Kyk-Over-Al

Site Update - "Live Chat" Now Available !!

2006-11-23T19:04:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone,This is just a brief note to inform everyone that we have now created a new chat room (a special thanks to Gav !!) which we hope you will all use ... For those of you who are unfamilar with chat rooms, it is a great way to meet people from around the world by having a "real time" conversation with them... You can talk about all sorts of various subjects or simpy view the online discussion... I would like to invite all of you to use this feature which I believe is a great way to connect with people from around the world...Thanks again to Gav as this would not have been possible without his hard work and dedication...Sincerely,JonoThe Mittelholzer Foundationhttp://www.mittelholzer.org

You can’t go home again

2006-09-23T11:00:00.001-04:00

By Jeremy Taylor

Illustrious Exile, by Andrew 0. Lindsay (Peepal Tree Press, ISBN 1-84523-028-0, 390 pp)

Farming and debauchery must be tiring occupations. By 1786, Robert Burns was doubly tired, being well practised at both. And there were other burdens:

a scandalous pregnancy an irate father, a public denunciation by the Calvinists. Bums’s instinct was to do what many of his compatriots had done: shake the dust of Scotland off his feet and head for the West Indies.

He took a job as a book-keeper on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. To raise passage money, he published a collection of little verses he had scribbled during his limited free time.

As it turned out, Bums and Jamaica were spared the pleasure of each other’s company. The book of verses (Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1786) did far better than expected. No longer in need of a new life in the Indies, Burns proceeded to Edinburgh to become a celebrity.

Andrew Lindsay’s remarkable novel is a “what if?” story. What if Burns had really gone to Jamaica? How would a poetic, romantic, late eighteenth-century Scottish sensibility respond to life on a Caribbean sugar plantation? Would Burns adapt, desensitise himself and pick up the lash with rest of them? If not, how long could he possibly last? And what sort of verse would this most celebrated of Scottish bards write in the Caribbean?

In Illustrious Exile, Lindsay has constructed an alternative life for Burns. The poet sails for Jamaica, works on the plantation, creates a scandal, moves on to another plantation in Demerara, and eventually escapes from the system altogether, trekking far into the interior of what is now Guyana with an Amenndian woman carrying his child.

To tell this story, Lindsay uses a well-tried device for linking past with present. Two hundred years after Burns’s death in 1797, his “journals” are “discovered” in the Guyanese hinterland where he died, and the events, thoughts, and feelings of his Caribbean years are revealed.

The real Robert Burns, as we know, was an instinctive radical, an anti-Calvinist, a supporter of the French and American revolutions, and a merciless satirist of establishment pomposity and pretension. He also (to put it mildly) knew how to have a good time. The character who

emerges in these fictional “journals” is neither monogamous nor sober, but he is not the professional roisterer of fond Scottish memory either. At the start of the book, he is a little uneasy at being a “Negro-driver”; by the end, he has made a comprehensive personal rejection of the system and all its implications. In the final pages, there is a sense that he has moved beyond the state of exile shared initially by everyone in the Caribbean except the Amerindian peoples, and has in a sense “come home”.

At first Bums has no grasp of the power he has as a white man, or the way he is expected to exercise it. He even thinks he can dig his own garden. He wants to see slaves as human beings, he wants to be liked by them, he recoils from violence and is disgusted by a slave auction. He is besotted by his house servant Adah, and is soon treating her in every way as a wife and equal, basking in the warmth and tenderness he receives in return. He even begins to argue with the plantation owner about the legitimacy of the system that supports them. The man is an obvious troublemaker.

Dimly, he senses his own complicity:

Never before in my life have I witnessed so much MISERY as in these last few days, and what makes it much worse to bear is the realisation that I have actively assisted in the process of imposing it. I have not been honest with myself. . . My hotheaded eagerness to leave Scotland overwhelmed completely whatever scruples I possessed. Even more reprehensibly, I consoled myself with the foolish notion that there might be some way of combining slavery with my principles . . . like a fool I have ignored the fact that [the slaves on the estate] do not belong here. God forgive me.

As he struggles to reconcile his public role with his private sympathies, Bums furtively reads Equiano (seditious stuff), ponders the root causes of white hatred for Africans, and decides to marry Adah and take her home to Scotland, where he will work with the abolitionists.

This fantasy is derailed when a prim Scottish lady arrives on the estate in pursuit of her errant husband. Burns seduces her with passionate poems, suddenly aware of all the European refinements that he misses and of which Adah will never be capable. Forced to fight a ludicrous duel with the homed husband, Burns is charged with murder and smuggled out to

Demerara. So much for Adah.

The Demerara plantation is hotter and more brutal than the Jamaican one, more highly charged with discontent and rebellion, and Burns is even more of a misfit. For a while he manages to run things on more liberal lines, but they always revert. Alarming portents occur. Allardyce, the plantation boss, is killed by a monstrous spider; koker men are swallowed whole by a thirty-foot anaconda. Again Burns prepares to return to Scotland, but is detained this time by the prospect of an expedition to the Upper Potaro (that old Guiana magic), and by the appearance of a beautiful Arawak woman, Yinta, with whom he falls instantly in love.

Until today, I had thought of the Guianas as a blank page in the history books — a vast tract of land unknown to man since the beginning of time. Today I realise that deep in these lonely tracts of eternal desolation there may lie secrets older than Europe; older than the Pharoahs; older than history itself. . . El Dorado, which I had always considered entirely a fable, was sought here by Ralegh. What strange things might there be, hidden in these terrible, dark, dripping forests?

No progress is made with Yinta, on the other hand, until Burns manages to write her a poem in Arawak, after which she becomes his perfect muse and companion till he dies. (Poets, take note.)

Bums’s education is continued by a conveniently well-read slave from Saint-Domingue, Ambrose. The poet’s burgeoning idealism (“Men should be brothers”) is countered by Ambrose’s realism: “White men will never relinquish the power.. . They own the land; the factories; the ships and the warehouses. They legislate; administer justice; write the history books; own the newspapers and the printing presses. . .“ Ambrose’s advice is to look to the example of Toussaint, not Wilberforce.

You assume, though you may not realise it, that equality means black people resembling white ones so closely that no difference remains, except for the colour of their skin. We must become like them. But does this not also beg the question that the ways of the white man are superior? Does it not deny us the dignity of a culture and an identity to call our own? Would I ask you to adopt the habits of Negroes?

“I hadn’t thought of that,” replies Bums. Not surprisingly: hardly anyone thinks of it even now. Schemes for improving other people always depend on them becoming more like us. Again Bums finds himself weighed in the balance and found wanting. “Until this moment,” he reflects, “I had thought myself absolved from guilt by virtue of the fact that I genuinely hated slavery, treated Negroes with courtesy and respect, and in Ambrose had found a true and valued friend. But I had wronged Adah, and now, it seemed, I had to face up to the culpability in myself.”

The arrival of a new estate manager even worse than the spider’s victim forces the issue for Burns. He takes off with Yinta - the first non-exile he has met in the Caribbean - on an exhausting two-month trek across the Essequibo, up the Mazaruni and the Potaro, and far beyond Kaieteur to Yinta’s home ground, and his own death.

Andrew Lindsay is himself Scottish, dividing his time “between Fife and Guyana” according to the publisher’s blurb. Mercifully, he does not make Burns write his journals in Scottish dialect, which would have made for a daunting read. In fact, Burns hardly sounds very Scottish in prose, though several of the poems use the dialect, constructed or reconstructed by Lindsay to echo poems that the real Burns wrote.

There is a hard lesson here for anyone eager to impose their own cultural and economic needs on an unwilling people.

What has been done to these people constitutes an act of vast criminality; an act so monstrous and terrible that it defies belief. How can a society that prides itself on its benevolence and its superior culture allow itself tobe so inextricably bound up with — nay, founded upon! — such suffering, cruelty and indignity?. . . What I have witnessed is so uniquely horrible and vile that generations of my countrymen in years to come will look back upon it in shame and self-loathing. Slavery cannot be undone. We have sown the seed, and the fearful harvest thereof shall be as bitter ashes in our guilty mouths.

But the book is not only about a white exile’s anger and guilt. Bums makes his final trek into the interior as a hunted man, a “murderer” and a “traitor”, having surrendered every last trace of his previous life and comfort (except his journals, of course) to be with Yinta, the Amerindian. Lindsay invests this personal journey with echoes of a more universal process: the exile or expatriate groping for a new grounding and a new source of being. The book suggests that exile can be left behind, that the Amerindian peoples represent a source, and that there are rites of passage for those rare individuals and societies that want to cut away cultural impositions and arrive at some sort of Caribbean authenticity •

The Robert Burns who emerges in these fictional “journals” is

neither monogamous nor sober, but he is not the professional

roisterer of fond Scottish memory either

You can’t go home again

2006-09-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

You can’t go home again

By Jeremy Taylor

Illustrious Exile, by Andrew 0. Lindsay (Peepal Tree Press, ISBN 1-84523-028-0, 390 pp)

Farming and debauchery must be tiring occupations. By 1786, Robert Burns was doubly tired, being well practised at both. And there were other burdens:

He took a job as a book-keeper on a sugar plantation in Jamaica. To raise passage money, he published a collection of little verses he had scribbled during his limited free time.

Dimly, he senses his own complicity:

Demerara. So much for Adah.

No progress is made with Yinta, on the other hand, until Burns manages to write her a poem in Arawak, after which she becomes his perfect muse and companion till he dies. (Poets, take note.)

There is a hard lesson here for anyone eager to impose their own cultural and economic needs on an unwilling people.

The Robert Burns who emerges in these fictional “journals” is

neither monogamous nor sober, but he is not the professional

roisterer of fond Scottish memory either

Preserving our literary heritage

2006-07-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

Preserving our literary heritage

KYK-OVER-AL,
Part One1945 – 1961
By Petamber Persaud

THE makers and custodians of Guyanese Literature were ever conscious of the need to preserve, to enhance and to promote our literary heritage, resulting in numerous literary periodicals gracing various stages of our history.

The makers and custodians of Guyanese Literature were also cognisant of the need to encourage emerging writers and to reward good writing.

What may be the first recorded call for a local literary prize can be found in the second issue of KYK-OVER-AL, June 1946.

The Honorary Secretary of the British Guiana Writers’ Association (BGWA), James W. Smith, at that time suggested the establishment of a literary award via The Leo Medal for poetry, The Webber Medal for fiction and The Clementi Medal for non-fiction and drama.

