THE Village Voice (VV) is an online newspaper attached to the opposition PNC. It was founded by Lincoln Lewis and Morris Wilson, but Wilson sued Lewis for copyright infringement after there was a blow-up between the two men. Morris, as the sole owner, sued Lewis and won. Judge Corbin ordered Lewis to pay Morris 3 million dollars. Village Voice was the most popular weekly newspaper in the US, printed in New York. It is surprising that VV publishers in New York have not sued Lewis for copyright infringement.
VV is still printing, but no one knows who the new directors and their editors are. No name comes up when you click on the tab that says, “contact us.” It is only in Guyana that you can find an online newspaper and the editor is a ghost. Why would people start an online media outfit, lambast the government and its supporters, but refuse to identify the publishers and editors? So is Lewis still the man behind the publication? I would think there must be some legislation in Guyana that requires the identification of the publisher and/or editor if an online newspaper is going to be published.
Here are the words of VV: “A handshake between Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. Genuine smiles. Genuine respect. A reminder of a political era when civility was natural. When courtesy reflected character and leadership demanded character. Despite deep political differences, both men understood that public office carried a responsibility to represent the people and place the national interest above personal interest.”
This was a jumbie lash ‘pon’ Aubrey Norton, Sharma Solomon and Terrence Campbell. In Guyana, there is the saying, “mouth open, story jump out.” There cannot even be an infinitesimal doubt that VV and the PNC are in open confrontation. For VV to use the words quoted above can only be referring to Aubrey Norton, Sharma Soloman and Terrence Campbell. Village Voice deliberately focused on the word “handshake.” The entire sentence is directed against the three men.
Has the fallout between VV and Norton made Solomon and Campbell collateral damage, or is it between VV and the PNC? Looked at from any angle, this is directly pointing to Norton, Solomon and Campbell. In my opinion, that was a jumbie lash. When I was growing up in Wortmanvile, on D’Urban Street, the consensus was that you do not recover from a jumbie lash.
It is difficult to see how the gang of 3 could recover from the boulder VV threw at them. VV is a propaganda rag for the PNC, but whether the paper will still be put in the service of the PNC is yet to be seen. Before we go on, readers should know that Norton refused to shake President Ali’s hand twice. On one occasion, Dr Ali followed Norton and stretched out his hand. It was one of the most graphic manifestations of the modesty of a country’s leader.
Jermaine Figueira invoked the wrath of Norton when he, Figueira, shook the President’s hand. The whole of Guyana knows that this was the reason for the sidelining of Figueira. Sharma Solomon, when as Mayor of Linden, refused to shake the hand of President Ali. Terrence Campbell stubbornly refuses to answer whether he would shake the President’s hand if it were extended to him.
What could be the reason for the sudden jumbie lash ‘pon’ the gang of 3 by VV? I have heard that VV wants Norton to leave the leader position of the PNC as early as yesterday. It appears that because of the constant pillaging of Norton to leave, Norton may have responded with grammatical violence to VV and thus the rage of VV to write about the handshake ugliness. VV is absolutely anti-Norton.
There is an influential figure in the publication of VV who hates Norton. The rift between the two men erupted more than 15 years ago and the two men do not speak to each other. Mark Benschop knows the whole story. Benschop knows I know the whole story, too. These two men have a long-standing enmity between them.
VV wants the PNC to chaperone Dexter Todd for the leader position of the PNC. It is interesting to note the same time the jumbie lash came, the same time Todd started a weekly podcast named “Guyana Rise.” Obviously, the timing was not coincidental. VV is a comical outfit to want to choose Dexter Todd. Todd cannot rise to any occasion and his leadership bid is dead on arrival. Todd is one of Guyana’s most foolish politicians at the moment.
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.
