

John, later to become Sir Harold..

However, it was not until the return to office of

Prime Minister Errol Walton Barrow, at elections in

1986, that the Administration regularised Rickey’s posi-

tion by granting the Singh family residency status,

though even before that, Rickey had turned down an of-

fer by the Canadians of refugee status in Canada. “I am

not a refugee,” he had responded. “I have a country to

which I can return at any time.”

Now to cap this discourse as to the quaint ex-

pectations of Mr. Burnham… that whatever happens

with one, so will it with the other:

In 1996, very suddenly, Rickey, a dynamo at

all times and an exceptionally high-volume producer,

suffered a serious heart attack. He was rushed to the

Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, not 10 minutes

drive away from his residence, where the surgeons’ skill

saved his life through a triple-bypass procedure.

Careful food selection and preparation, specific

medication resolutely taken as prescribed, and rigorous

exercise have served to ensure a return to full functional-

ity; and Rickey’s journal-

istic output has remained

prodigious.

But somewhere out

there – in heaven, hell,

the netherworld, or where

-ever – the sound “heh,

heh, heh, heh” might have

been heard, for Mr. Burn-

ham those years long past

had been wont to suggest

that whatever affected the

one would by some

means and in time apply

equally to the other.

And so it was

that 12 years past 1996,

on the 14th of July 2008,

there I was, presumably

‘as fit as a fiddle’ with

very comforting readings

during all phases of my

periodic medical check-

ups, but suddenly strick-

en by a heart attack: a big one, the course of recovery

from which would take me thousands of miles away

from Barbados.

In an attempt to erode the applicability of Mr.

Burnham’s thesis, one has to snatch at crumbs of com-

fort, little bits of differences: things like

(1) Rickey was rushed immediately for

medical attention, while I was at home alone for two-and

-a-half days, ignorant of the fact and trying to self-treat

for suspected food poisoning.

(2) Local surgeons at the Queen Eliza-

beth Hospital saved Rickey’s life: I spent 4 days at the

QEH, then at considerable cost, was air-ambulanced

from Barbados to Boston’s Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medi-

cal Centre where specialists dealt aggressively with the

attack, but avoided surgery. The small jet came in from

Miami. There were the pilot, co-pilot, doctor, nurse, my

daughter and me. We flew from Barbados to North Caro-

lina, re-fueled, then on to Boston. It was the only time I

could have said (as can the U.S. President about Air

Force One) "this is my plane".

So, now, we are both survivors: And as our

lives course through the excess years granted beyond

three-score-years-and-ten, it is only human to wonder:

What else might Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham have

seen that we two are yet to experience? ….“Heh, heh,

heh, heh”. ==== ENDIT ====

Prime Minister Forbes Burnham receiving instruments of independence

from the Duke of Kent in Parliament, 1966

Photograph Courtesy of KnowledgeWalk Institute. May 5 2016. www.caribbeanelections.com/


18

Cheddi Jagan

Oct. 1992 to Mar.1997

David Granger

President - May 2015–

GUYANA’s PRESIDENTS

Bharrat Jagdeo, Aug. 1999 to Dec. 2011

Forbes Burnham, Oct. 1980 to Aug. 1985

Arthur Chung, Mar. 1970- Oct.1980

Desmond Hoyte, Aug. 1985 to Oct. 1992

Janet Jagan, Dec. 1997 to Aug. 1999

Sam Hinds, Mar. 1997 - Dec 1997

Donald Ramotar, Dec. 2011 to May 2015


19

National Anthem of Guyana

Lyrics: Archibald Leonard Luker - Music: Robert Cyril Gladstone Potter

Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains,

Made rich by the sunshine and lush by the rains,

Set gemlike and fair between mountains and sea,

Your children salute you, dear land of the free.

Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore,

Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore;

This soil so they hallowed, and from them are we,

All sons of one mother, Guyana the free.

Great land of Guyana, diverse though our strains,

We are born of their sacrifice, heirs of their pains,

And ours is the glory their eyes did not see,

One land of six peoples, united and free.

Dear land of Guyana, to you will we give

Our homage, our service, each day that we live;

God guard you, great Mother, and make us to be

More worthy our heritage - land of the free.