Of interest too was the call by the President of the BGWA, H. R. Harewood, for a Readers’ Association ‘as a sort of complementary body’ to the writers forum as if to support what Seymour said early in his first editorial of KYK, ‘there’s so much we can do as a people if we can get together more’. So it seemed that the shapers of KYK were catering for every aspect of local literature, a reflection of its success and longevity – 17 long years and 28 expansive issues.
This is by way of leading up to the objectives of KYK which were ‘to forge a Guyanese people, and make them conscious of their intellectual and spiritual possibilities’ and to record ‘the ferment of cultural activity in the West Indies and its impact and influence on life in Guyana’.
To see those objectives more clearly it would be useful to locate KYK in its Caribbean context.
After the Second World War that affected the British dependences in the West Indies, there was a fermentation of a West Indian literature. That movement was given direction by ‘the little review’, a title covering the periodicals of the time including BIM of Barbados edited by Frank Collymore and FOCUS of Jamaica edited by Edna Manley. ‘The little review’ was also labelled the ‘nursery of literature’ for the West Indies. KYK is the only surviving magazine of that period. And there are many reasons for its survival.

One of those reasons could be found in the quality and dedication of the people involved in the production. KYK was published in conjunction with the BGWA, British Guiana Union of Cultural Clubs (BGUCC) and the DFP Advertising Service. Not much is known of DFP and its obvious role in the production of the journal except that it was managed by J. E. Humphrey.
The two other organisations were powerhouses in the development of literature and culture. The BGUCC was formed in 1943 as an umbrella body to some 40 clubs from various parts of the country and consisted of a number of well-respected members of society including N. E. Cameron (President), Mildred Mansfield, C. I. Drayton, A. J. Seymour, E. A. Q. Potter, and Esme Cendrecourt, among others.

The BGWA founded just after the BGUCC was formed consisted of members like H. R. Harewood (President), W. I. Gomes, Seymour, among others. KYK-OVER-AL was established as the organ of the BGWA and mouthpiece of the BGUCC which were very active in cultural spheres of Guyana.

Another reason for the survival of the journal was that it functioned as an outlet and platform for West Indian literature. This can be seen with the publications of the works of Roger Mais, Edward Brathwaite, Aime Cesaire, Frank Collymore, George Lamming, Una Marson, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Philip Sherlock, Derek Walcott, and Harold Telemaque, among others. Within this section will fall the invaluable articles on West Indian literature by Seymour like ‘The Literary Adventure of the West Indies’, ‘The West Indies of the Future and the Writer’ and the ‘KYK-OVER-AL: Anthology of West Indian Poetry’.

The editor and the editorial advisory committee (another positive move) which included Lloyd Searwar and others experimented with various aspects of magazine production. For instance, in reference to timing, the release date was brought forward to ‘less competitive’ months, in reference to size, it was reduced ‘for pockets and sachets’, and the book review section was expanded to include review of art, film and drama.

Seymour also credited his wife, Elma, for her enormous help in advertisement and marketing. Elma was a tower of strength and support to Seymour in his literary and cultural endeavours.
Despite some criticism levelled against the magazine’s lack of critical analysis, the strength of KYK was found in its scope and range in its recording role, publishing some 500 poems, 400 articles, a few short stories, symposia and colloquia, and scores of book reviews.

In poetry, adding to the above list of West Indian poets, is the local impact coming from the pen of Martin Carter, Wilson Harris, Jacqueline De Weever, Edgar Mittelholzer, Edwina Melville, Ian McDonald, Ivan Van Sertima, Milton Williams, among others.

In the field of fiction, there are samplings from Basil Balgobin, J. A. V. Bourne, Jan Carew, Eugene Bartrum, Sheik Sadeek, among others.

While there are only three plays in the 28 issues of the magazine, the articles on drama by N.E. Cameron, Rajkumari Singh, Ruby Samlalsingh, Frank Thomasson, and Sara Veecook are very valuable.

KYK-OVER-AL (see over all), the magazine, was named after the ruined Dutch fort of the same name on a small island near the confluence of the Essequibo, Mazaruni, and Cuyuni Rivers as a watchtower for ‘the expression of an alert people’. KYK went to sleep in 1961 but so good was its intent and so valuable its impact, it was revived in 1984 under the editorship of Seymour and Ian McDonald, moving to newer levels of scholarship.

(Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com)Guyanese Literature Update:1. THE GUYANA ANNUAL 2006/2007 is under production; for further information please contact the editor at telephone number and email address listed above.

2. Under preparation by this author is A HANDBOOK OF GUYANESE LITERATURE. Information supplied on any aspect of our literature will be duly acknowledged

(Guyana Chronicle)

The Speech of Angels (review)

2006-07-28T09:25:00.000-04:00

A literary concerto

This is a review of the last published novel by the gifted internationally best-selling Guyanese writer Sharon Maas. We are all anxiously awaiting the appearance of her fourth book. This review was first printed in the Stabroek News, Guyana in January.

Sharon’s wonderful books are available on the internet at Amazon.com.

Enjoy…

Elizabeth

The Speech Of Angels

Sharon Maas (London: HarperCollins, 2003, 422p.ISBN 0-00-712385-X)

Review by F. E. Alleyne

There are writers who, while not natural storytellers, are so skilled at their craft that the story fuses itself into a commendable and coherent whole from structural elements painstakingly arranged. Sharon Maas is not one of these.

In this her third novel, The Speech Of Angels, Sharon Maas proves herself once again to be a gifted and natural storyteller. Her story pours out, seemingly of its own volition, in such fluidity of movement and beauty of language that any structural flaws or minor inconsistencies are glazed over and become imperceptible to the reader and irrelevant to his enjoyment.

Maas’ writing style tends more to the narrative than to dialogue and in the hands of a lesser writer this would slow the tempo of the work and constrict the flow. With Maas, however, her use of metaphor and imagery is so evocative that any slowing merely allows for appreciation of the poetic prose and its impact upon the senses.

“It was an oval pool of turquoise tiles and shallow water which caught the early morning sunlight and played with it in concentric circles rippling backwards from the spitting fish.”

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels,” said the dour Thomas Carlyle. This famous quotation, from which the title of this volume is taken, was the opening line of his scathing essay on the opera in which he attacked what he saw as the debasement of music for the frivolous amusement of a sybaritic populace. He argued that “nothing among the utterances allowed to mankind is felt to be so divine” as music and that it should be used as a vehicle for worship, for whatever in mankind is divine.

Maas seems to agree for it is this quest for the divine in music which forms the tonic key in this romantic epic tale of a gifted child’s progression to adulthood and self-realization.

Five-year-old Jyothi, happily secure in her Indian village, is seduced away from awareness of self and boundaries by the pure siren sound of a sitar which resonates in her very soul. “Light and sound merged into a single entity pulling her forward…Music! This was music!... She stood in the doorway transfixed…”

But Technology intrudes upon the age-old customs of her village and sweeps away her family’s livelihood taking with it the planned, pre-destined order of their lives. Jyothi is soon living in a hovel on a Bombay pavement but the squalor of her surroundings fails to dim her inner glow and she is befriended by a childless German couple, Jack and Monika, who are intrigued by her vivacity and by her face which had “a wraithlike beauty to it, a luster barely veiled by the smudges on the thin cheeks.”

When tragedy strikes and her world disintegrates, she is adopted by the couple and taken to Germany but her trauma lingers and she remains encased in a solitary inner world, finding it difficult to communicate even as she struggles with feelings of inferiority and the rejection of her peers.

It is then discovered that she has a rare musical talent which her adopted mother, Monika, devotes herself to honing and perfecting and Jyothi is soon feted and courted as a prodigy, a Wunderkind. But, though she plays the violin to please her mother, there is no longer any joy for her in music and the spontaneous laughter which had lit her early childhood is gone.

Even as she begins to heal and develop, tragedy again shakes her foundations and she must reconstruct herself anew but this time there is an accepting school environment and an empathetic friend. A visit to India disturbs this ephemeral new equilibrium, however. She sees herself in a child-beggar, “I had done that myself…I had borrowed my neighbour’s baby and lugged it around as an asset to my begging forays. I was that little girl.”

As Jyothi achieves material success as a violinist, and as betrayal drives her to seek solace in striving for greater technical perfection, she develops a brittle and imperious outer persona which thrives on adulation and applause, and succeeds in suppressing her lingering self-image of the ‘street child’. Then the fragile edifice she has constructed crumbles in a crescendo of silence and she is forced to confront her roots.

Unlike Maas’ earlier works, which incorporated broader societal issues, this is a study of an individual’s travails and triumphs, drawing more upon psychology than sociology and, where the societal issue of racial intolerance arises, it is dealt with in the pragmatic manner of a child.

The adults are shocked by a bigoted diatribe but thirteen-year-old Jyothi is unfazed, “I had known for years that people judged me because of my origins and because of how I looked…You can’t fight these people; you can only shield yourself from them, and that is what I had been doing for the last seven years”.

Maas herself, a ‘mixed native of British Guiana’, who was propelled as a teenager from 1960’s Guyana to an English boarding school and who later lived and worked in Germany, would certainly have had experience of bigotry but the issue is treated with a sensitivity which keeps it from clouding the perspectives of her characters.

Literature is often adjudged by its mimetic quality, its ability to imitate life, and often seems more real than life itself. Maas succeeds in this mimesis. Her characters are finely and realistically drawn and, while a few remain one-dimensional, the main actors are portrayed with all their idiosyncrasies.

From Monika’s neurotic but stoic nature, with her strongly disciplined Protestant ethic which she imparts to her adopted daughter, to the laid-back sensitivity of Jack and the anomic nature of the man Jyothi falls in love with, the characters live. However, Jack and Monika’s personal lives fade from view when Jyothi joins the family and assumes center stage and, as they become the supporting instruments in this literary concerto, their own lives become a bit too muted.

The book’s structure is elegantly simple, without the complex inter-related plot structures of Maas’ earlier works as it relies instead upon the internal struggles of the individual for its complexity, and though there are occasional descents into the style of the romance novel, these do not significantly detract from the quality of the writing itself.

The Speech Of Angels transports the reader into a world of emotions and sensory images - superimposed upon the experience of different cultures - and the imagery lingers. It is both entertainment and fine writing. It is a great book.

PRESS RELEASE: OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH BY JAMES C. RICHMOND IN NYC !!!!

2006-07-26T13:51:00.000-04:00

James C. Richmond, Poet

www.jamesrichmond.blogspot.com

718-807-8491

PRESS RELEASE

‘ON THE WINDOW OF MY SKIN’
Poetic Expressions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOOK LAUNCH

Poet James C. Richmond in collaboration with JRG Fashion Café, the only restaurant located in the heart of downtown Brooklyn boasting a roof deck patio, presents the launching of his book, ˜On the Window of My Skin” poetic expressions on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 6pm.

