Thunder: The Voice of a Besieged Nation
THE most dynamic figure in the history of Guyana’s freedom fight, Dr. Cheddi  Jagan, wrote in the ‘West on Trial’:  “In January 1950 we replaced the ‘PAC Bulletin’ (the mimeographed forerunner to the ‘Thunder’)  with the printed ‘Thunder’, as the official PPP organ, to help counter the propaganda of government (Colonial) and big business (the ruling class elitists).

Cyril Shaw courageously undertook the printing in his small printery, with handset types and a fist operated treadle press. The name ‘Thunder’ was taken from a William Morris poem: ‘Hark the rolling of the thunder/Lo, the sun, and lo thereunder/Riseth wrath, and hope and wonder.’

“Like the Guiana Graphic,” the other two dailies, the Daily Argosy and the Daily Chronicle were voices of big business. These three newspapers and the radio station had, in fact, interlocking directorates. To ensure support from the daily newspapers, the government gave them liberal support at public expense. The Daily Argosy was the main mouthpiece of the government.”

So, in essence, the average working class citizen had no mouthpiece, no voice, in the media, except initially the ‘PAC Bulletin’, and then, subsequently, the ‘Thunder’.

The fight for Guyana’s freedom , both against the imperialists and the neo-Nazis, was decades long and brutal, and the ‘Thunder’ played an integral part in the conference of independence and the restoration of democracy to this nation.

When Burnham split the PPP in 1955, for three years, he continued calling his new political party the PPP, and printing his new party organ under the name ‘Thunder’, so from 1955 to 1958 there were two publications called ‘Thunder’, which elated the elitists, because this split heralded disunity and consequential weakening in the ranks of the working-class.

The ‘Thunder’ and the PPP were both, along with the other arms of the party, established in January of 1950, so they are both celebrating their 61st anniversaries this year.

At a commemorative event on Wednesday 27th, January 2010, held at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, to mark the birth of the ‘Thunder’, MC Bheri Ramsaran said that this activity was merely one of hundreds of celebratory events planned countrywide by the Anniversary Commemorative Committee, which was headed by Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, to celebrate the PPP’s 60th anniversary, some of which had already begun, such as the PPP’s Old Year’s fundraising ball at Castellani House.

Dr. Ramsarran mentioned some of the activities that have already happened, including the commissioning of Party offices and/or sites for the same acquired countrywide, with special celebrations in Linden.

According to Dr. Ramsarran, ‘Thunder’ at its inception, was touted as the official, theoretical, educational journal of the PPP.
Delivering the feature address, at last year’s event, Mr. Navin Chanderpal spoke of the role of the Thunder in the political and ideological struggle.

Referring to Morris’s poem, Chanderpal said that, over the past sixty years, the words of the poem have aptly described the way this theoretical journal has made its contribution in shaping the foundation of the process of people’s thinking in the country.

He reminded the audience that the Thunder has its genesis in the ‘Pac Bulletin’, which was published  by the Political Affairs Committee, the forerunner to the  PPP, when it was established in  1946 by the late founding members, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan, Ashton Chase and Jocelyn Hubbard.

Chanderpal explained that a clear indication of the Thunder’s role was made manifest when there was a reorganization of the journal in 1969 and it became a quarterly publication.

He quoted from a projected slide presented to the audience: “As announced in the last issue in September 1968 of the monthly, which supersedes this quarterly journal, all Party news has been appearing in the monthly PPP group news letter, which may be regarded from October 1968 as the official organ of the People’s Progressive Party.”

Chanderpal continued, still quoting from the power point slide, “Vol.1 is the new quarterly theoretical and discussion journal of the PPP.

“Its new format, Thunder, will adhere to its original mission to enlighten, but will pursue its educational work with greater intensity.”

According to Chanderpal, this was a transition point, because the Thunder of the 1950’s was more a news-disseminating organ, with some articles of a discoursive nature.

He informed the audience  that the intent behind this transformation  of the organ was “to inform and educate, to help create  a better understanding  of the social, economic and other  grave problems that faced Guyana  and the rest of the capitalist world, and to urge  workers to organize so that they may act decisively  to inaugurate  a new and better social order.

“Exposition, commentary and interpretation will be made as brief and simple as possible but always consistent with clarity and will no way conceal essential facts, compromise truth or prevent the grasping of essential facts.”

According to Chanderpal, the preceding were the guidelines that were set for Thunder. He said that, when one reflects on what Thunder has produced over the years by way of literary material, it would be discovered that the journal has been true to these stated objectives.

He also drew attention to the display of issues in Thunder, which he said provides excellent research material.
In his presentation, Chanderpal traced the diverse ideas and range of subjects in the various editions, as well as the editors and contributors, many of whom were and are, prominent regional, international, and national figures.

Thunder could be found, for purposes of research, at the National Library and Archives, the University of Guyana Library and the Cheddi Jagan Reading and Research Centre.