THAT question in the headline is, and, of a poignant consequence. What if some level of reparations is identified to be paid to Guyanese of Afro-descent who can identify with a lineage that survived chattel slavery? Then how will such an act commence towards justified realisation, void of what exists as treats, existing in ‘Shut-Button Authorities’ and self-serving ‘Good Will’ Cartels?

So far, there are no presented suggestions to intercept the metamorphosis across the now-dangerous modern distance we have travelled since the purchasing of the villages. Back in the 1840s, such as the development of ‘The Colonial’ a political class, a middle and professional class etc, etcetera. And now we are in a Republican status of nationhood, but there is an ’Order’ of accountability that can facilitate as a guide towards evolving with definitions towards real needs and people. This requires reaching back to pre colonial Africa, (and the old world) to the construct of the ‘GUILDS’. The reality is that whether Reparations materialise into small droplets or with impressive figures, or ever or never, we still need to know where people are, what they are doing, what are their challenges and what are their needs towards effectiveness, and what the prospectus of their specific interests contain.

What are Guilds? The term may be new to some readers. These were talent and skill-driven organisations, over 1,000 years ago, and even today at a lesser drive, with current terms like associations, to which the latter, as with most things in our age, has dual meanings that are at times deceptive. A Guild was back then – skill, talent – and strictly meritocracy in content. Be it, “Drum makers-clothe weaving, religious dancers and costumes- Metallurgy and Metalwork towards arms, tools and casting of statues; Farmers and livestock custodians and more.” No! They did not waste time, they planned and executed what was necessary and innovative without most of the tools we now have and the technology. Nothing that was proven useful was left behind.

Across the human world they traded, improvised and in some cases, created local interpretations. The suggestion of the ‘Guilds’ revolves around a vacuum that exists in Guyana. Not too long ago the guilds were alive, perhaps not as registered entities, but they knew each other through a code of trust, recommended each other and existed by rules. Breaking some rules could have ruled you out of the game, unlike today, with one look at some current real estate activities. I recently saw a young man’s house sold by unknown persons, unknown to him, three times. Only last year, I saw a retired officer of the GDF home put up for sale without her permission.

Those examples and others that include the recent incidents in Beterverwagting point to a cultural deterioration or desperation that requires urgent systems of correction and accountability.

The question may be, how can this be executed? The answer lies with those resources we know. For example in the Arts, I can, with a few helpful minds, point to who are real in certain disciplines, even identifying what their needs are; the same can be recorded and cross- checked. Therefore, it is sensible to assemble a register of professionals in various disciplines under the category of Guilds to help to ascertain where expertise rests, their resumes and what their major development concerns are.

This would also help the general public to survive the numerous hordes of mediocrity in so many areas that have manifested themselves as if from another dimension.
In closing, the murder of six million Jewish people in the Nazi final solution over five years cost Germany $ 86.8 Billion dollars in reparations. Over 100,000,000 Africans perished during the Atlantic Slave Trade that lasted for over 400 years, during the raids in Africa, at sea, on the plantations, and in BG after emancipation, due to neglect of village drainage. Thus, reparations are not an unreasonable expectation. Thus, if a meagre $100,000 is paid by an old lady from a plantation-owning family, every cent must be accounted for direct to the Guilds of most needed.

As for you folk who think that Braithwaite and Brathwaite amount to differences, it’s all the same. Folks from some plantations in Barbados, some bought their freedom, manumitted, some were possibly deported for actions against De Plantation, nah worry, same name. Goggle it.