˜On the Window of My Skin” is a stimulating work written by the renowned poet in his inimitable style and clearly demonstrates his ability to fuse western and traditional cultures while fostering greater thematic understanding.

This book certainly hits the mark with both insightful and impassioned offerings and the publication is already being hailed as a winning page-turner. New York’s Caribbean Impact newspaper certainly gives it a thumbs-up, with its comment - ˜Masterful. Richmond displays a deep understanding of poetry that gnaws at the reader, leaving an electrifying tingle. The poet writes with vivid detail and awesome power. He is a literary Powerhouse...”

The launching of the book, ˜On the Window of My Skin” by James C. Richmond on August 3 at JRG will be preceded by a cocktail reception.

You are cordially invited.

JRG Fashion Café
177 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn NY, 11217
(718) 399-7079

Membership Campaign

2006-07-21T15:57:00.000-04:00

In keeping with the electoral spirit in Guyana we have decided to announce our very own "Mittelholzer Campaign" which we encourage all members and non-members to help us out with. Our campaign is a membership drive with the main objective reaching the number of 500 registered members (membership is free and only takes a few minutes !!) by Friday, September 1, 2006. While I know that is going to be a difficult task, I have complete confidence that we will reach our goal provided we all work together to spread the word about our site as much as possible. We are capable of so much as individuals that there is no doubt in my mind that as a group, we can reach out to people and attain our target of 500 registered members in no time so I urge all of you who are members and non-members to do what you can to help us reach our goal... We have so much potential and can accomplish so much that it is now the time for us to take action by bringing as many people together as possible...We call on all of you to help us as we cannot do this alone so please, do all that you can for this most worthwhile cause...

The Mittelholzer Foundation
http://www.mittelholzer.org/forum/index.php
_________________

Woodbine or The Last Of The Redmen

2006-07-21T15:52:00.000-04:00

This review was printed in the Stabroek News in January of this year. Mr. Gilkes had mentioned plans to stage the play in the US and Canada and I would urge all our Guyanese and Caribbean friends in the diaspora to not miss the chance to see it if it staged at a theatre near you. Or even not so near…It may resonate most with Guyanese but it’s an experience that would thrill anyone familiar with the peculiarities of Caribbean societies and the ways in which these have changed over the years.

Enjoy…

Elizabeth

Woodbine or The Last Of The Redmen

A play in two acts for one actor by Michael Gilkes

Review by F. E. Alleyne

In his infamous defence of slavery, the Victorian Thomas Carlyle, once said that the union of abolitionist philosophy and economics, the dismal science, would give birth to “dark extensive moon-calves, unnameable abortions, wide-coiled monstrosities, such as the world has not seen hitherto!”

If there is any satisfaction to be had for people of the Caribbean where such creatures now abound it is surely in the thought that, were Mr. Carlyle to be transported to the mid-twentieth century Caribbean, he would undoubtedly have imploded from shock as he discovered a world in which we monstrosities had become the guardians and defenders of the very cultural values which he himself had professed to uphold.

But his vengeful spirit must have chortled away in glee as he read the title on the play-bill of a stage production at Cara Lodge in Georgetown in January 2006 - Woodbine or The Last Of The Redmen by Michael Gilkes. “At last, a new millennium and we are free of the abominations”, he must have exulted. The economists he abhorred could have warned him not to theorize based on faulty assumptions.

One man, one small room, a few props, and a cozily ensconced rapt audience struggling to keep at bay the tearclouds threatening scattered showers. One life, epitomizing a class, a genus - some memories. The result, theatre at its best.

In recent years ‘one-man theatre’ has become all the rage in New York and, to a lesser extent, in London. But, even as we read accounts of the worst of these, we cannot help but wonder at the amazing skill of an actor who can single-handedly hold an audience without a supporting cast.

Woodbine, is a play in two acts with a sole actor, the playwright, playing the role of the principal protagonist, Mr. Redman, whose life is being chronicled, as well as the other four major roles.

This is a tragi-comic fantasy in which Mr. Redman, last scion of the Redman family, is also an embodiment of The Redmen, the aptly described social class which occupied the middle rungs of the social and economic ladders of the epidermically-stratified societies of the post-war Caribbean. The middle class which served as the bulwark against anarchy.

Mr. Redman, the Redman, has in his twilight years been tide-swept into impecunious circumstances and is holding fast against the currents to the standards which characterized his family, the Redmans, while Mr. Redman, The Redmen, is dead and being mourned by Mr. Redman. The last of the Redmans is determined that his swan-song shall be an investigation into who killed his alter ego, The Redmen.

Smoke-and-mirror antics have nothing on this play. It employs deeply psychological sleight-of-hand and intellectually stimulating allegory, interspersed with seemingly prosaic passages, to produce a experience which follows the audience on softly padded feet as they leave, bemused, at its end.

This is serious socio-political analysis elegantly party-dressed as entertainment, and it is an indictment of all modern Caribbean societies and their individual members – all of us.

But entertainment it certainly is too. From the dead-pan satire of Mr. Redman, punctuated with exquisitely delivered morsels of bawdy humour which never become vulgar, to the ‘sweet-boy’ mannerisms and machismo of his ‘small-days’ friend, the play holds the audience in the world it creates.

The emotionally charged sequences of the play are relieved at intervals with slide-shows of the Redmans and The Redmen (including those Redmen who - in the eyes of the Redmans – did not need the characteristic pigment since they were eminently qualified, on all other counts, to be Redmen) as well as by musical pieces, a competently but soullessly executed waltz, and a spirited masquerade dance which puts all modern Guyanese masquerade bands to shame.

The latter is accompanied by the simultaneous screening of a similar dance which, perfunctory though it is, draws the eye, producing an illusory effect as of simultaneous existence and echoes the surrealistic elements of the play itself.

So Who Killed The Redmen?

Act one, Scene one, opens with the parting of a pair of mahogany doors as an elderly man is wheeled onto the stage. He appears to be slightly infirm and displays the distraction and disorientation peculiar to the unutilized elderly.

The setting is the “The Palms”, Georgetown, euphemistically called a Gentlemen’s Home, a structure which once attempted to match its elegant name but gave up and instead focused all its energies on trying to emulate the decay of the living repositories of history, knowledge and wisdom, abandoned to physical and mental decomposition within its walls.

But this inmate is valiantly fighting the process. His room is incongruously furnished with an elegant escritoire, a legacy from his father, and on it lie a china bell and a few imposing tomes. A champagne flute nestling against a bottle of water proclaims that Roger Algernon Fitzwilliam Redman - self-described alms house inmate and eccentric old fart - has style.

A knock heralds the advent of an invisible newspaper reporter. Redman, R.A.F. – no, he wasn’t in the air force – visibly sloughs off his distracted mien, dons the proverbial stiff upper lip and greets the young man in a benevolently commanding tone which almost hides his pleasure at receiving a visitor and succeeds in intimidatidating his guest into respectful silence which lasts for the duration of the interview.

The reporter has come because this living relic is heroically and unprecedentedly attempting to produce a hard copy of the precariously stored contents of his failing memory. He hesitantly sits - assured that old age is not catching - and listens.

And so begins one of the longest and most brilliantly executed soliloquies in the annals of Caribbean theatre, a gem the likes of which have not graced the Guyanese stage in many a year.

Mr. Redman is disembowelling his memory and, utilizing the skills clandestinely gleaned from his father’s pathology texts, is attempting in this theatrical autopsy to discover, not what, but Who, killed the ‘middle class’. Exceed his jurisdiction as pathologist he might, but his detective work is no less painstaking as the dissected parts of the deceased are laid out for our examination.

Mr. Redman, as we will discover, is uniquely qualified for the task as both pathologist and deceased. But is he also the accused?

And, for that matter, is this autopsy or vivisection? Who says the middle class is dead? Surely a society must have a middle and not just a beginning and an end? Well, in this fantasy, anything is possible and the evidence Mr. Redman presents suggests that such an outcome really is quite possible.

But, we are dealing here with the middle class of the Caribbean as the Redmans knew it - people who usually happened to be somewhat tinged with vermilion, though sometimes they had no colour at all, or all the colours, but most of all who upheld the standards of our societies, who cared about culture, the arts, the environment, good government, personal responsibility, clean streets and neat fences, the helpless and needy, honesty, decency, putting one’s best foot forward, smiling in the face of personal tragedy, wearing their game legs, arms, and other handicaps as badges of courage. These were the bourgeosie as they later came to be derisively termed.

The ones who treated the entire Caribbean as one family, who moved freely throughout the region, creating ties of blood and culture. The ones who prided themselves on always doing a good job regardless of remuneration or lack thereof and who knew just how to fight procrastination.

The latter philosophy is exemplified in the play by Mr. Redman’s “Do It Now” exhortation (no, Nike didn’t invent the concept, there was a better version before) but was more elegantly expressed by the penultimate Redman, Makepeace Richmond, the Guyanese sage who coined the term, ‘Clown Council’, and whose philosophy was “Oh, stop staring at your navel and get on with it”

So, now that we have defined the term, who or what killed the middle class? Mr. Redman lays out the evidence but knows his limitations as a pathologist and does not form conclusions.

This question has to be decided by all of us, the members of the jury, based upon a careful consideration of the evidence which was carefully compiled and laid before us by Mr. Redman, of Murray Street, Georgetown, and Mr. Redman, The Redmen. A fictitious address, you say? That is not an address, Sir, that seems to be part of the evidence.

Was it perhaps that some essential Redmen elements wore Fanonesque masks to cover their skins rouges and were stifled with these? Is that a trace of powder on the evidence table – no, never mind, just a few ‘unfortunate black-peppers’. Or were they perhaps squashed in the upward surge as the upper classes retreated and the lower classes raced for the top? Or maybe was there a grand conspiracy involving all the classes, including The Redmen themselves?

Did they perhaps, not liking themselves, incorporate a timed self-destruct feature into their systemic structure? After all, see how flustered they were when British Royalty deigned to partner one their daughters in a dance.

Or was it a tragic accident which occurred as some Caribbean societies attempted to build that mythical construct, the classless society? Or maybe it was a heinous Imperialist Plot to infiltrate the Region with technology designed to produce an epidemic of ghetto culture and an addiction to disposable plates and cups and cars and people?

