Although I do not look African, I have one African grandparent. My appearance has given me access to a world where discussions about race in Guyana are unfiltered. In future articles, I will share some of my experiences. Suffice it to say that my decision to join the Village Voice team has been largely influenced by my exposure to unfiltered non-African communities.
Yesterday, I took the time to listen to WPA activist Mr. Ogunseye. Among other disturbing things, he said that the PPP/C had used the police and the GDF in the past to “execute” Africans and that, in the present circumstances, “we have to act and we have to act quickly.”
In response to his words, a statement was issued by the joint forces, the president, the opposition Indian members, and the propagandists are up to their usual antics.
The unspoken truth about African people in Guyana is that they are a long-suffering people. In the face of egregious discrimination, extrajudicial killings, dispossession of their lands, mass firings, banking and contract discrimination, and the planned under-development of their communities, they whisper but do not take a stand. They feign blindness to protect the little they have, not fully understanding that the PPP is coming for that as well.
African Guyanese have lived through the murders of Waddell and Crum-Ewing, the imprisonment of Mark Benschop, the murders of the Henry boys, the Mocha atrocity, the massive theft of lands in Mocha, and massive PPP corruption, yet they have not responded. They are a long-suffering people.
So, does anyone really believe that the words of Ogunseye will motivate Black people to “rise up”? If Black people in Guyana are to rise up, it will be due to the vile and racist actions of the PPP, not the words of old man Ogunseye. As my great aunt would often say, “Randy, let those who have ears hear.” The PPP government still has time to amend their ways and make Guyana a safe and prosperous place for all Guyanese. They should seize the opportunity while it still exists.