20

H uge flags, gun salutes, par-ties, galas and

masquerade bands are images that come to mind when we think of independence anniver-saries. But what is inde-pendence really about? This article, first pre-pared as part of the 50th anniversary program for the Toronto area, is an attempt to answer this

question.

In the quest for answers, I sought the opinions of a few friends, relatives, colleagues and acquaintances. Here are some of their thoughts, blended with my own.

1. Responsibility for our own national destiny

I was among those Guyanese coming of age during what poet Martin Carter calls the time of our standing up. For us, the simplest and perhaps most important way to think of independence was, as one of my re-spondents said, “having a country of our own, instead of having to obey a mother country.” She sees the transition to independence as “a separation from those who had brought us as slaves to be discarded, and as indentured servants to be given land and mon-ey and kept separate by this means.

2. Dignity

Another writer described independence as “the only path to dignity” and the “only choice of every right-thinking individual or people.” He added: “It is better to have less as an independent person or nation, than to prosper materially under tutelage.”

3. Controlling our natural and other resources for our own benefit

Independence also represented an opportunity to take control of our natural and other resources. No less important, it offered us the challenge to use those resources to build a country that met our needs and that we could be proud of. That aspect of the independence project could be as basic as producing the foods we need instead of importing them from, and exporting our hard-earned wealth to, other na-tions. And it could be as profound as the right and the power to build layers of value added into our raw materials instead of continuing to export those mate-rials and that privilege to others.

4. Cultural, social and inter-ethnic unity

Independence enables and requires us to combine, as our national anthem mandates, the beauty and diver-sity of being a “land of six peoples” with the strength that comes with being “united and free.” One of the letters I received called this “an opportunity to try to live together as one people and to develop a culture of our own” in which “there would be a place for eve-ryone and respect for all.” Increasingly, there has been talk of this unity encompassing a sharing of the aspirations and resources of Guyanese at home with those of Guyanese in the Diaspora.

Independence: What’s It All About?

By Frank A. Campbell


21

5. Patriotism, nation building, growing up and na-tional self-discovery

One correspondence I received was from a writer who was less than seven on May 26, 1966. He there-fore rightly calls himself “a child of independence.” Important elements of his growing up included learn-ing the national anthem, singing patriotic songs, and later, as a boys scout, roaming from one part of the Guyanese landscape to another. “Now in my 50s,” he says, “as Guyana turns 50, I believe that independ-ence is about growing up and self-discovery. It is about journey, a work in progress.”

6. National security, international relations and in-terdependence

With independence, the British military and the British Foreign Service were no longer even notionally a part of the Guyanese security and diplomatic reality. Local military and paramilitary forces were estab-lished. There was a Guyanese diplomatic service, which, although young, was formidable in its own way. And a young Guyana was helping to create, or build upon, a global infrastructure of interdepend-ence ranging from CARICOM to the Commonwealth and the Non-aligned Movement.

In the words of one of my more academic respond-ents, "The intensifying global dynamics of the age in which we live make independence of countries such

as Guyana a challenge of managing shackles. Guy-ana’s independence in 1966 witnessed the formal re-moval of political shackles, but not only have eco-nomic shackles endured since then, but they have al-so developed new dynamics, with new state and in-ternational corporate players.”

7. A work in progress: making our own mistakes

The late Ghanaian anti-colonial fighter, statesman and pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah, promised that after independence, “the mistakes we make will be our own.” We continue to prove him correct. We are, after all, a work in progress. Nkrumah also said that, “it will be our responsibility to put [those mis-takes] right.” I pray that Nkrumah’s prophecy will be correct in this respect also, and that our success in correcting our mistakes will be perhaps the most en-during legacy of the Guyanese independence experi-ence.

Frank A. Campbell is a former Guyanese journalist, ambassador and Cabinet minister. In preparing this article, he has benefited from the ideas of several oth-er Guyanese patriots. He especially thanks Professors Ivelaw Griffith and Roslin Khan; Dr. Riyad Insanally; Frank’s wife Barbara Campbell, a poet, playwright and former teacher and community leader; his broth-er Nestor, a church leader and former teacher; and their nephew, Jos-el Principal Wil Campbell. Frank accepts re-

sponsibility for the article submitted under his name.