But maybe there was no death at all and Mr. Redman was deluded. He was, after all, a tad long in the tooth, and we must not forget that this is theatre, surrealistic theatre at that.

If there is one seeming flaw in this masterpiece it is the apparent existence of a vacuum which undoubtedly the playwright intended to serve as part of the evidence. The names and photographs of countless eminent Redmen of various hues are laid before us but there is a glaring absence. Where are the I-words? They can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And where is Mr. Redman’s wife, partly descended from I-words?

This play is based on the Taitt family, a prominent and accomplished Guyanese middle class family, who had all emigrated from Guyana by the early eighties. They are also related by marriage to the Mittleholzer clan which produced the Guyanese literary giant, Edgar Mittleholzer, a Redman.

Mittleholzer, in his autobiography, A Swarthy Boy, described for us the intricacies of the colour-based caste system of post-war British Guiana. As he observed, the social rungs of the society were occupied in order of nearness to white skin colour or distance therefrom. But there was one group, de facto out-castes, if the expression would be pardoned, who regardless of personal or professional achievement were socially excluded from the pecking order, the I-words, Indians. These included the soon-to-be-legendary Luckhoo family.

Since the playwright would have known this, the small sprinkling of Indians in the account of prominent Redmen must have evidentiary significance. Are we the jury to cast suspicious eyes upon Indians? Is it possible that they were involved in the death of The Redmen?

As one who is of the pure vermilion blood on one side of the family and contaminated by the I-word on the other, I can testify that there certainly was motive. But that testimony should be stricken from the record and, as is usual in a proper court, from the ears and, in this case, the eyes, of the jury.

So who, or what, killed The Redmen? If the judge’s sentence which follows the delightfully surreal trial at the end of this play can be admitted into evidence and, since this is a fantasy, we may assume that it can, it would appear that the judge is privy to some information that is withheld from us.

Was the deceased really dead or did he shape-shift for a while into an amorphous splintered hydra, melting into bi-chromatic metropolitan societies and into the obscure almshouses, real and figurative, of the Caribbean, awaiting the bugle call that would signal a renascence? After all, we never saw a body.

But the rule of law holds sway in the Caribbean, however swayingly, and with the introduction of this new evidence the jury must again confer. However, if there is any verity to the last hypothesis, then the first few notes have been sounded by this play. If readers will pardon the use of a heinous Imperialistic word, Woodbine, The Last Of The Redmen, is a terrific play. Well done, and thank you, Mr. Gilkes.

We received a reply from Mr. Jagan !!

2006-07-13T01:30:00.000-04:00

I know that some of you have probably forgotten however a few weeks ago we submitted a list of five questions to most of the political leaders in Guyana which we felt were some of the "key" issues of the upcoming election. We would like to thank Mr. Jagan for taking the time and effort to answer our questions in an open and straightforward manner.

To view his answers please visit:

The Mittelholzer Foundation
http://mittelholzer.org/forum/index.php

(and I hope to see you all register too !!)

thanks !!

What is CITES and how does it work?

2006-07-12T14:05:00.000-04:00

KyK-ers, this is the first of some environmental pieces which I hope to serve up in my column.

This one is a Stabroek News reject. Not relevant enough to the local wild-life trade.

Most likely too boring as well but they were too nice to say so.

Anyhow Jonathan the Bratt ain’t paying me yet so you gotta tek what you get…

NO MORE ANIMAL SMUGGLING PLEASE.

If trees could have the right to not be smuggled, what about poor parrots and snakes?

Do I have that right?

Not as young as I used to be.

(To be honest with you, the o-word has been used on me.)

No representation is being made here for crapauds and toads.

(Picking up for snakes was bad enough)

Remind me to tell you about that old reprobate of a lion who is living at the expense of Guyanese taxpayers and never had the decency to keep his private life private. No wonder she left him, rather finally.

See how God does work?

I have pictures! Ssh, don’t tell anybody. He got big teeth.

Besides he was just trying to impress me with his prowess.

(guessed that I have a weakness for Lions)

Elizabeth a….

What is CITES and how does it work?

by F. Elizabeth Alleyne

In the past two years, various issues surrounding trade in Guyana’s wild fauna have come to the fore and public attention has been drawn to the existence of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. But what exactly is CITES, what is its relevance to Guyana’s wildlife, how does it regulate trade, and to what end?

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES, is an agreement between a current total of 166 states, referred to as Contracting Parties, to abide by a specified set of rules and procedures designed to control global trade in wild species of animals and plants and their parts or derivatives. While CITES is usually seen as a conservation treaty, established for the preservation of wild flora and fauna, it is primarily a trade treaty though its mandate is to limit and control such trade.

The rationale for the Convention

The Convention was signed in 1973 by an initial grouping of 80 states. It resulted from growing awareness during the 1960’s on the part of governments, environmental groups and concerned individuals of the value of the diverse animal and plant species which were rapidly moving towards extinction due to destruction of their natural habitats and to over-exploitation by humans.

International trade, particularly from countries of the South where such species abounded to consumer states of the North, was growing at an exponential rate which often exceeded the rate at which the populations of wild species were able to replicate themselves. It was therefore recognized that such trade, if left unchecked, would eventually threaten the viability of the wild flora and fauna of the range states. It was obvious too that regulations to prevent over-exploitation through trade would need to be adopted on a widely multi-lateral basis.

The resulting treaty in which signatory states bind themselves to follow the rules agreed upon by all the parties does not however have an impact upon the domestic laws of these states. Consequently, the Contracting Parties have to implement domestic legislation in order to fulfill their treaty obligations.

How it works

The states party to the Convention were committed to ensuring that their sovereignty was not eroded by it and as such the guiding principle central to its formulation was that the Contracting Parties are the best protectors of their own flora and fauna. The application of controls agreed upon by the Parties therefore hinges upon a system of licensing by designated Management Authorities in each state. Each signatory state is also required to appoint a Scientific Authority to advise the Management Authority as to the level of trade that could be engaged in without a detrimental effect upon the particular species.

Guyana acceded to the Convention in May of 1977 and became bound by it in August of 1977. Operational aspects of the implementation of CITES regulations in Guyana are currently handled by the Guyana Wildlife Division which was placed under the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, in late 2005. Decision-making is conducted by a Management Authority and Scientific Authority set up in accordance with Convention rules.

The designated Management Authority, which oversees operations of the Division and issues licences and permits, consists of a Board comprised of officials of the Division, representatives from the EPA, the Police and the University of Guyana, and headed by a Chairman.

The Scientific Authority, also a Committee of individuals, advises on levels of sustainable trade, sets quotas, and commissions experts to conduct the Non-Detriment studies required by Convention rules.

The issuance of export licences and permits by the Management Authority is subject to rules laid out in the Convention and these vary according to categories of species as listed in each of three appendices.

Appendix I species

Species which are threatened with imminent extinction are listed in Appendix I of the Convention. Commercial trade in these species, whether alive or dead and including their parts or derivatives, is prohibited and other trade is allowed only where certain extenuating factors exist. Where trade is allowed permits have to be issued by both the exporting and importing states.

Import permits can only be issued where the state is satisfied that the specimen would be used for a non-commercial purpose which would not endanger survival of the species and, if the specimen is alive, that it will be kept in an appropriate environment where it will receive proper care.

An export permit can only be issued for an Appendix I specimen if an import permit has been issued, if the Scientific Authority advises that such export will not be detrimental to survival of the species, and if the exporter can prove that the specimen was obtained in accordance with the domestic laws governing its capture or harvest.

In addition, for live specimen, the potential exporter needs to prove that the physical process of transporting it to its intended destination will not involve any injury or cruelty. Local species listed in Appendix I of the Convention include the jaguar, the harpy eagle and the giant otter.

Appendix II

Article IV of the Convention sets out the requirements for trade in species listed in Appendix II of the Convention. Species of wild flora and fauna listed in Appendix II are those which, though not immediately faced with the threat of extinction, need to be accorded protection to ensure that existing stocks are not severely depleted.

For this category, the Convention does not mandate the issuance of import licences but export permits may be issued only if the Scientific Authority of the state advises that export will not negatively impact upon the survival of the species and the Management Authority is satisfied that the specimen was legally obtained.

If the specimen is alive, the same requirements for safe transportation apply as for Appendix I species. Most exports from Guyana of Appendix II species are of birds and reptiles.

Permits for re-export of both Appendix I and Appendix II specimen are only issued if the original importation was done in accordance with Convention rules. In the case of introduction of specimen from the sea, this must be authorized by a Certificate from the Management Authority.

Appendix III

Species listed in Appendix III are those which are included by one or more Contracting Parties who wish to have particular species of their flora or fauna accorded special protection by other Parties to the Convention. Export of these species from the range state follows rules for Appendix II species. For export from other states the Management Authority of the state must issue a certificate of origin.

Exceptions to the rules

The Contracting Parties are allowed to make certain exceptions to the rules of the Convention especially in cases where species are in transit, where they form part of a travelling exhibition or where the Management Authority certifies that the specimen was acquired before the provisions of the Convention applied to it.

Exceptions are also made, in certain circumstances, for specimen considered to be personal effects, specimen to be used for scientific research, fauna bred in captivity and for artificially propagated flora.

The quota system

In order to ensure that exports of species are not detrimental to their survival, the Scientific Authorities of exporting states often determine the maximum numbers of particular species which can be exported within a particular year. The CITES Secretariat is informed of the level of these quotas which are then utilized by the Management Authorities in the issuance of permits.

In some instances, where the species concerned is considered to be particularly threatened but the range state successfully lobbies to be allowed to engage in some level of trade, the quotas are set by the Conference of the Parties and often are accompanied by other restrictions as to the type of trade thus allowed.

Tightening the controls – the significant trade process

Autonomy of the parties in the regulation of trade in their flora and fauna was at the heart of the formulation of CITES rules, in particular the formulation of Article IV which regulates trade in Appendix II species. Implementation of Article IV was therefore entirely dependent upon the political will and implementation capability of the exporting states.

It soon became apparent, however, that this complete autonomy of the states was leading to unsustainable levels of trade in these species and that many were becoming threatened with extinction. As more and more species became eligible for inclusion on Appendix I, the entire raison d’etre of the Convention became subject to debate since it appeared to be an elaborate administrative arrangement for overseeing the process of extinction.

This led to unilateral actions by some states to ban imports of species which they considered to be over-exploited. While such actions are authorized by Article XIV of the Convention, they resulted in resentment on the part of exporting states and it became clear that the parties needed to agree upon an acceptable method of ensuring that the provisions of Article IV were effectively implemented.

