Dear Editor,
I WRITE with reference to a letter under the title “We are Guyanese grassroots women…,” signed by a Group of Nine (Stabroek News3/29/2023). I have serious objections to the way in which the construction “grassroots” is used in the letter, and note forthwith, that real folks from the real grassroots never describe themselves in that language.

Grassroots is an expression used mostly by the elite, women included, who have the interests of the upper-middle class, including the Georgetown “wine and cheese” politicos. The Group of Nine asks “does being concerned about our country and our environment make us hypocrites?”

Well, in many ways yes! This is because the real intent of the letter is not to express real concerns about our country, but to make a political announcement, namely to picket the Office of the President. Grassroots women are usually at work earning an income to feed their families; bourgeois women have the time to become the front with political motives.

Red Thread is a known outfit of the same WPA, the same WPA that aired a call for racial violence and subversion of the state, also based on what must be constructed as ‘racial resources.’ Red Thread is a fossil. Only a few people in Meten-Meer-Zorg ever heard of it. Personalities connected to the WPA drive across the Demerara Bridge to take in some country-side, and then claim that they are the voice of the oppressed.

In contradistinction to what the fossilised Red Thread claims to be doing, we need to go to Leonora today. President Ali is there with the staff of the Office of the President, Ministers, and heads and staff of agencies, meeting one-on-one with anyone who has a problem, a need, a request.

The President and his team solve problems as large as providing updates on the new high-span bridge, right down to solving the problems of people who are having issues with their NIS, old age pension, or public assistance.

When last did Red Thread meet with people outside of Georgetown (for coffee) in order to help solve their problems, rather than to stir up trouble, take a few photos, and then supposedly claim the right to self-symbolise as the grassroots.

Political opportunists love to use grad symbols, those that appear to be at once organic and universal, sexy (in the words of Ralph Ramkarran).

These symbols such as grassroots are intended to impress the diplomatic community. Fundraising is well served by the grassroots badge, and foreign NGOs do indeed gravitate to groups that claim to be “people-centered,” “climate sensitive,” and other such universal expressions of good citizenship.

What needs to be done is basic research. Ask anyone outside a few WPA elitist cells if they ever heard of Red Thread. I can guarantee you that you will draw blanks. I did this little test on Thursday (yesterday) and not a single person at the Office of the President Region Three Outreach at Leonora had ever heard of the group.

Red Thread can do some good community work by going to site in Buxton where Ogunesye called for subversion, and declare their commitment to the rule of law. That would be a real display of concern for our country. If not, the charge of hypocrisy stands.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Randolph Persaud