MY last column reflected my thoughts on my role as an Indo-Guyanese in #BlackLivesMatter and in navigating my experiences with the perpetuation of anti-blackness in my social and cultural spaces. I still maintain that I am not entirely sure what is the right way to use my voice in this regard, but I have been learning a few important things here and there.

For me, the most crucial lesson I have learnt so far is that it is extremely uncomfortable confronting learned biases, prejudices, and stereotypes, but it is simultaneously important to confront these nevertheless. Confronting these means interrogating what we have learnt about the people outside of our social and cultural groups.

Two common notions, for example, that I have grown up hearing are that Afro-Guyanese are lazy and that Indigenous Guyanese are simple-minded (putting it nicely). What can be uncomfortable confronting these is that there are people who truly believe these stereotypes are true. And asking them to think critically about what truth exists in these notions would cause them to become defensive, even to the point where they question your ‘loyalty’ to your own social or cultural group (true story!).

But the thing is, we have to confront these notions. We have to interrogate the intrinsic biases and prejudices we have towards people who are not part of our social and cultural groups. These have been passed from generation to generation, and it is my opinion that many of us are guilty of just perpetuating these notions without ever really internalising them. Only through confronting these will we be able to peel away the layers of learnt segregation and take a step in the right direction for reconciliation and cohesion.

Guyana is an interesting country because it encompasses myriad cultures in one geographic space. That, however, does not equate to a blissfully cohesive society. In fact, Guyana’s reality makes me think about M.G. Smith’s theory of the inherent social dissonance in a plural society.

According to Smith, this dissonance was as a result of the composition of different cultural groups, each replete with their own internal structures and institutions, making each group insular. Local Political Scientist Professor David Hinds contends that in Guyana, this insularity also translates into ethnic insecurity among the groups and fears of dispossession and disenfranchisement.

Interestingly, the insularity and ethnic insecurities have festered, inter alia, the perpetuation of anti-blackness in Guyana. This manifests as the seemingly simple, unspoken prejudices and biases to the outright and outspoken attacks against one race, or against one ethnicity. I acknowledge this from my position as an Indo-Guyanese in Indo-Guyanese social and cultural spaces, where I have been privy to the sentiments of anti-blackness.

And just because you can never be too politically correct in these things, let me emphasise that my acknowledgement of the perpetuation of anti-blackness is not a repudiation of my Indo-Guyanese identity. If anything, I would hope that me speaking my truth would add to the discourse of confronting these ingrained prejudices and biases that are rooted in the legacy of imperialism.

This week also, I wanted to take some time to remind anyone who might be reading this that while you’re confronting your learned prejudices and biases, it is also important to take some time out to take care of yourself and your mental wellness. Amidst it all, this is a healthy habit that I think is imperative to learn.

At this time, the combination of being forced to adapt to changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to play a part in dismantling ubiquitous systemic racism (assuming that you are genuinely #woke) and dealing with Guyana’s perpetually unravelling political conundrum, is enough to burn anyone out very quickly.

As much as I can speculate, I can only honestly speak for myself. And honestly speaking, I am overwhelmed and exhausted.

Just recently, I was in an online forum with a group of Guyanese youth (they aptly call themselves “592 youth”) listening to young persons share their lived experiences and views, primarily, on racism. It was then that I had my first unfortunate experience with ‘Zoombombing’, when several intruders (maybe bots, maybe real people) stormed into the Zoom meeting and essentially, disrupted the forum with divisive sentiments. Then, the group of more than 130 youth decided to take a few minutes to reflect and realign and even vibed to Chronixx’s ‘I can’ before resuming the discussions. It was obvious that the group was taken aback. My point in relating this is to illustrate that despite engaging in well-meaning, positive acts, there are going to be disruptive forces manifesting in some form or the other, and it is important to know how much of something you can manage at a time.

This week, please remember to take care of yourselves. Take it from someone who has lots of responsibilities at the moment and is struggling to find the energy to fulfil all of those. You owe yourself time to unwind and recharge, but also have to be vigilant with how you choose to use your energy in the first place.