As a result, at the eighth Conference of the Parties in Kyoto in 1992, the parties adopted a Resolution which established what became known as the significant trade process. In this process, the CITES Secretariat contracts expert reviews of trade data and biological characteristics of species listed on Appendix II in order to determine whether the levels being traded are inconsistent with viability of the species.

Where problems are found, the CITES Animals Committee makes recommendations for rectification and the Secretariat notifies the Management Authority of the exporting country of the need to respond to these recommendations. Where the exporting state fails to take remedial action, the Standing Committee of the Convention can recommend that the other states either refuse to import a particular species from the state or suspend all trade with it.

The introduction of this system of sanctions has resulted in improved effectiveness of the Convention since economic considerations of the potential impact of a loss of trade revenue has led many states to improve their systems for the control and monitoring of trade in wild species. For some states, where cost factors had hindered implementation, the system has also resulted in improved access to funding for the enhancement of their technical and administrative capacity to comply with Convention regulations.

In recent years the Convention has been criticized by some as being too protectionist in nature. This criticism has been leveled by pro-trade activists who view the wild animals and plants found in particular nations as natural resources to be exploited in the same manner as mineral or other resources.

However, as illegal trade in wildlife proliferates fuelled by burgeoning demand for exotic species and their body parts, and as habitat loss daily drives more wild species to the brink of extinction, environmentalists have also questioned the effectiveness of this treaty.

The validity of these concerns are given credence by the fact that the elaborate and costly administrative arrangements set up under the Convention addresses only one threat to the survival of our wild flora and fauna. Moreover, in attempting to address this threat, the Convention is circumscribed by both the same implicit view of wild flora and fauna as resources to be exploited, albeit in a controlled manner, as well as by the very principles of autonomous resource use on which the treaty was founded.

Columnists Needed !!

2006-07-11T15:10:00.000-04:00

If anyone is interested in gaining invaluable experience as a writer then we would like to offer them a unique opportunity through our forum to publish a column. You are free to write about anything you wish and there is no deadline or timetable to submit your articles. We have invited several local and international newspapers to visit our site so this may be a chance for aspiring writers/reporters to showcase their creative talents and skills.

If you or anyone you know are interested in this exciting opportunity then please let us know at jono@mittelholzer.org

"ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY".

An invitation to all Guyanese

2006-07-08T14:59:00.000-04:00

An invitation to all Guyanese

WE INVITE all Guyanese to visit and participate in shaping the future of Guyana together.

The Mittelholzer Foundation (http://www.mittelholzer.org/forum/) is an online forum designed to bring all Guyanese together. We want to facilitate discussions on how we can move forward from blaming different ethnicities and political parties for the current state of affairs to building a united nation, filled with promise and equal opportunity.

It is through an examination of our cultural and literary history that we become aware of the pain and suffering of our ancestors as they fought for freedom and Independence.

It is under the spirit of Guyana’s greatest novelist that we, members of the Mittelholzer family, have organized this internet site for all Guyanese to participate. We offer a full range of free services designed to market and promote all aspects of Guyanese culture. It our most fervent hope and prayer that each of you will visit our site and utilize our services such as a public forum and chat room to come together and create a better future for Guyana.

Edgar Mittelholzer (1909-1965) remains a national symbol of Guyana, writing not as one ethnicity or another, but rather as a “Guyanese” whose social consciousness compelled him to critique the injustices prevalent within society.

It is our belief at the Mittelholzer Foundation,
(http://www.mittelholzer.org/forum/) non-partisan and civic organization that there is no greater injustice today than the one we are doing to ourselves by harbouring the hatred we feel towards one another simply because of one’s ethnicity or social standing.

Our first project will be to facilitate a discussion between the heads of each political party. We have already extended an invitation to all political leaders to clearly state their various ideologies or political stances on issues.

We encourage you to submit your questions and concerns to the various leaders/parties via our website including rampant crime, poverty, handicapped kids, safer streets, drug/crime prevention, better sports facilities, and reliable electricity.

Our second project will be to republish the literary works of Guyana's greatest novelist and one of the most important literary figures of Caribbean literature, Edgar Mittelholzer, because we believe that while there are many differences that may exist between Guyanese, our culture is something that should be a unifying force and that it should also make us proud of who we are.

Mittelholzer’s Guyanese and Caribbean novels were published over a period of 19 years, from Corentyne Thunder (1941) to Eltonsbrody (1960).

We look forward to participating with you in Guyana’s future.

THE MITTELHOLZER FOUNDATION
(http://www.mittelholzer.org/forum/)

Fear of the Future

2006-07-07T11:35:00.000-04:00

Being With Uncertainty
DailyOM

Though much human fear is based on uncertainty, foreknowledge does not always ease the mind. It is often when our futures look brightest that our resolve crumbles and we veer off course. We can recognize that success is on the horizon, but we cannot discern how it will impact our lives. Because success can affect us in complex and unpredictable ways, taking us out of the status quo and pushing us into new circumstances that test our limits, the mere idea of attaining the life of our dreams can shake us to the core. Fear of the future is often closely intermingled with the fear that growing into your own potential will both change you irrevocably and force you to face situations that you aren't ready for. It is normal to unconsciously project ahead into the future and see success as a great weight bearing down on you. It is important to remember, however, that all the life changes the future will bring will be implemented into your life slowly and gradually.

When we visualize the future, we tend to focus on outcomes rather than the steps we will take to reach those conclusions. Thus, we may forget that growth is progressive. Your soul longs to fulfill its purpose-a purpose you agreed to in the timelessness in which you existed before your birth. Because of this, neither you nor the universe will set any circumstance before you that you are not capable of handling. Fear of the future can paralyze you, preventing you from living in the moment and from working toward your goals in a mindful manner. The key to conquering this fear lies in awareness. When you can identify the irrational thoughts that frighten you, you can replace them with logical, self-affirming ideas. If you are afraid that you won't be satisfied when you accomplish a certain goal, remember that no one achievement represents an end in and of itself. And if you fear recognition or feel unworthy, consider that even now you are deserving of praise.

Should fear of the future strike you as you strive to create, to excel, to grow, and to evolve, assert your courage. Assume that your fear is based on a false assumption and quell it with facts. Try to disregard past patterns and focus on the present by stilling the inner voice that comments critically on all you do. Tell yourself that the inevitability of your success is based not on luck or a universal mistake but on your already established talents, drive, imagination, and inner strength. Each time you overcome your fear of the future, you chip away at its very foundations. Eventually, you will clear a gap through which you can gaze upon the future with unhindered optimism.

http://www.dailyom.com/

2006-06-29T15:21:00.000-04:00

28-06-2006

Mr. Thompson has tripped himself up in his attempt to defame me

Dear Editor,

I, Faye Elizabeth Ann Alleyne, formerly Fraser, am trying to decide whether to continue to be hilariously amused or just outraged at Mr. Hubert Orin Stanislaus Thompson's 2000 word response to my letter of Sunday June 25 in which I sought to put him in a good light and dispel the public certainty that he was the supposedly anonymous source of the leak of confidential NIS information.

I have decided to put off the decision for a week to allow the sediment to settle but would like to take a moment of your time to correct a few inaccuracies contained in his letter which otherwise faithfully reproduced most of the statements he made during our very cordial conversation and which very effectively corroborated what I reported of our conversation in my letter. Except that I put a bit of a spin on it to make him look good in the eyes of the public.

I will first briefly detour to respond to the editorial note appended to my letter. I at no time asked anyone at the Stabroek News about their source nor would I have done so, though I and three other persons did call to ask who had written the article. On all but the last occasion a name not Mr. Earle’s was mentioned, and when I directly asked Mr. Earle, whose work incidentally especially on environmental matters I admire tremendously, whether he had written the article, he said “I can’t remember if I wrote that one.”

I responded “What do you mean you can’t remember? Writing an article is like giving birth. You’re not likely to forget it.” He then said “I write so many things”. This is true and he writes them all very well indeed and I’m sure he’s forgotten that he very cautiously never actually said “Yes, I wrote it.” In fact his gift of capturing the essence of a personality that he interviews is ironically what led to identification of the source. Sorry Johann, some people are gifted with a photographic memory. All I ended up with was the auditory kind and it is seldom a blessing I assure you.

I had hoped my last letter would also be the last time I would have to publicly address the issue since I officially withdrew, to my financial detriment, as of May 1 from my ancillary position as one of two public information consultants affiliated to the consulting (not international) agency which was hired to educate the public about the project and I am no longer therefore being either paid to, or expected to, defend or promote the project and am not, for that matter, authorized to do so either.

I should first make it clear that my withdrawal from this vital development project does not in any way indicate a withdrawal of my commitment to its successful fruition but was occasioned primarily by the fact that it became fashionable for attempts to scuttle the project to be redirected into attempts to scuttle me and my good name especially since some felt that my very vocal 24/7 support and defence of it was a betrayal of the ‘side’.

I’ve foregone two months of income because I was forced into an unscheduled withdrawal and I don’t appreciate having to waste further time responding to unjustified attacks in the newspaper but Mr. Thompson’s letter proves that he is very fashion-conscious indeed and I could not possibly let his defamation attempt go undefended.

As to what side I was supposed to be letting down I am still unsure since the only side I ever committed myself to was called Guyana and I have a feeling she may approve of my efforts to foster her development by whatever means necessary.

I was equipped with some very valuable skills at a high cost by the Hoyte administration and I will forever be grateful for that training but if anyone assumes that I was therefore honour bound to refrain from supporting the development efforts of any other administration they would be making a very fundamental mistake.

The focus of the training which I and nine others received was the creation of some well-programmed functionaries who were equipped with the skills and commitment to get past the obfuscatory hindrances of party politics and ‘civil service traditional methodology’ and get things done. Most details of this unique training programme are available in an article which I wrote for the Stabroek News at their request in October 2004.

We were incidentally also trained by a former Secretary to the Treasury who was so quietly efficient and capable both at his job and at imparting the fruits of his knowledge and experience that we voted him “Best Lecturer” out of a field of the very best professionals Guyana had to offer at the time. It was the memory of this humble Indian man whom we fondly referred to as “ST” that partly caused me to so empathize with Mr. HOS Thompson during our conversation.

Also, as he almost accurately mentioned, I’d known the frustration of what it was like to walk in his shoes and have one’s skills and best efforts discounted and ignored for years by a less knowledgeable person and the experience was shared by many of my much more skilled friends.