Former Governor General of British Guiana, Sir Richard Luyt (L) in discussion with newly independent Guyanese, (L-R),

Cecil Ramsingh (Mirror Newspapers), partly hidden Peter DeFreitas (Central Garage), Shamir Ally (Bookers Lithographic &

Boxmakers). Photograph, 1966, courtesy of Dr. Shamir Ally


22

C oats of arms were first used in medieval battlefields as distinctive heraldry for illit-erate combatants to distinguish between

friend and foe. The word originates from the Old French cote a armer which were tunics draped over battle shields to prevent the reflection of the sun on soldiers’ shields. Today, a national coat-of-arms is a symbolic canopy boasting motifs of a nation’s pride, values and accomplishments.

The center of a coat-of-arms is a place of honor. The shield at the center of Guyana’s coat-of-arms gives highest honor to Guyana’s abundance of water sources in-cluding the magnificent Kaiteur Falls, Essequibo River and innu-merable waterfalls, rivers and naturally occurring bodies of wa-ter. Those are symbolically rep-resented by three horizontal blue waves. That center spot also pays homage to the beauty of Guyana's rare flora in the depiction of Guyana’s na-tional flower, the exquisite Victoria Regia water lily; and Guyana’s national bird the Canje Pheasant, all on a white shield connoting Guyana’s peace. The bird is considered to be the only member of the genus Opis-thocomus (from the Greek for “long hair”) character-

ized by the large crest on the head of the bird.

The vertical center third segment of a coat-of-arms grants tribute to the most significant insignia of a na-tion’s pride. That segment of Guyana’s coat-of-arms asserts our pride in self-government (the indigenous head-dress that crowns and rises above all the other symbols), our waters, unique indigenous wildlife spe-cies, and our united nationhood spelled out in the words “one nation” in the center of the scroll at the bottom that records the nation’s motto. The motto, a specific chronicle of our pledge at independence, supports and is part of the entire motif.

Guyana’s treasure of mineral resources is represent-ed by diamonds on either side of the headdress. The two jaguars represent wildlife, and a pick axe, sugar cane and rice stalks attest to the value of Guyana’s agricultural resources.

According to the College of Arms in the United King-dom, Coats of arms are granted by letters patent is-sued by the most senior heralds, the Kings of Arms to subjects of the Crown. Guyana’s coat-of-arms was recommended by Guyana’s National History and Arts

Council, approved by the Col-lege of Arms and, after Guyana gained independence, accepted by Guyana’s House of Assembly. It is not only a symbol of our pride as an independent nation, but also reflects the undeniable heritage of our colonialism.

Below is a depiction of the coat-of-arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It boasts motifs of the monarchy some of which have been attributed to changes

made by monarchs throughout its history. The acknowledgement of God (“Dieu et mon Droit”, French, meaning “God and my right”) is said to have first been used by Richard I and later adopted as the royal motto by Henry VI.

Coats-of-Arms

Karen Sinclair

Guyana Coat of Arms


23

Guyana’s Independence Arch

Unveiling Guyana’s Independence Arch, a gift from the Demerara Bauxite Company, 1966.

Photograph courtesy of KnowledgeWalk Institute. May 5 2016. www.caribbeanelections.com


24 Poem: © Karen Sinclair, 1995, 2016

From the book Jungle Heart, a poetic journey through the emotional jungle of contemporary life, p 15

This is the long ripening fruit of the rotted tree of vile slavery

Farmed under burning rays in plantation fury,

Germinated from an imported seed

Uprooted from distant African shores by white savages

And shipped shackled in chains;

A special variety,

Unique characteristics spliced in tempestuous ocean journey

By furious, rebelling natives

Unwilling scientists of a disturbed history,

Black rage fuelled with displaced energy

now embedded in the genes

of a hybrid cultural seed.

Suppression is the climate that fertilized that seed

which defied unrelenting seasons of oppression,

withstood thundering hurricanes of brutality,

and branched widely to shelter the bare backs of an entire people,

raw from the cruel whips of economics,

of subjugation,

of displacement,

Providing refuge in flourishing shade of green artistry

Filling hungry minds with tangy, liberating fruit;

A passionate crop,

Anger its flavour.

