Vincent Alexander is one year younger than me, so I know how long he has been in public activism. I have known Alexander for a long, long time. We are both from Wortmanville, in south Georgetown. I grew up a block away from him. Mr. Alexander has been around the political terrain for a decades and decades.

Last Monday, Mr. Alexander was the guest of the Freddie Kissoon Show. At the time of writing, the show with him as the guest has 71 thousand viewers. Alexander sprouted a number of controversial theories involving the psychology of African Guyanese. I informed Alexander that Ravi Dev and James Bond would like to engage him to dispute his contentions. He agreed. We were scheduled to film yesterday, (Wednesday).
Yesterday (Wednesday), Alexander called to tell me that he will no longer come on the show. He explained that he does not go on Facebook to look at the shows. He said last Monday’s show was the only one he looked at and what he saw will deter him from future appearances.
Alexander said what he was abused in the comment section and he will not subject himself to such nasty attacks. I explained that I do not go on Facebook so I do not know what was written about him. I did tell him I do not use Facebook. From the time the programme started on Youtube and Facebook, there have been nasty, vulgar comments on me. I do what point 99 percent of humans do – I ignore the negative comments and just do what I have to do. I am not the technical man, so I don’t know how to remove nasty comments, but unless the opinions are libelous, we will not remove them. I will never go in that direction. Let people have their say and let the uniformed and ignorant prattle on.
I went at length to explain to Alexander that the position he took is mysterious and hard to believe. His whole life he has received criticisms, especially as GECOM Commissioner, and he should expect criticism. Unpleasant things have been said about Alexander over the several decades, and me as well. You have to expect these things as a public intellectual.

Alexander insisted that he was upset about what was posted against him and he will not subject himself to that kind of vocabulary from other people. What I was hearing from Alexander I couldn’t believe. And this was coming from a man who has blasted hundreds of people over the years. Alexander writes often in the newspapers penning the most controversial things about people.

Alexander published scandalous things in the newspapers about the Chief Election Officer, Mr. Vishnu Persaud and was sued by Mr. Persaud and was found guilty of libel. The Court of Appeal dismissed Alexander’s appeal. On the show last Monday, Mr. Alexander belittled James Bond and made serious accusations against President Ali. Two weeks ago, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy made acidic accusations about Mr. Alexander’s credibility in an exchange between them the newspapers.
I tried to reason with Alexander that his attitude was silly and in comprehensible. Several times I said to him that people will say all kinds of things about public figures and he should not let that affect him. I even told him that there are fools out there with nothing to do when the day comes and they just go on their phones and write nonsense. But Alexander was not deterred. I sense from his tone that he was deeply affected by what was said about him.

He kept insisting that he would not subject himself to the abuse he received in the comments section of the Freddie Kissoon Show. I made it clear that he cannot judge the show by the comments made against him. I don’t understand what he meant by “subjecting himself.”  When one attends a talk show programme, they could only be subjecting themselves to abuse if the hosts are derogating them. Outside of that, the guests should to ignore what other people say when they read what was said about them. People will talk no matter what you do. Damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
But how could someone like Alexander, who dishes it, out could claim victimhood when other people attack him? I just cannot fathom this attitude of Alexander. In conclusion, I would say that Alexander will now avoid public interviews and podcasts because he is afraid of the criticism that will follow. Alexander is the president of the Guyana chapter of the UN Decade of African people. I ask African Guyanese in all earnestness – is this the man you want to represent your interest? I hope not.