I don’t recall saying “wicked person” but it is not outside the bounds of possibility that I might have said so when we had gotten to the “buddy pals together” part of our conservation. Old slights run deep though I had spent my life working according to the provisions of the Official Secrets Act and would not have dreamed of running to the press for revenge and on the contrary had defended the person’s interests to the last for many years. Often lying through my teeth about their competence. Yes I am capable of lying when it serves a higher purpose.

It is said that no good deed goes unpunished and both the editor’s note appended to my letter and Mr. HOS Thompson’s response would appear to bear this out. A wise person also told me recently in more colloquial terms that “is kindness make crapaud loss he tail”. It was the first time I’d heard the expression so I’m not sure if the word was tail. It might have been watch or something similar but Mr. Fenty of “Words of Wisdom” fame would be able to correct me on that.

It subsequently turned out that the person was not very well acquainted with the concept but I have not so far been informed that kindness is now a banned commodity, the public proferrence of which should immediately lead to unjustified attempts at defamation.

I do apologize to Mr. HOS Thompson for trying to be kind to him and I assure him I will try my best to ensure it does not happen again but I object to the harsh nature of the punishment he meted out. Mr. Hubert Orin Stanislaus Thompson says that I misrepresented the views he expressed in our conversation. I did. Deliberately.

Since my purpose was to be kind to him I thought it would be inappropriate to state that he had expressed pure venom towards his superiors at the NIS in almost the same breath in which he boasted of the wonderful send off which he had been given by the organization. A venom which he now attempts to attribute to me.

As for my claiming to have worked in various countries and to be an “international expert” hired by an “international agency” I do not recall making such statements.

I do recall admitting that my services had been engaged by a consulting agency and also stating, in response to his continuous boasting about what an expert he is, that I was not exactly a neophyte who would have been unable to understand the confidential data which had been provided about the project, and which I had studied carefully, since I was trained in Economics, in Law and in what I usually understatedly refer to as Administration for want of a more suitable term to describe the multi-faceted training which I received courtesy of Mr. Hoyte’s vision.

I also mentioned that I had once had the good fortune while living in Barbados to be allowed by the ILO to spend several months undertaking for them a comprehensive review of the details of the Barbados fiscal system over a forty-year period for their purpose of constructing a model of how a small open economy should function.

Mr. Thompson says that “I have found Ms. Alleyne’s accounts of our discussion in this and previous articles very dishonest”. I am inclined to object strongly to this since I am not in the habit of being accused of being dishonest as anyone who ever taught me in school or worked with me or was even served as a customer by me in my salad years would be able to testify.

In fact, when I left the convent school which I attended as a teenager, my Headmistress Sister Hazel Anthony Campayne, (since we’re into full names here) even stressed this aspect of my character in a recommendation which brought tears to my eyes since I was always up to some mischief and thought I didn’t even deserve one.

She had noted however that I never lied about my misdeeds (which included being caught smoking in the garbage dump) and never tried to cast blame or implicate my confederates, often falsely claiming that I had committed the offences all by myself. Incidentally my confederates and I had learned from precedent that the garbage dump was the only safe place where no one would dream of searching for us. There is no privacy in a convent school. We had forgotten that the evidence lingers.

I would have felt no need to tape the conversation with Mr. HOS Thompson since I had called on April 2 only to ask the esteemed NIS Financial Controller if it was true that he had indeed resigned. A very pleasant lady said that he was out and suggested a time for me to call back. And incidentally he did not rush to correct the wrong assumption in the manner in which he claimed that he did but tried to say that it was not so incorrect to say so since he “had the option to continue because the NIS retirement age is 60 as opposed to the civil service’s 55.

In his cowardly rush to splash the venomous intent of his letter onto me Mr. Thompson has forgotten one significant fact. There were no “previous articles” in which I mentioned him. My scathing previous letter referred only to a cowardly “anonymous source”.

It would have been much simpler for all concerned if he had sent this signed account of his views to the newspaper in late March and pre-empted the unfortunate article.

As for my asking if anything would make him change his views I was simply referring to his stubborn and foolish insistence that he had seen and studied all the relevant data when it was patently obvious that he had not. I would hope that he’s not playing do-for-do and now trying to accuse me of offering him a bribe. Fire away, Mr. HOS Thompson. Mr. Hoyte chose his weapons well before he sharpened them. On that score you will not find a single living soul, or dead one either, to support you. In my youth I once worked in an environment where bribery was the order of the day but no one even hinted at one with me. That was a bit unfair and I’ve often wondered why. My indeterminate ethnicity perhaps? This is Guyana after all, colour matters.

As for his attempts to cozy up to competent professionals who may have made mistaken prognoses due to the unavailability to the public of complete information on the project, I don’t think they much like cowards.

I think it would be appropriate at this point to say “enough is enough”. I need to allow Mr. Thompson to best me at length of letter. (I’m still behind). It’s called saving face I think.

Yours faithfully,

Elizabeth Alleyne

Pictures in our heads

2006-06-27T17:20:00.000-04:00

Stabroek News

Bookshelf

Pictures in our heads

By F E Alleyne

Sunday, June 25th 2006

(Special Thanks to Elizabeth for her permission to republish this insightful article !!)

For America, the last decade of the twentieth century not only saw a proliferation of the use of new communication technologies but also witnessed the rise of multiculturalism as ethnic communities and new immigrants resisted the earlier normative goal of assimilation into mainstream American society and attempted to retain disparate cultural identities.

Dr Vibert Cambridge's book, Immigration, Diversity and Broadcasting in the United States, 1990-2001, examines how the American broadcasting industry has responded to this increasingly diverse society.

The book is meant to contribute to a clearer understanding of the nexus between immigration, race and broadcasting and in particular attempts to show how "broadcasting in the United States has responded to the changing racial and ethnic composition of the society," and to highlight the patterns of these responses and the functions they serve.

The author is particularly well qualified to undertake this analysis as he is not only a communications scholar but also an immigrant and member of an ethnic minority.

Dr Cambridge employs several research methods for this analysis, including evaluation of relevant government documents and corporate reports, examination of museum material and, crucially, in-depth interviews with industry professionals, focus groups and audiences. The findings of the study are placed in their theoretical context and the work also incorporates a brief history of immigration to the United States.

As the author notes, the period from 1820 to 1997 saw the settlement of almost 64 million immigrants to the US through processes which he describes as "colonisation, coercion and immigration." This number excludes those who were termed "illegal immigrants" after the imposition of laws intended originally to exclude certain ethnic groups and eventually serving to limit all immigration.

Immigration to the US occurred in four waves, with the last wave representing the period 1965 to the present. While the nation itself was founded by immigrants, the fourth wave had perhaps the most visible impact upon the diversity of the nation since it included large numbers of immigrants from southern regions who contributed to the "browning of America." This wave also encompassed "trans-national immigrants" who relocated to the US for employment purposes but retained cultural and identifying links to their home territories.

Mass communication theory in the United States has evolved through various eras in which the societal impact of the mass media has been differently interpreted depending upon the research methodology employed, but the power of the mass media to define reality was recognised as early as the 1920s when the political commentator Walter Lippmann used the phrase "pictures in our heads" to describe the process.

This defining role was again highlighted by studies over 1929-1933 which found that film causes major changes in behaviour, beliefs and ethnic relations. Viewers who were shown films in which particular ethnic groups were portrayed in a positive manner retained positive feelings towards the group, for instance.

Main-stream mass media, particularly radio and television, traditionally portrayed minorities and immigrants in negative stereotypical roles and the author chronicles the historical attempts by these communities to counter this by producing their own media content.

It was not until the 1960s, however, that concerted societal attempts were made to challenge the dominant ideology of the mass media. Changes in immigration laws in the 1960s which removed discriminatory restrictions coincided with the acceleration of the civil rights movement, and calls were made for more inclusion and particularly for fairer representation of blacks and other minorities by the broadcasting industry. These demands led to a more normative view of the industry's role and spawned both legislation and initiatives by public interest groups.

One significant piece of legislation that emerged was the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 which established statutory public broadcasting entities and legally constrained them to provide programming for America's diversity.

During this period also, the societal impact of the industry was investigated by the President's National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorder, the Kerner Commission, whose 1968 report found that the media's distorted portrayal of minorities had fostered and supported discrimination and marginalization.

The consequent evolution of the complex system of the broadcasting industry towards diversity goals is charted by the author and consists of an inter-related mix of legislation, technological advancements and community initiatives.

By the last decade of the century the picture of American society portrayed by the industry is a composite one that is altered by the industry sector through which it is viewed, but is one in which the society's diverse elements are no longer completely obscured by the ethnocentrism of dominant societal elements.

The libertarian founding principle of the industry continued to contradictorily foster concentration of ownership which places command of nodal points of the system into the hands of a dwindling number of behemoth corporations which exert tremendous influence at both the national and global levels and which, through increasing vertical integration, control both the infrastructure and products of the industry.

These companies are inclined by their profit motive towards homogeneity of media content, but minority communities are increasingly being targeted as markets, especially by cable companies, and are therefore becoming more visible though this representation is often subject to an emulsifying process whereby smaller numbers of some nationalities become subsumed into larger groupings.

Societal and legislative pressures have also resulted in efforts to represent diversity in hiring practices. In this latter arena success has thus far been limited with minorities either confronting only partially permeable glass ceilings or being employed primarily on the periphery of the industry with few penetrating the nave.

As Dr Cambridge illustrates, America's diversity is best represented in the arena of public broadcasting and especially in the community broadcasting sector. Non-commercial public television is still constrained by several factors including the need to access funding, but the sector's programming has made great strides towards its legally mandated goal of filling the needs of a diverse society and there is increasing evidence of the representation of minorities in the hiring of key professionals.

In the community, or public access, sector minorities are making increasing use of public access television channels, radio and the internet and the latter has made possible linkages between even the most marginalized communities.

In diversity programming this sector remains the most dynamic since it allows minorities to effectively make their own content.

Dr Cambridge contends that American broadcasting is responding to the needs of the new multicultural "universal nation" but that there continues to be overall disparity of access and this detracts from the "effectiveness of the American public sphere."

He has also shown, however, that the nexus of the tri-partite relationship has spawned the beginning of a "global public sphere" as immigrants to the United States increasingly engage in a plurality of existence and commitment as they function not only within the American environment but also as actively participating citizens of their sending countries and of the geographically disparate regional diasporas to which they become allied.

This is a meticulously researched and thought-provoking work that paints a pointillistic picture of the neural network that is modern American society and presents often conflicting signposts about the direction in which it is headed. It repays serious contemplation and should especially be explored by non-American readers who are on the receiving end of the media products that constitute American 'soft power' and that often act as a 'pull factor' in influencing migration.