Reaped and relished

This fruit nurtured the budding embryo of emancipation

So that free seeds scattered abundantly in every clime

Took root,

And new varieties flourished each new day,

Bitter fruit now tempered with sweet taste of freedom

Roots in opportunity’s fertile soil;

Cultivated with a renewed hopeful vision

Enlightened by the bittersweet harvests of history

This fruit is ripe.

Pick,

Savour!

THIS IS THE FRUIT


25

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WE PRODUCE HIGH QUALITY DRAWINGS FOR COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


26

J ubilee fever is spreading among Guyanese at home and abroad, as the Government of Guyana is preparing the Guyana landscape for a fiftieth

anniversary celebration like no other!

It was infectious enough that many Guyanese planned to return for the celebrations and made airline and hotel reservations since last year. Now it seems that as May 26th draws closer and emails are flying off laptops an-nouncing a growing list of events in Guyana, some for-merly event-shy members of the Diaspora are becoming increasingly willing to pay the ever inflating prices for a last minute decision to travel to Guyana. More Guya-nese have caught Jubilee fever!

Jubilee fever is heightened by announcements of high school and other reunion affairs and the prospect of meeting long lost friends, some from fifty years ago! Then there is the lure of new venues, nostalgia of old

familiar names and the tales of sprucing up that keep trickling out daily to make it seem as if a whole lot of welcome change is taking place and the trip is going to be the trip of a lifetime!

While taking whatever is the appropriate medication for this kind of fever, (some XM might do the trick), we must stay sober long enough to take the advice of our wise Francis Quamina Farrier to change our USD into GD, steer clear of political talk and watch out for ‘dem boys’ on the corner. Then, for the inevitable trip to a govern-ment office, take heed of Lear Matthews’ warning to wear outfits with sleeves and legs. Here’s hoping that you feel better soon!

Happy Fiftieth Independence Anniversary!

by Karen Sinclair

Photograph of D’urban Park Courtesy of Guyana Information News Agency

JUBILEE FEVER


27

The mini totem is 3 feet tall and 6 inches wide. An Amerindian cultural icon, it consists of ten carvings sym-bolizing the unique identity of the 10 Administrative Regions of Guyana. The full scale Golden Jubilee of Inde-pendence Totem Pole will stand 50 feet tall. Since January 2016, the anniversary totem pole has been mak-ing its way through the ten administrative regions of Guyana, gaining a section in each region. The mini to-tem pole was launched in March at the National Gallery of Art. The unveiling of the full scale totem pole is scheduled for Saturday May 14th at Umana Yana.

The Totem Pole

A symbol of Guyana’s Indigenous Heritage


28

L to R: President David Granger, Ambassador Bayney Karran, Aubrey Stephenson, AA, CEO of Federal Management Systems, Inc., Mrs. Karran

I t is now one year since President David Arthur Granger took the oath of office and commenced his

service as President of the Coopera-tive Republic of Guyana. While on the Balcony of the Public Buildings imme-diately after his Swearing-In Ceremo-ny, he invited all present to link hands and sing the Billy Pilgrim composition, "Let us Cooperate for Guyana.” That cooperation extends to those Guya-nese in the Diaspora as well. One of the principal projects of David Granger, is to bring Guyanese in the Diaspora and those in the Motherland, even closer. The president is anxious that the aspirations of those in the Di-aspora, who desire to have business and other projects in Guyana, become easier to achieve. To that end, he has made quite a number of visits to the Diaspora, holding discussions with a variety of stakeholders... He has a vision of how "the two Guyanas - the one in North America and the one in South America" - as he puts it, can complement each other.

The president was in the USA earlier this month, where among other activi-ties, he met with Guyana's Ambassa-dor to the United States and the Or-ganization of American States, Bayney Karran. At a function at the home of the Ambassador, President Granger witnessed a ceremony at which the CEO of Federal Management Sys-tems, Inc., Guyanese, Aubrey Ste-phenson, AA., made a presentation to Ambassador Bayney Karran. The president also visited the Guyana Em-bassy in Washington, DC, where he addressed the Ambassador and Staff-ers, telling them how much he recog-nized the service which they are giving to Guyana.

