Dear Editor,

I WISH to clarify that Vincent Alexander does not speak for me or most African Guyanese. Also, the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly-Guyana, has done nothing to fast-track my development, whether socioeconomically or politically, in this country. I am not sure what representation Alexander or IPADA-G has made on behalf of the African Guyanese community here, but it is really not getting to the root causes of issues related to land ownership, crime, health, black businesses or empowerment.

I am not sure that hosting conferences and workshops equate to a real grassroots approach of seeking to deal with the African Guyanese cultural, socioeconomic and other challenges we face in this country.

Let’s be clear. This PPP/C Government has done three times as much as the last APNU+AFC Government in less than half of their term for young African Guyanese in homeownership; business empowerment; cultural industries; education and health, to name a few. Africans who are Guyanese have an equal and equitable opportunity to change their lives as they are afforded the same opportunities as any other race or people.

African Guyanese communities are better off than ever before under this government. Only those blinded by race, loyalty, and the hateful politics of the PNC-APNU/AFC opposition would say the opposite.

I reject the notion that the African Guyanese community, descendants of the enslaved, have been systematically marginalised and remain disproportionately at the bottom of the economic and social order.

Alexander’s remarks are hurtful and disingenuous to every single race because they know that they are not true. African Guyanese as a group are thriving economically and socially. Black-owned Guyanese businesses have increased over the last four years.

Home and land ownership by Guyanese of African ancestry have tripled now compared to the last five years, when the opposition, APNU+AFC, was in power.

When African Guyanese communities try to pull themselves out of the lesser favourable conditions that exist here, they are faced with vitriol at the hands of IDPADA-G and the opposition elements.

I have seen African Guyanese being tortured by the onslaught of verbal, emotional, physical and psychological attacks by their own for accepting things and opportunities that are offered to them by this government.

They have been called sellouts, house slaves, slave catchers and other despicable names because they dared to think differently and objectively, making the right changes for their lives and choosing the PPP Government.

Which world is Alexander living in and is seeking to describe to the UN? Not this Guyana in which I am living now. Alexander, a bitter politician and sore to Guyana’s future development, must know that Guyana is governed by law and no group is above the law. Ancestral lands must be subjected to the laws and regulations of the state.

So, if they are seized by the state for development, there is always adequate compensation involved. There are no institutional or legal manipulations involved. This is unfortunate that IDPADA-G and Alexander feel this way, but this is not a fact.

I sat in horror as Alexander told the UN that Guyana’s school curriculum continues to omit the history and contributions of the Guyanese of African descent. This is a barefaced lie. Alexander knows that there have been attempts at revision of the school’s curriculum to make more facets of Guyana’s rich history integrated in the education system, inclusive of the African Guyanese slave history, contributions and experiences. What I fear Alexander did not say is that he wants to tell history as he sees it and not as it occurred.

What Alexander and IDPADA-G failed to do was to go to the UN for more resources to bolster the support given to African Guyanese communities here by the government. What he failed to do was to state the number of African Guyanese communities that were created and are thriving economically in homeownership and businesses here. What he failed to do is to state that the government is making significant strides in reducing the poverty that exists here, particularly in African Guyanese communities.
What he failed to state is that IDPADA-G is being hijacked by opposition sympathisers, who hide and shield their dirty acts of preaching discrimination and racism charges to the African Guyanese community.

Alexander knows too well that the middle class of African Guyanese is growing. They are wary of his opportunistic politics disguised as ‘non-governmentalism and activism.’ He doesn’t represent the views of all African Guyanese who love that Guyana is advancing steadily.

I know we have to move to correct the wrong that took place for hundreds of years during slavery, and the Guyana government is at the forefront, calling for reparations in the Caribbean region and from those countries that benefitted from the spoils of countries such as ours. Slavery is wrong! And we will continue the struggle for reparations.

Similarly, I loathe leaders like Alexander and IDPADA-G because they are doing more harm than good to the African Guyanese community by seeking to manufacture controversies and issues which simply do not exist. They are busy complaining to international organisations when the problem begins with these very leaders who do not seek to empower the African Guyanese community to take advantage of the very same government systems that they condemn. They are guilty of taking donor funds and frittering them away on a programme not designed in a way to help the African Guyanese community here practically and simply. They are part of the problem but never part of the solutions that could help many Guyanese of African descent.

It is hurtful that Alexander sought to present his views and the views of his organisation as the views of hundreds of thousands of Afro-Guyanese living comfortably here. I don’t view my past merely and only as a disadvantage to my forward movement. It is riddled with stories of perseverance, triumph and dignity. I believe with every opportunity that presents itself for me to have a better quality of life, I should take it. African Guyanese have been taking the opportunities that exist both in politics and government. Their sociocultural well-being and prosperity are not dependent on how equal the playing field is, or how equitably the resources are distributed, but on whether they seized them.

That is the bottom line. Can Alexander honestly say that there are no opportunities available for Guyanese of African ancestry here, culturally, economically, socially and politically for them to thrive in the meantime? Why should he lie so unashamedly to the 4th UN Forum on the International Decade of People of African Descent? Oh, yes, politics is in the air!

I repeat, the views expressed by IDPADA-G and Alexander come from a dark place and are not the views of the people of African ancestry living peacefully in modern and free Guyana. Africans do not subscribe to the victimhood mentality and should not be treated as such. Alexander will not use Africans for his vengeful politics against this government. We have been used enough!

Yours truly,
Michael Younge