Policy makers in sending societies would also find this book particularly useful given what it reveals about the potential to harness the contributions of their diasporas to national "public spheres" through effective use of existing communication channels.

Becoming Your Wrong Decisions

2006-06-26T16:33:00.000-04:00

You Are Who You Are, Not What You Do
DailyOM

Our perception of the traits and characteristics that make us who we are is often tightly intertwined with how we live our life. We define ourselves in terms of the roles we adopt, our actions and inactions, our triumphs, and what we think are failures. As a result it is easy to identify so strongly with a decision that has resulted in unexpected negative consequences that we actually become that "wrong" decision. The disappointment and shame we feel when we make what we perceive as a mistake grows until it becomes a dominant part of our identities. We rationalize our "poor" decisions by labeling ourselves incompetent decision-makers. However, your true identity cannot be defined by your choices. Your essence-what makes you a unique entity-exists independently of your decision-making process.

There are no true right or wrong decisions. All decisions contribute to your development and are an integral part of your evolving existence yet they are still separate from the self. A decision that does not result in its intended outcome is in no way an illustration of character. Still, it can have dire effects on our ability to trust ourselves and our self-esteem. You can avoid becoming your decisions by affirming that a "bad decision" was just an experience, and next time you can choose differently. Try to avoid lingering in the past and mulling over the circumstances that led to your perceived error in judgment. Instead, adapt to the new circumstances you must face by considering how you can use your intelligence, inner strength, and intuition to aid you in moving forward more mindfully. Try not to entirely avoid thinking about the choices you have made, but reflect on the consequences of your decision from a rational rather than an emotional standpoint. Strive to under! stand why you made the choice you did, forgive yourself, and then move forward.

A perceived mistake becomes a valuable learning experience and is, in essence, a gift to learn and grow from. You are not a bad person and you are not your decisions; you are simply human.

Balancing Self With Family Life

2006-06-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

Complementary Energies
DailyOM

Many of us have a hard time balancing taking care of ourselves with taking care of our family responsibilities. For people with young children, this can be especially challenging, but even people without children have obligations to care for extended family, partners, pets, and the home in which they live. It's easy to lose track of our own needs as we give ourselves to the people, pets, and places we love. However, it is essential to their well-being that we take care of ourselves, filling our own wells with water so that we have something to offer when we return home each day.

It is easy to get caught up in the demands of home life because they never stop. There is always one more thing you can do, another dish in the sink, a counter that needs wiping, or a person who needs a ride somewhere. If you don't set some boundaries, you will find yourself on an endless journey of housework and doing for others. Eventually, you will probably feel drained and out of touch with your inner life force. Instead of waiting for this to happen, integrate self-care into your daily schedule. Even Buddha insisted that he have one hour completely to himself every day. There are times when even that will not be possible-for example, with a new baby or a sick relative. At times like this, retreating inward energetically can be a lifesaver. You can always find five minutes to close your eyes and breathe consciously. You may even be able to meditate.

Most of the time, though, it is possible to set aside a full hour for yourself each day. In addition, scheduling a longer interval of time, perhaps on a weekly basis, can really help to restore your energy. Get a massage or go to a movie or out with a friend. Taking time to experience the world outside of your home makes returning home all the more wonderful. In the same way, taking care of yourself is a natural complement to taking care of your home and family.

Guyanese Film Festival

2006-06-23T08:46:00.000-04:00

A JULY-4 WEEKEND
Celebrating Guyanese
Films & Videos

RESERVE YOUR SEATS NOW!

The Guyana Cultural Association, producers of the annual Guyana Folk Festival,announces its inaugural international Guyanese Film & Video Festival to celebrate cinematic achievement in films and video in short format, feature-length dramatic or documentary projects with at least one Guyanese or a person of Guyanese heritage in a key creative role (Director, Producer, Writer, Lead Actor, etc.

The festival organizers understand and seek to promote that the cinematic form has been and will continue to be a universal voice with a global language which can be used to educate while entertaining. Therefore the Guyana Film Festival’s vision is to promote, celebrate and honor the craft of filmmaking that seek to promote Guyanese history, culture, experience and heritage using film, video and new media.

This year and for the next few years the main emphasis will be to showcase and honor film and video projects by pioneers over the years in Guyana. Annually a pioneer Guyanese filmmaker will be saluted and their work screened at the opening gala, while emerging and established filmmakers of Guyanese heritage will have their work showcased during the festival. The festival will close with the screening of a select short and feature project (narrative or documentary) of emerging filmmakers.

The three-day event will kick off with screening of this year pioneer inductee’s film. Over the rest of the festival works of emerging filmmakers will be screened along with panel discussions and workshops.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.mittelholzer.org

or

http://www.guyfolk.org

Writers of history in the nineteenth century

2006-06-22T20:09:00.000-04:00

History This Week No. 25/2006

By Arlene Munro

Thursday, June 22nd 2006

When the British gained control of the colonies of Demerary-Essequibo and Berbice in 1796 several British expatriates came to the colony of British Guiana to work in various capacities. Among these were George Pinckard, Thomas Staunton St. Clair, Henry Bolingbroke, Robert Schomburgk, Rev. Edwin Wallbridge, and Rev. Henry V. P. Bronkhurst. These men were professionals and wrote about their journeys and experiences in British Guiana. Their books are a valuable source of information on the social and economic life of the colonies during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and are written from a Eurocentric perspective. At that point of history, books were written by Europeans whose social position and financial resources enabled them to publish books. The coloured masses were still labouring in the canefields.

George Pinckard was born in 1768 in Northamptonshire and studied medicine in London, then at Edinburgh and Leyden. He graduated in 1792. He became a licentiate of the College of Physicians of London in September 1794. In October 1795 he was appointed a doctor to the British Expeditionary Force and sailed for the West Indies with Sir Ralph Abercromby. Pinckard arrived in Demerara on April 21, 1796. He resided in Demerara and Berbice until May 1797 and wrote several letters which became the foundation of his book Letters from Guiana. He returned to England in 1797 visiting Martinique, Jamaica and St. Domingue on his homeward journey.

The result of his travels in the West Indies was the publication of a book entitled notes on the West Indies in 1806. In 1798 he served as a physician during the rebellion in Ireland. Consequently, he was appointed Deputy-General of Hospitals. He also served in the Duke of York's expedition to the Helder.

Subsequently, he founded the Bloomsbury Dispensary in London. He died on May 15, 1835. His book, Letters from Guiana, is a source of historical information on British Guiana at the end of the eighteenth century.

Sir Robert Schomburgk was born in Prussian Saxony on June 5, 1804. He travelled to the United States in 1828 then to Anegada in the Virgin Islands in 1829. He took the opportunity to survey the island and submitted a report to the Royal Geographical Society in London. The Geographical Society was so impressed by the report that it commissioned Robert Schomburgk to explore British Guiana from 1835 to 1839. As a result of these journeys he published Travels in the Interior of British Guiana, 1835-1839. In 1841 he was commissioned by the British Government to survey the colony and to fix the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela. This boundary which was known as the 'Schomburgk Line' was recognized from 1841 to 1895. In 1840 he published in London A Description of British Guiana. He also wrote several articles for the Royal Geographical Society. After completing his work he returned to England where he was knighted in 1844. He died in Berlin in 1865 after retiring from public service the previous year.

Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Staunton St. Clair was another expatriate who wrote a book about British Guiana. The date of his birth is unknown but it appears that he was born in the penultimate decade of the eighteenth century. He studied in Edinburgh. His father arranged for him to be given an ensign's commission in the First or Royals which was under the command of the Duke of Kent.

In 1805 Thomas Staunton St. Clair joined the 1st battalion which was appointed for service in British Guiana. He arrived in Demerara on 3rd January 1806. He left Guiana on 9th June 1808 and returned to Britain. In 1809 he and his expedition went to Walcheren. Subse-quently, he served under Wellington in Portugal, Spain and France. He also worked in Gibraltar and Ireland. His book on Guiana was written several years after his departure from this country. It is entitled A Soldier's Sojourn in British Guiana and was published in 1834. It is a source of valuable information on the forts of British Guiana.

Henry Bolingbroke wrote A Voyage to Demerary and it was published in 1807. His book gives a description of the town of Stabroek, the slave trade and the Amerindians. There is a paucity of information on Henry Bolingbroke. He was born in 1785 and came to Demerara to work as a Deputy Vendue Marshal in January 1799. He returned to his country in 1806. He served as the Deputy Vendue Master in Suriname, 1807-1813 and died in 1855 in Norwich, England.

Rev. Edwin Angel Wallbridge was born on the Isle of Wight. He was ordained a Congregational Minister before he was assigned to work in British Guiana in 1842. The Smith Congregational Church was constructed under his supervision as a memorial to Rev. John Smith who, twenty years earlier, was wrongly sentenced to death for inciting the 1823 slave insurrection. Rev. Smith died in prison as the result of a serious illness.

Rev. Wallbridge wrote a book about this injustice entitled Smith, the Demerara Martyr. He was also the editor of a periodical entitled The Monthly Messenger. He did not support Church Establishment or the policy of immigration. He wrote several articles in which he condemned them. He participated in activities sponsored by the Reading Room and supported the annual colonial exhibitions. Rev. Wallbridge died in 1876.

Rev. Henry Valentine Peter Bronkhurst was a Wesleyan minister of religion. He was born in 1836 to a Dutch father and an Indian mother and received his early education in Ceylon. On becoming a minister, he was assigned to work among the East Indians in British Guiana by the United Kingdom Wesleyan Missionary Society. He arrived in the colony in 1860 to replace another missionary who had died. At first he served as a lay teacher and was subsequently ordained in British Guiana. His knowledge of the Indian language enabled him to serve as a Tamil interpreter and to teach both English and Tamil to children at a school in Lacytown. Rev. Bronkhurst's knowledge of Sanskrit, Syriac, and Hebrew was gained while he was resident in India and Palestine. In 1881 he published a book entitled The Origin of the Guiana Indians. The Colony of British Guiana and Its Labouring Population was published in 1883 and this was the most valuable of his historical writings. A Descriptive and Historical Geography of British

Guiana and the West Indies was published in 1890. Rev. Bronkhurst died in British Guiana on the 17th July 1895.

Many expatriates came to British Guiana to work during the nineteenth century and wrote books about their experiences in the colony. At that time the majority of the masses did not have the social position or the finances to publish books of their own.

Some of them were not literate in the English language. Consequently, the majority of the books, which were published, were the writings of European expatriates. These books are a valuable secondary source of historical information on British Guiana for students of History and all persons who are interested in Guyana's colonial past.

