– Devotes his life towards preserving Afro-Guyanese heritage
By Indrawattie Natram
GUYANESE-BRITISH vocalist and musician Edmond Montague “Eddy” Grant is now the Global Ambassador for the Guyana Reparations Committee. This announcement was made at an outreach conducted in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on September 18 and 19 by the Guyana Reparations Committee.
During the outreach, the Plaisance-born vocalist interacted with residents and school children from across the region. During an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, the 70-year-old Grant said that his main aim as the Global Ambassador is to educate the world on the history and struggles of Afro-Guyanese.
As the Global Ambassador, he intends to spread the rich Afro-Guyanese history everywhere he travels. With his brand “Ringbang” and his recently launched album ‘Plaisance’, the vocalist said he will spread the message across the World.
Born in Plaisance Village, East Coast Demerara, he said his new album which features singles such as “Now We are together”, “I am the one”, “True to You” and “Key to your heart”, are all set out to reflect on his early life in the village. Grant said that Plaisance is dear to him and boasted that he may be the only person in the world that has his village as his place of birth.
During interactions with Essequibo residents at the various outreaches, he said that in order for someone to be successful, they have to be involved in something they love and have a passion for. Music, he attested, was his greatest passion since childhood and today, he is known as the Kings of the Kings of Soca and Calypso music. He explained that he could have only achieved those accolades because of his passion.
“Never do anything for money, money must be secondary; do something for the love of it. Develop a passion for it and wake up and live it,” Grant said.
When asked if he has intentions of returning to Guyana to host a concert, he said he is willing once he gets sponsorship.
AFRO-GUYANESE HISTORY
The vocalist said that his brand “Ring Bang” was launched specially to donate the money to the teachings of African history in Guyana. He said that when one purchases the “Ring Bang” line of clothing then they will be supporting that cause.
“I don’t want wealth from this. I am wearing Ring Bang hats, belts, shirts and shoes, all these are available online. Guyanese should start shopping this brand since every dollar earned will be given back to Guyana,” Grant said.
Having supported the Guyana Reparations Committee, Grant said that the Ancestral Land Rights Bill is important, and as such he called on all Afro-Guyanese to support it. He said that many Afro-Guyanese are suffering from memory loss in the sense that they are forgetting the struggles of their African ancestors. He said that slavery destroyed African history and African culture and therefore called on the younger generation to get hold of a copy of the “The Guyana Reparations Story” by Eric M Phillips and Jonathan O.P Adams.
“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture, is like a tree without roots. Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will, the black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness,” is one snippet of the book that he shared.
Grant recalled his childhood days when his father would listen to him because he was the eldest child. He said that trust is important and vividly remembers whenever something went wrong around the house everyone would rely on him for information, because the trust was there.
Grant said that the Guyana Reparations Committee will be asking the government for 15,000 square miles of land to be given to the descendants of enslaved Africans as reparation. He said that the request is a fair one given the struggles the Africans faced on the plantations.
“We need to stop hurting each other and work together. The Africans need their identity, we must be able to trace back where exactly our foreparents came from, and we must be able to visit our foreparents’ birth land,” Grant said.
Those who interacted with Grant were honoured to meet the Guyanese singer. One such person was Ishmael Thomas, who cancelled all his plans when he heard that the singer was visiting. Thomas said that since he was a small boy he has been listening to Grant’s music and although he had migrated to the United States of America, his love for his songs never changed.
According to his discography, Eddy Grant has released 15 studio albums, 13 compilation albums and 19 singles. His album “Killer on the Rampage” peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard 200 charge in the United States of America and was certified as Gold. His single “Electric Avenue” received Platinum accreditations in the U.. and “I don’t wanna dance” topped the charts in five countries including Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 200, his Ring Bang remix of “Electric Avenue” reached Number Five in the UK Singles Chart.