There has not been any professional survey taken in the Diaspora, of the president's performance and popularity during this his first year in office. But what is certain, is that he still enjoys a high degree of respect and admiration by many Guyanese in the Diaspora. The way he conducts himself interact-ing with both the great and the simple,

has earned him many supporters. He has been inviting Guyanese in the Di-aspora to return home and join in the many developmental projects in their homeland. Businessmen are being invited to establish businesses in Guy-ana. That is what Aubrey Stephenson of Federal Management Systems did. Federal Management Systems, Inc. employs hundreds of Guyanese both in Guyana and in the Diaspora and pays tens of Millions of dollars in Tax-es into the Guyana Treasury. The Guyana branch of Federal Manage-ment Systems, Inc. with Office on Pe-ter Rose Street in Georgetown, is now celebrating their twenty-fifth anniver-sary.

As President David Arthur Granger commences his second year in Office, it is left to be seen how well he will succeed in dealing with the many chal-lenges which Guyana faces; the strengthening of the bridge between the Diaspora and the Motherland be-ing a vital one.

“Let us Cooperate for Guyana” Francis Quamina Farrier


29


30

As Guyana celebrates its fiftieth anniversary of

Independence, Barbados is celebrating

One hundred and fifty years since the 1816 Bussa

Rebellion against slavery

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

BARBADOS

C ARICOM countries share a history of colonial rule, slav-

ery, slave revolts and

emancipation from slav-ery. Long after, mostly in the 1960s, many also ob-tained independence from colonial rule. Inde-

pendence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain was granted through civil parliamentary processes. Barbados was granted in-dependence on Novem-ber 30, in the same year with Guyana, 1966. Ja-maica and Trinidad and Tobago were granted in-dependence in 1962. In-dependence for other Caribbean islands oc-curred in the 1970s and 1980s. Anguilla, Bermuda and Montserrat are still territories of the United Kingdom.

As we celebrate inde-pendence, we also recall the fight for freedom from slavery. In a revolt begin-ning on February 23rd 1763, British Guiana’s slave, Cuffy, said to have

been of Ghanaian de-scent, led fellow slaves in Lilienburg plantation in Canje Berbice, in a violent rebellion against slavery. Barbadian slave, Bussa, led a rebellion against slavery in 1816. The Slave Trade Abolition Act had been passed by British Parliament in 1807. It banned the slave trade and trading of slaves but did not free the already enslaved people in the British Empire, including British Guiana on the South American Continent and the British islands in the Caribbean Sea. They fought violently to be free. In 1823 over 13,000 slaves in Demerara, Guy-ana rebelled to force local plantation owners to obey British orders to free them.

“CUFFY STATUE” The 1763 Monument,

Square of the Revolution, Georgetown

Sculptor - Phillip Moore


31

DIASPORA TIMES is inviting

readers to write short

memoirs about

experiences in Guyana.

Send to [email protected]

Guyana’s emancipation was finally achieved in 1838. Emancipation and Independ-ence are two different mile-stones, but in the same con-text of freedom.

The British, (as did the French, Dutch and Spanish) invaded countries around the world, took possession of natural re-sources, and made many peo-ples subjects of their empires. They also captured unwilling people on other continents, primarily Africa, recruited oth-ers, primarily from India, and shipped them to supplement the labor force in their occu-pied colonies. Independence for these descendants of those people may seem a tiny gain in the context of those major atrocities that are the genesis of this nation. But it is undeni-ably a milestone. A milestone

soaked with the blood and sweat of strong, determined, and intelligent people who or-ganized themselves and per-sisted despite limited re-sources and seemingly insur-mountable hurdles. Free gen-erations still, however, have miles to travel. We must cele-brate independence as a mile-stone, not a destination. They fought for freedom, then sought independence. Now free and independent, it is our job to climb above disad-vantage and conditions we despise.

As we celebrate independ-ence, let us join our sister Bar-bados on their sesquicentenni-al anniversary of rebellion against slavery, and remember the graves on which we dance.

EMANCIPATION STATUE Bussa - Round-a-Bout

BARBADOS


32

In the words of 1960s singer songwriter Nesbit Changur

A Guianese Lament (extract from the song)

First we must learn to see brothers…

then can we start to be

building our destiny

building our justice with love.

In all Guyana

our own land strong and free

when tears and hatred end and race with race work

together as friends.


