LEON ELRID SAUL, known as Ras Leon, is interested in creating a “new model for living.” In fact, this is what he hopes to achieve in the years ahead. “We have too much divisiveness; too much ethnic separation that is being engineered by devious politicians,” he related.

Noting how much he believes in the “One Love” concept, he told the Sunday Chronicle that he is looking forward to a time when Guyanese will live up to the motto: “One People, One Nation, One Destiny.”
“I believe in the power of one. Any one person can make a difference and make a change in society so I have undertaken to change myself. It is easier to change myself than to change the whole world,” he went on.
We caught up with Saul when he came to visit the office on other business so we decided to ask him a few “People” questions. He is dubbed a poet, writer, director, producer and publisher. At present, he is the President of the Guyana Rastafari Council and the Chief Executive Officer of Carib Feedback Productions.
Saul, 60, was born at Pilot Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice and after writing the Common Entrance Exams now National grade Six Assessment), he secured a place at the prestigious Queen’s College. He then gained employment over different periods at the Ministries of Health, Education and Information.
Saul then attended the University of Guyana to do a Communications Programme and was quite successful, winning the Victor Forsythe Communication Award as the Top Student. During the period 1977 to 1981, he worked as a senior reporter with this newspaper.

Theatre
Saul had his start in theatre at a very early age at the Berbice Arts Theatre. In 1997, he graduated as the top student from the Toronto-based Trebas Institute with a Diploma in Film and Television Production.
Since that time, he has utilised his abilities in being a good communicator – written, verbal, visual and musical. Because of his newspaper publishing and theatre production background, he is an organisational player, with the ability of a leader and coordinator – being able to see projects through to completion.
Furthermore, he has produced 125 episodes of a radio serial “For Better…For Worse” at the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in 1980. The serial was adapted for stage and had eight sold out performances at the National Cultural Centre in 1981; and four sold out nights of the same play in 2004.
His stage production of “Berbice Uprising” was first presented at the New Amsterdam Town Hall in 1985, at the Bathurst Street Theatre, Toronto in 1988, National Cultural Centre in 2011 and in November 2013 as part of the National Drama Festival where it won two awards.
It was also staged at the Berbice High School on August 9 and 10, 2013 as part of the COFONA two-week of activities to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Berbice slave rebellion headed by Kofi “Cuffy” Badu that led to the first revolution of its kind in the western hemisphere.
“I was the person who started private commercial theatrical productions at the Cultural Centre in 1981. I opened the door to the Link Show and all the others,” he related.

Awards
Among his many awards are Best Costume and Best Sound for “Berbice Uprising.” The COFONA Award 2013 for contribution to cultural development in Guyana and Canada; the Guyana Artistic Music Award as a Writer/Director/ Producer (2008); the Guyana Press Association Award for contribution to the development of media in Guyana (2006); the Guyana Folk Festival Award (New York) for contribution to the development of Guyana’s culture (2006); the African Food Basket Award – to his newspaper Uprising International for supporting the Toronto community (1998); the Peter Tosh Award – from the Canadian Reggae Music Awards for his contribution to the promotion of reggae music (1996); and the Bob Marley Family Award – from the Toronto Bob Marley Day Committee for promoting Rastafarian way of life (1993).
Saul future goal is to establish his own theatre space, recording studio and publishing house so he can pass on what he has learned to the younger generation. Furthermore, he would like to tour Africa or even to move there to live if possible.
“I am a conscious human being, very much in love with my African ancestry, but I am a universal spirit being and a cultural activist. I am also a lover, friend, family man, husband. I believe in loving as much as you can and helping other people, because in doing that, you help yourself,” he related.
Saul has fathered eleven children with five women and he now has ten grandchildren.
By Telesha Ramnarine