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By Vincent Alexander, AA- Born on February 20, 1923, and passing away on August 6, 1985, just 62 years later, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham left an indelible mark on those who knew of him or delved into his life. Yet, it is the elusive and multifaceted essence of the man that truly defines him as an enigma. Now 38 years after his departure, the consensus among biographers is that his mysterious nature remains the prevailing aspect of his character, presenting both an abstract and formidable challenge.
In this narrative, we invoke the Hawk-Eye or the Third Eye as a metaphorical lens to revisit live events and pass judgment upon them. Today’s Hawk-Eye, in our quest to remember Burnham, aims to review statements, comments, and accounts that illuminate moments from his life. In doing so, we hope to construct a mosaic, a kaleidoscopic portrayal of the enigmatic Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham. To accomplish this, we will rely on the perspectives of the Third Person, the Third Umpire, and the Hawk-Eye for the playback of real-life events and the depiction of the man known as “Odo.”
Hazel Woolford, in her work titled “Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham: His Rich Legacy of Education and Culture,” quoted David Forde as saying, “He [Burnham] had spent some time at Central High School. He had won a primary scholarship, and it never became clear to me why he was not at QC from the beginning of the term.” She further noted that “the fees at Queens College were very high, and Burnham disciplined himself to earn grades, which would qualify him for scholarships, in order to remain in the school. Burnham won the Centenary Scholarship (1936), the Government Junior (1937), and the Percival (1938).”
From the outset, Burnham exhibited certain attributes: a passion for education, exceptional academic prowess, and unwavering dedication. It comes as no surprise that his sister described him as ambitious, albeit with a tinge of skepticism.
His early experiences profoundly shaped his concern for the accessibility of education to low-income citizens. These qualities and concerns later influenced his policy initiatives, including the provision of free education from nursery to university when he held positions of authority.
His achievement of the British Guiana Scholarship in 1942 after attaining the highest grades in the Senior Cambridge examinations, coupled with his oratorical and leadership skills that earned him the ‘Best Speaker’s Cup’ at the University of London in 1946, and his elevation to the leadership of the West Indian Students’ Union marked him as an emergent exceptional public figure.
Shirley Patterson, a former Minister of Government, commented on Burnham’s potential in 1966, stating that as early as 1946, “the young man was revealing the talent after which Guyanese would later call so insistently… Leadership seemed to fit the young man like the proverbial glare.”
What has been mentioned so far speaks to Burnham’s persona and the early manifestations of his depth and industriousness.
Shahabudeen, who first encountered Burnham while both were students in London, had this to say about him: “His presentation was reasoned, his facts well marshaled, his arguments real, his manner scholarly – almost judicial… Like so many others, I had no difficulty in recognizing him as decidedly superior in talent. He was a man with deep historical roots in our people and in our country. It is this, I think, which primarily gave him his drive and strength and conviction, and general orientation.”
In subsequent commentaries on Burnham, who returned home in 1949 and shortly after assumed various local, professional, and national leadership roles, Shahabudeen concluded: “He lost no occasion to dwell on the need to exorcise our minds of any sense of inferiority to, or dependency on others elsewhere. He was, of course, mature enough to recognize that this wrench in orientation might involve us in errors over and above the level which might be considered normal or tolerable in a long-settled society. But he thought that the possibility of erring was not so much a risk as a right to be exercised as an integral part of the process of growing up.”
He was the kind of person whom Ranji Chandisingh opined was “able to secure and maintain political independence, achieve republicanism, defend our sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
In this process, Desmond Hoyte articulated that “he waged a relentless struggle at home against prejudice, discrimination, vested interests, and all arrangements which entrenched or perpetuated social injustice. It was an important matter of principle, therefore, for him to remove all legal disabilities and discriminatory consequences flowing therefore – that affected women and children born out of wedlock merely by reason of status”.
Hoyte also commented on Burnham’s conduct of the nation’s business, saying, “Frequently in those hard-fought debates which were an essential and living part of our internal democracy, I have seen him being strong, only gracefully to concede after arguments and debate was the very stuff of his life, and the challenges of an opposing view was the fuel of his intellect”. Hoyte further contended, “He taught us that development begins in the mind and that our first duty was to free our minds of the psychological shambles of the colonial past and assume our own responsibility and respect ourselves, our fellow citizens, our country, and all things cultural and national that are our own.”
It is against this backdrop that he provided leadership in the nation-building process. In that regard, Dr. Reid made the following observations: “Look around, and you see his many creations. What men talked about, what men theorized, Forbes Burnham constructed.”
Whether it’s Hoyte, Shahabudeen, or Reid, they all seem to be observers of the growth of an exceptional individual, a thinker and a doer, a motivator, and a responder.
This is evident in the multitude of projects and developments undertaken during his leadership in response to the country’s needs and his own aspiration to be a nation-builder.