33

GUYANA’S 50TH

ANNIVERSARY MAY 2016

Fifty Years of Memories: What is most significant about your life in Guyana in

the last fifty years? Send us a photograph and your 20-50 word summary.


34

IN THE NEWS

Where are We Now? Symposium on Guyana-Barbados Relations

B arbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM Robert “Bobby” Morris reiterated his country’s support for Guyana in matters of Foreign

and Community Relations, particularly against the expansionist plans of Venezuela.

The Ambassador was speaking at a (GABI) sympo-sium entitled “The History of Guyana-Barbados… and where are we now?” The symposium was the third monthly event organized by GABI as part of its year-long observances of Guyana’s 50th Inde-pendence Anniversary.

He said that Barbados and Guyana have kept com-mon counsel with regard to Climate Change agen-da of vulnerable small island and coastal states.

On the sensitive issue of “problems around immi-gration matters”, Ambassador Morris said that be-


35

IN THE NEWS

tween 2007 and 2010, the problems were blown out of proportion, but have fortunately been overcome.

Quoting statistics for the period, Mr. Morris said that Guyanese visits to Barbados between 2007 and 2012 were highest in 2008, with 31,276 visitors; and lowest in 2010, with 19,432. Refusals for entry, he said, were usually about one (1%) percent, but never above two (2%) percent. Overstays were usually between eleven (11%) percent and twenty four (24%) percent. “Work Permits” were given to Guyanese workers, especially in Agriculture and Construction, but economic con-traction after 2007 led to a reduction in numbers of work permits granted or renewed, and that Guyanese then pursued CARICOM strategies for migration. These refusals and denials tested the bonds between the two countries.

The Ambassador said that the signing of the Agree-

ment for Deepening Bilateral Cooperation between the Government of Barbados and the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, ushered in a new era in relations between the two countries.

The Articles of that Agreement allowed for establish-ment of a Joint Economic, Technical and Cultural Co-operation Commission to implement the Agreement. It was also agreed that the Commission would meet alternately in Guyana and in Barbados. Issues have in-cluded investments and exports. Other areas include an offer of land to be purchased by Barbadians; Tour-ism, Hospitality and Services; Agriculture and Fisheries; Maritime Administration/Maritime Affairs; Education; Immigration and Security and Culture, Youth and Sports.

Ambassador Morris said that one of the highlights of this cooperation is Sir Kyffin Simpson’s Rice Farm in Re-gion 9 in the Rupununi. He said that the farm was visit-ed by Minister Maxine McClean and other officials in 2013. “This is a prime example of the type of coopera-tion which can be a model for the development of CARICOM”, the Ambassador concluded.

The symposium was also addressed by Mt. Pat Thomp-son of Guyana, who spoke on “Growing-Up in Guyana – The Bajan Connection”; Dr. Jeannette Allsopp on “Education – The similarities between Guyana and Bar-bados”; and Mr. Frank Da Silva who spoke on the “Private and Public Sector – Bridging the Gap”. Mrs. Roxanne Brancker was the moderator.

Also present at the well-attended session were Guy-ana’s interim Counsel General Mrs. Monique Jackman, Cuba’s Ambassador to Barbados, His Excellency Fran-cisco Fernandez Pena, Barbadian Attorney and Social Activist Davis Commissong and several members of the Barbados business community.

The attendees were treated to Guyanese snacks after the event while listening to renditions by the “Birdman”.

Submitted By Ian Keith Haynes


36

The initiative by the Regional CARICOM Reparation Commission to actively send the reparation message around the region, has moved to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, with the passing of the “Reparation Baton” from Barbados.

The “Baton” was presented to the Deputy Consul General of the Coop-erative Republic of Guyana in Bar-bados, Ms. Monique Jackman, by Chairman of the Barbados Task Force on Reparation, Professor Dr. Pedro Welch. The handing over was done at the start of the Island’s 50th Anniversary of Independence at the historic Golden Grove Planta-tion, St. Phillip.

The “Baton” is now in Guyana in the possession of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it is expected to be passed on to the local Commis-sion on Reparation.

