THE responsibility of constructive coexistence in a multi-racial, multi-cultural society does not excuse the peoples comprising that melting pot from reflecting on their own heritage, their own history and what they bring, in their own right, to the melting pot in which we, as Guyanese, belong.

This is the assertion of the Guyana Public Service [Union] (GPSU) in its Emancipation message. The union said it is the same with African Guyanese as it is with those other races that make up our society. In that context, Emancipation Day holds a particular significance for our people of African descent. It is, in the first instance, an occasion on which to remind ourselves of the particular contributions which Africans have continually made to the evolution of the Guyanese society in every sphere of our country’s development; so that while we cannot afford to be unmindful of the multi-ethnic reality of our country, African Guyanese must continually remind themselves of their particular worth, both as Africans and as Guyanese. For once we lose sight of who we are, we run the risk of self-marginalisation from which it will be difficult to recover.

As we contemplate our own unique and hugely significant contributions to the growth of our country, it is important to remember the particular role that we have played in the public services, in teaching, in law enforcement, in the health sector and in the conventional Civil Service, among others. Those, the Guyana Public Service Union submits, have been among the critical building blocks in our society. When we speak of nation-building, it is to those institutions that we point as some of the critical pillars of which our Guyana has been built.

One can argue that the journey towards self-emancipation, that is to say, adding a greater measure of individual and collective economic achievement to our accomplishments in the public services remains to be realised. It is therefore to our economic emancipation that we must look in the years ahead, not, of course, being unmindful in the process of our patriotic duty as part of a cosmopolitan society but mindful of our duty to ourselves, our families and our tradition as a people who are part of a culture that is rich in the pursuit of business and entrepreneurship. At the same time our appetite for giving selfless service to the nation in the various areas of public service must remain undiminished. We wish, on behalf of the executive and the entire membership of the Guyana Public Service Union, to extend our very best wishes to all of Guyana for a reflective Emancipation Day.

Regards
Guyana Public Service Union