I MET someone on the seawall who wanted to reminisce about the 1970s. I did not know him from the seventies but was obvious that he has memories of that period. As we chatted, he told me that Roman Catholic nun, Doreen Rowtie from the Ursuline Covent at Camp and Church Street died.
I did not know she had passed way. He said she died a few years ago. I remember that middle-aged nun from the bad days of the Burnham dictatorship. She was a brave soul who got beaten up in Albousytown by thugs in a street march for free and fair elections.
As I drove away, I couldn’t help thinking that this brave religious lady is just gone from the history of Guyana and as I kept driving, my mind fell on Father Andrew Morrison and countless others who are just gone and today no one knows them.
You mention the name Father Andrew Morrison to any young journalist and they would not know whom he was.

Once I am published, I will continue to write on the need for Guyana to do something for those great ones who contributed to the freedoms we have in Guyana today. I will continue to advocate that Guyana has to do something that will keep their names alive. Once more from my pen, I will urge my country to name places after our great ones who have gone to their final reward.

I start with Father Andrew Morrison. He edited the little Catholic Standard at a time where the press was moribund in Guyana. The little Catholic Standard was feared by President Burnham. There was Cheddi Jagan, there was Walter Rodney and so many others who fought Burnham because Guyana had become a totalitarian state but Jesuit priest and Catholic Standard editor, Andrew Morison was there too, standing tall and confronting Burnham.

Father Bernard Darke was stabbed to death because the Burnhamite thugs mistook him for Father Morrison. Can we do something to keep Father’s name alive. I would suggest two things. Rename the UG’s School of Mass Communication as the Father Morrison School of Journalism.
Alternatively, I would suggest that there be a scholarship in his name open to all qualified journalists working in the state media. It should be for a Master’s Degree in journalism tenable at any university of the applicant’s choice with all expenses paid. Next is Dr. Josh Ramsammy who survived an assassination bullet at the Stabroek Market Square.

He was a professor in biology at UG and the state should finance a doctorate scholarship in his name. Even if the bulk of the society would not remember him then, at least UG science students would know of this patriotic UG professor who fought for Guyana’s freedom.
Next is Janat Jagan. We know her husband has the airport and the dental school named after him. Something must be named after Mrs. Jagan and I am suggesting a street. Few people know that Mrs. Jagan was the keenest PPP leader with regards to the essence of Forbes Burnham. While Dr. Jagan and a

majority of PPP leaders were prepared to talk with Burnham about power-sharing, particularly in 1984, Mrs. Jagan did not want to be part of that process.
She did not participate in the high-level confabulation that went on between the PPP and the PNC in 1984 about power-sharing because Mrs. Jagan never trusted Burnham. She believed deeply that he could never be trusted. She was one of the foundations of the PPP playing an equal role in the fight for free and fair elections. Guyana should honour her by naming a square or street after her.

I have written before what I am about to write in the next few lines. Rename North Road after President Desmond Hoyte. Mr. Hoyte should be remembered as the president that agreed for this country to have free and fair elections. Mr. Hoyte did not understand Guyana’s sociology so as president he made enormous mistakes, but, in the end, he did not have to agree to free and fair elections.

Many unelected leaders would have rather let their country go to waste rather than conceded democratic openings to the opposition. Whether you like Hoyte or not, the man must not be forgotten by the next generation.
I will end this column with three names mentioned before in previous columns – Rohan Kanhai, Eddie Grant and Ron Robinson. We must name three streets after these three men who have made significant contributions to the arts and cricket in Guyana. They excelled in what they did, especially Eddie Grant. He was an international superstar long before Rihanna put Barbados on the map.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.