Stabroek News

Working Through Transitions

2006-06-22T19:36:00.000-04:00

Permission To Simply Be
DailyOM

The elation we feel when we have learned an important lesson, achieved a goal, or had a big breakthrough can sometimes be met with a period of downtime afterward. During this period of transition, we may feel unsure and not know where to turn next. Many people, during the pause between achievements, begin to wonder what their life is about. These feelings are common and strike everyone from time to time. Human beings are active creatures-we feel best when we are working on a project or vigorously pursuing a goal. But there is nothing inherently wrong with spending a day, a week, or even a month simply existing and not having a plan. Just be. It won't be long before you embark upon your next voyage of growth and discovery.

The quiet lull into we which we fall between ideas, projects, and goals can make life seem empty. After accomplishing one objective, you may want to move immediately on to the next. However, when your next step is unclear, you may feel frustrated, disconnected, or even a mild depression. You may even perceive your lack of forward momentum as an indicator of imminent stagnation. To calm these distressing thoughts, try to accept that if your intent is personal growth, you will continue to grow as an individual whether striving for a specific objective or not. Spending time immersed in life's rigors and pleasures can be a cathartic experience that gives you the time you need to think about what you have recently gone through and leisurely contemplate what you wish to do next. You may also find that in simply being and going through the motions of everyday life, you reconnect with your priorities in a very organic, unforced way.

The mindful transitional pause can take many forms. For some, it can be a period of reflection that helps them understand how their life has unfolded. For others, it can be a period of adjustment, where new values based on recent changes are integrated into daily life. Just because you're not headed swiftly to a final destination doesn't mean you should assume that you have lost your drive. The stage between journeys can become a wonderful period of relaxation that prepares you for the path that will soon be revealed to you.

The Mittelholzer Foundation

2006-06-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Under the spirit of encouraging national unity and preserving our culture we have launched a website called the Mittelholzer Foundation. Since we feel that all forums are only as good as their visitors, we would like to encourage everyone to join and participate.

Features of our site will eventually include:

Archives of rare pictures, historical journals and essays.

Free Online Classified

Free Community Cooperative

Gallery of hundreds of old and new pictures of Guyana

Free Event Listing

A Chat room

An assortment of arcade style games (including a cool cricket game !!)

Private Messaging

And much, much more ...

And hopefully an area where people can download and upload music

One of the most complete links pages featuring Guyanese and Caribbean sites

Once again, we cannot work on promoting national unity and preserving our history without your participation and as such, I must make a very public and personal plea for people to join and spread the work of our existence...

Main Page - http://mittelholzer.org/

Forum - http://mittelholzer.org/forum/index.php

Thanks,

Jonathan Bratt

jonathanbratt@rogers.com

Friends

2006-06-19T15:34:00.000-04:00

Gifts We Give ourselves
DailyOM

Good friends enrich our lives in so many ways. Through a magical combination of similarities and differences, friends offer us the opportunity to know ourselves as we are and help us grow into who we want to be. Our similarities attract us to each other, comforting us with familiarity when we see ourselves in them. When we are drawn to those we admire, the same recognition is at work, unconsciously acknowledging that these people possess qualities that we ourselves possess. By acting as mirrors, friends help us define who we are by reflecting our selves back to us.

Friends also help us know ourselves through our differences. Differences allow us to see other options and make choices about who we want to be. Sometimes we are drawn to those who appear to be our opposites, and we learn to accept the parts of them we love and the parts of them that don't resonate with us, thus allowing us a valuable learning experience. By expanding our understanding to include others' experiences, friends help us accept others. By understanding when someone's life differs from our own, we can learn about ourselves in contrast. There are times when we see in friends what we don't like about ourselves. That mirror reflection may be hard to take, but a good friend helps us find ways we can change and supports us in that choice.

Part of the joy of friendship is the feeling that we are accepted just the way we are, with no need to change. It is a gift they give us, and one we can give back every day. Ultimately, we choose friends because they make us feel good about ourselves and life. Through tears and difficulties, friends help us find the laughter. When we find those special people who offer us that perfect combination of comfort and stimulus to grow, we are very fortunate. Friends, those wonderful companions that walk with us through life, help us define and refine who we are and who we choose to be every day.

The Mittelholzer Foundation

2006-06-19T03:44:00.000-04:00

Please check out my latest site and current project "The Mittelholzer Foundation" which I hope will be an online community that both brings people together in productive dialogue and works towards preserving our culture. No site or forum is anything without the support of its visitors and as such, I strongly encourage all of you to come and participate in our forum...

The Following are links to the new site:

The Mittelholzer Foundation main page - http://mittelholzer.org/forum/cmps_index.php

The Mittelholzer Foundation Forum - http://mittelholzer.org/forum/index.php

All are welcome and encouraged to participate !!

The New World Journal

2006-06-18T13:04:00.000-04:00

Preserving our literary heritage

October 1964 – January 1967

by Petamber Persaud

GUYANESE periodicals of yesteryear are even more fascinating now that they have been relegated to the archival realm, taking researchers/readers down varied corridors of our past machinations, elucidating, vindicating, incriminating, educating and entertaining.

The NEW WORLD journal comprising 48 fortnightly and two monthly issues was one such periodical that pushed the frontier of magazine production further than its contemporaries, trying to get to the crux of the matter – examining the parameters of a new world, a new Guyanese world after independence in May 1966. A very slim publication, the NEW WORLD was seemingly a complete package, offering news analyses, features, literature, arts and culture sections.

Turning back those pages now, readers will be treated to topical issues of the critical 1960s including essays on sugar, the rice bill, a coalition government, sexual equality, trade unionism, the Moyne Report. Readers could relive debates like the one on art between Philip Moore and Donald Locke. There are features on drama by Francis Farrier, and Ken Corsbie, on the cinema by N. D. Williams, ‘language and literature’ by Jan Carew, culture by Martin Carter, the dilemma of the artist in British Guiana, jazz and thoughts on a National Orchestra. Space was made for short fiction, extract from a novel by Wilson Harris, and poems by Slade Hopkinson, Cyril Dabydeen, Carter, Annette Warren, Edwina Melville, Ian McDonald, Arnold Itwaru, among others.

There are papers on poetry by Walcott, and McDonald; reports on the Third Conference of Caribbean Scholars and Caribbean Writers and Artists Conference; biographical sketches/stories on E. R. Burrowes, Manna Dey, Sparrow, Joe Solomon, and Moses Bhagwan. In the world of sport, readers will get something on Lennox Beckles, boxing by Ivelaw Stevenson, sport with Reds Perreira. And space was made to showcase the art work of Leila Locke, Judith Drayton and Emerson Samuels. All of that was seamlessly packaged in slim volumes, numbering less than two scores and ten pages each.

But that was only part of the magazine – the glorious end products. There was, unfortunately, a downside to the story that is instructive to local writers, editors and publishers. Martin Carter, in a letter introducing the journal, stated, ‘the editor and the contributors, I know, are well aware of the high death rate of magazine. But at least they can console themselves with the thought that in order for something to die, it first had to be alive’. Some 28 months and 50 issues later, the editors of NEW WORLD stated, ‘this is the last issue…we apologise to our readers for late publication, our first failure in this respect. It is due largely to the same difficulties which led to our decision to close’. Some of those difficulties included high cost for printing, soliciting and servicing subscribers, distributions to local and overseas bookshops, poor sales and limited market, and in respect to this particular journal, to maintain the standard set, full time management was required. Above all, note must be made of the following statement by the journal’s editor, David DeCaires, admitting that ‘the economics of producing a small magazine are basically unsound; therefore, the magazine was never on a sound financial footing’.

Lesson learnt, David DeCaires (and his associates) avoided that shortcoming in establishing a successful daily newspaper, Stabroek News, progressing gradually from a weekly.

The NEW WORLD series of publications came out of the New World Group which was formed ‘at a time when Guyana was going through a period of great social and political upheaval’ of the 1960s. The group was formalised after many informal meetings of young Guyanese professionals interested in political and social analysis, a young brigade shunning philistinism for a new world of debate and dialogue. Those informal meetings were centred around Lloyd Best who came to Guyana in 1960 under the auspices of the United Nations to advise the Cheddi Jagan Government on setting up a planning unit.

‘In an attempt to grapple with the situation, the Group, produced the first and one of the most important issues of the NEW WORLD in 1963’, which was an attempt to promote a coalition government. The main article was written by Best in association with Miles Fitzpatrick’, a lawyer who was previously a senior member of the PPP.

NEW WORLD was intended to be an independent journal combating philistinism with objective analysis. Carter was in support for such a policy, ‘in our present condition few things can be as important as objectivity’. There was a need for such a magazine and NEW WORLD effectively fulfilled its mandate; opting to close when it couldn’t maintain its high standard.

Good literature, good literature with universal appeal will surface again and again, so it was no surprise when the NEW WORLD series of journals were reprinted into one great reference book.

Sources:

* Interview with David DeCaires, June 9, 2006, Georgetown, Guyana.

* Material supplied by DeCaires

* Available copies of NEW WORLD in the National Library.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

Guyana Chronicle

Fathers

2006-06-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

Providing Support
DailyOM

The idea of fatherhood is both personal and universal. We all have ideal concepts surrounding fatherhood, and we also have our real fathers-fathers who were there or not there for us, fathers who provided financial support for our families or failed to do so, fathers who loved or neglected us, fathers who were our role models or gave us someone to rebel against. Our father may have been there for us sometimes and not there for us at other times. The process of reconciling the ideal father that resides in our minds with the father that we actually have is a fertile one that can teach us a great deal about ourselves.

Our relationship with our father will often affect our relationships with the other men who will come into our lives. You may have learned to behave and think in certain ways because those were the ways that your father acted and thought. Certain talents that you possess may have been passed down to you by your father. There also may be personal issues that you inherited by virtue of who your father is. Understanding how your relationship with your father has influenced you can help you better understand yourself and the life that you have created.

In a time when mothers, the sacred feminine, and female energy are being honored, it is important not to forget the importance of fathers. Father energy and mother energy are the two complementary energies necessary to bring a healthy human being to fruition in the world. Many of the ideas surrounding fathers are changing in the wake of more modern parenting styles and the more egalitarian roles that are evolving between the sexes. More men are embodying the mother energy these days, and a woman can provide father energy for her children. Either way, we can all benefit from thinking about our fathers and how they have influenced who we've become and the ways that we walk through this world. Let us remember to honor our fathers.