PLEASE allow me to respond to Mr.  Eusi Kwayana’s letter to Stabroek News on 4-12-2011 titled” no qualms about supporting a member of the elite against bullying, abuse or misrepresentation” in response to Dr Randy Persaud’s original letter in the Guyana Chronicle of  April 7,2011 titled “my response to Kwayana”.

Much of Mr. Kwayana’s letter ends up confusing my name, with another letter writer, (a Mr. Sultan Mohamed) and his preoccupation with defending Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye which I understand. What I find unacceptable is Mr. Kwayana’s ambivalence regarding Mr. Ogunseye’s labelling of the rampaging Buxton criminals as “freedom fighters” despite their savage degutting of children at Lusignan.

Mr. Kwayana must also proceed to fund “his conversations, meetings and conferences which promote dialogue” instead of just scoffing it away. He threw the first stone in this issue. I will not let him get away with it so easily. If we agree to convene in New York City, the food, (you have to have that dhal and rice man) etc, is something I can check into. Mr. Kwayana and I will both coordinate other details including him bringing all the conkie and metemji.
What is significant however, is when Mr. Kwayana does discuss the Guyana federation proposal he finds a little something cloudy. I understand that as well. Mr. Kwayana ignores the central theme of federalism with which he has perpetually been consumed: blacks have a right and will be guaranteed political power under federalism. Wouldn’t blacks also then guarantee justice and fairness for any minorities in their midst with their new found freedom? In effect they, would not Jew (former slaves too) any Arabs (minorities) like the current injustice in the Mideast. Only God is perfect and can make a perfect system. Is there any political system in the world that is not without flaws?
In America with the best opportunities for economic advancement, for example, the total black prison population is about 35 percent while blacks make up only 10 per cent of the overall US population. The unemployment level with a black President is at its worst since the US depression in the 1930s with black unemployment at 15.5 percent. See the link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/27/black-unemployment-remain_n_853571.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl2|sec1_lnk3|58993.

This in a country which is considered the richest and most powerful in the world with legal affirmative action to redress inequalities.  Who will deny the economic successes and power of blacks in that flawed system?  Mr. Kwayana must finally decide whether he wants Indians, Blacks and others to definitely have the right to finally govern themselves. No system will be perfect. At least all will be federated to solve their problems in the same country which we all cohabit. Or he can continue to be associated with decline “when things fall apart” Chinua Achebe style.
What was most painful to comprehend was his statement that “I lived the first 78 years of my life in the Lusignan ‘nigger yard’ and then at Buxton backdam side, ‘in the midst of the poor.’ But I have no grudge against those who have by honest means joined higher social rankings”.  Is this the same Mr. Kwayana actually living in Buxton in 1964 organising its defence against Indian attacks which did not come? Even if Mr. Kwayana moved to Buxton around 1964 at 78 years, his revelation would make him a staggering 125 years old in 2011! Clarification to avoid any misunderstanding is certainly necessary.

While I have not changed my assessment of his actions I yet apologise most sincerely for the tone of my criticisms which must tax him considerably even at any laudable age which he has attained.
However, we can continue to wallow in our differences but we oftentimes forget the myriad of commonalities which bind us. Mr. Kwayana of all people knows that there is much to talk about.
How ironic that in a natural calamity we swiftly band together, while a few of our prominent spokesmen still seek to enable doom and division ostensibly in seeking  togetherness. Past violence has wrecked an endearing harmony when our peoples coexisted in the villages before the 1960s.
We can live separated completely as hostile enemies in partition or alongside in federated symbiosis. Power-sharing and coalitions are temporary solutions and will not work. Federation is the best solution. Closure with our problems is now necessary as open talk of marches could escalate into violence.