Publications like “Guyana – A Decade of Progress – 1974” and “20 Years of Development – Progress Never Ceases – 1984” summarized these initiatives as follows:
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Amerindian Integration and Development
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Establishing National Identity
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The FCH Drive
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Diversifying Trade Partners
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Achieving National Ownership and Control
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The Establishment of Local Financial Institutions
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Improvements of the Healthcare System
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Providing Access to Clean Drinking Water
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Rural Electrification
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Social Security Measures
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Encouraging Self-Help and Cooperatives
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Contributing to Global Affairs
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Reformation of the Nation’s Education System
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Mobilizing the Discipline Forces for the Defense of our Territorial Integrity
These initiatives were built upon the philosophical foundation of Co-operativism and complemented by national policies such as:
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Non-Alignment
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Non-Interference in Internal Affairs
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Diversification of the Economy
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Social and Infrastructural Development
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Access to Education for All
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The Cultivation of a National Identity and National Unity
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Gender and Ethnic Equality
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Freedom of Conscience and Religious Practices
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Control over Our Natural Resources
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Embracing the Anti-Colonial and Liberation Struggles,
These initiatives included the establishment of national institutions and the implementation of programs like:
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Recognizing Religious Holidays
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National Service
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The National Insurance Scheme
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The Institute of Applied Science and Technology
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Free Education from Nursery to Tertiary
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Local Government Reform
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The People’s 1980 Constitution
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The African Liberation Fund
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The Indigenous Court of Appeal
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Self-Help Housing Schemes
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Drainage and Irrigation Schemes
For his remarkable initiatives and accomplishments, upon his passing, heartfelt observations and tributes were offered:
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The India High Commission stated: “He was a responsible leader who led his people through a difficult period of time to establish their identity”.
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The Head of the Federal Military Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Special Forces of Nigeria stated: “He was an indefatigable father for the lowly and opposed whenever and his total support for African Liberation particularly endeared him to the Southern African Leaders”.
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The Executive Director of the Canadian Foundation for Caribbean Development and Cooperation stated “His concern stretched beyond the Caribbean to the Liberation Forces in South Africa which struggle for freedom he supported. It is this unflinching commitment to critical assistance for which history will remember Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham”.
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The President of the Republic of Gambia hailed Forbes Burnham as “a valued colleague in the commonwealth and a positive and dynamic voice in the Third World for political and economic emancipation”.
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Fidel Castro expressed deep sorrow at the loss and remarked “With his death, Guyana lost one of its prominent sons, the Caribbean and Latin America, an outstanding statesman, and the Cuban people, an affectionate friend, who knew to maintain fairness in difficult times for our peoples, in defense of non-intervention and sovereignty.”.
More compassionate comments were:
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“Like many political leaders the world over, Forbes Burnham was thought to be hostile to criticism. In some measure that must be true. But I often felt that it was less a reality than a myth which he did little to defend – with the result that he often received from those around him much less by way of candid criticism they would have helped him” were the parting words of Sir Shridath Ramphal
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“The President in his wisdom realized that self-sufficiency was the correct strategy for development, and he simply believed Guyana could be self- sufficient … if we use the indigenous material.” That thought came from the lips of Gus Lee, a corporate leader.
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“A formal Indigenous Court of Appeal was an integral element of the concept of Independence, it was also his Contention that the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Appeal would not prove to be viable unless it came about as part of arrangements designed to achieve an appropriate level of political and constitutional integration” was the stunning conclusion of Mohammed Shahabudeen, a legal luminary in his own right.
President Hoyte posthumously proffered that:
“Burnham was reliably and splendidly endorsed with those rare and special faculties that are reserved only for leaders of men and makers of history. He was a prodigious intellect – free, probing, receptive to new ideas, and new possibilities.
However, none of those tributes addressed what was pre-eminent at the time of his passing. Halim Majeed drew attention to what was pre-eminent thus: “But the fact that President Burnham made another attempt in 1984-85 to engage the PPP in political dialogue and power sharing tells a story … of magnanimity, pragmatism and personal concern for the national weal.” At the top of his agenda was healing, and building a unified, Guyana, a challenge still confronting our nation.
Given all else, was that evidential of, or paradoxical to, his enigmatic nature? However, though his earthly remains were interned, his pursuit, his spirit, lives on.
Our Laureate Poet, Martin Carter, fittingly, bid him farewell thus: “Death must not find us thinking that we die.”
The Hawk-Eye deems Burnham not-out, since his ideas and achievements are still evident in the edifices that adorn our landscape and the ongoing debates about our path to the development of Guyana. He remained not-out at the close of the innings.
The enigmatic myriad and kaleidoscopic mosaic like a rough diamond and impure gold remains under dissected but available for ongoing exploration in Guyana’s quest for a genuine way forward in its thrust towards nationhood.
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Alexander is Chairman of the Burnham Foundation and did the Keynote address at the Burnham`s Centennial Birth Symposium, 2023 held at the University of Guyana on September 29.