Commenting on the passing of the Baton Saturday April 30th, Barba-dos’ Prime Minister Mr. Freundel Stuart, who is the Chairman of the CARICOM Sub-Committee on Repa-ration, said “For Barbados, the 1816 Bussa Rebellion was a prominent uprising whose bicentenary helps us to recognize its effects in shaping the future of this small island devel-oping state.

“Barbados has recommitted itself to the call for reparation on this

occasion, as a mark of respect for our ancestors who struggled for reparation justice. To mark this event, Barbados has the distinct honour of leading off the symbolic passing of the reparation Baton to Guyana as a show of CARICOM soli-darity for the cause of reparation.”

The Caribbean Reparation was formed by CARICOM Heads of Gov-ernment in 2013. The Commission is headed by Chairman Sir. Hilary Beckles, and there are several na-tional reparation committees throughout the region.

Submitted By Ian Keith Haynes

CARICOM’s Reparation

‘Baton’ moves to Guyana

IN THE NEWS


37

See more at: http://xpressblogg.com/books/

By Verian Mentis-Barker, Publicist

Phone:(864) 595 1741

B O O K S

Sacred Secrets: Shedding

the Shackles of my Shame A Shocking Story of Abuse and Trauma

http://thelocalchristiantownhall.org/books/


38


39

GUYANESE CELEBRATE JUBILEE IN JAMAICA

A Newspaper Supplement to be published 26th May, 2016 Kingston, Jamaica

Independence Day Flag Raising 26th May, 2016 Emancipation Park-Kingston Jamaica

Health and Legal Aid Fair June, 2016v Bog Walk, St Catherine-Kingston Jamaica

A Banquet/ dinner with President of Guyana as Guest Speaker September, 2016 Jamaica Pegasus Hotel - Kingston, Jamaica

A one day conference/Summit to co-inside with the President’s visit

(to be held at the UWI Regional Headquarters) eve Sep, 2016 UWI Regional Headquarters- Kingston, Jamaica

GUYANESE JUBILEE OBSERVATIONS IN CANADA

Flag Raising Ceremony 26th May, 2016 Ottawa City Hall

Gala (Ottawa) 7th May, 2016 (tentative) Ottawa/Montreal

Flag Raisings Ceremony (2 Locations) 26th May, 2016 - (Time TBD) (afternoon) Winnipeg City Hall;

Portage and Main

50th Anniversary of Guyana’s Independence Gala Banquet 28th May, 2016 Canad Inn Polo Park

(6:00 PM- 1:00 AM)

JUBLIEE OBSERVATIONS IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

Interfaith Prayer Service June 4th, 2016 Queens

Unity Concert June 4th, 2016 Brooklyn

Symposium: Guyana at 50:

Understanding our Independence Journey June 5th, 2016 Queens

Exhibition of Guyanese Art, June 6th, 2016 Manhattan

Invest Guyana

Business Investment Conference June 7th, 2016 Manhattan

Guyana Gives Back" Day of Volunteerism June 8th, 2016 Queens & Brooklyn

United Nations Reception to

Commemorate 50 Years of Membership June 9th, 2016 Manhattan

Flag Raising Ceremony June 9th, 2016 Paul Robeson, East Orange, New Jersey

Cultural Extravaganza June 10th,2016 Prospect High School Performing Arts Theater, Brooklyn, New York

State Dinner & Awards Ceremony (evening) June 11th, 2016 Manhattan

President’s Cup Soccer Tournament & Youth Fun Day June 11th, 2016 Brooklyn

Mashramani in New York June 12th, 2016 Brooklyn

JUBILEE OBSERVATIONS IN FLORIDA

Guyana Day 2016- By Guyana Inc 29th May, 2016 West Palm Beach

Independence Gala-By Guyana Day Inc 4th Jun, 2016 West Palm Beach

Family Fun Day- Guyanese American Cultural Assn 5th Jun , 2016 Orlando

CCUSA VS Guyana Amazon Warriors-

Cricket Council USA 23rd -28th Jun, 2016 Guyana

Family Fun Day 7th Aug, 2016 Ft. Lauderdale


40

DIASPORA T I M E S I N T E R N A T I O N A L

“VICTORIA REGIA”- Guyana’s National Flower

TIMES INTERNATIONAL€¦ · named in tribute to one of his daughters. Man-Guyana's Totem Pole 28...

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