Not Nasty, But Feisty

Across A Bridge in Linden: To El Dorado or a Symbol of our Historical Dilemma.

Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge, Linden The Guyana Police Force. Improperly Dressed for Peace (C) Norvell Fredericks Demerara Bauxite Company was Canadian owned before nationalization in 1970.Things have changed ((C) N. Fredericks) The People United ((c) N. Fredericks) By: Clairmont Chung On July 18, 2012 residents in Linden, Guyana, blocked a bridge in protest against a plan to increase electricity rates. The State responded by firing on the unarmed crowd. Three people died and several more were wounded. Residents responded by seizing and occupying that, and a second, bridge. A state of siege, undeclared martial law, descended on the community and continues as I write. Here I attempt to show the history of our dependence on fuels, energy, and violence and why the bridge at Linden is such an important symbol. Linden is not alone, it’s happening to people everywhere. It is not a romantic lament about the good old days. They were not. It’s the same strategy of old...

Not You Too Dr. West: The Need for a Wider Perspective on Reparations than ADOS

by clairmont chung As I write, people of African ascent [1] are streaming across borders in the same way as Latin Americans at the US border. They are moving from turmoil and uncertainty to a promise of change. Significant numbers are dying in that effort. The destination countries pronounce on who is eligible to enter and who is not. None take any responsibility for the conditions back in the source countries. Groups within the destination countries are even more explicit about not accepting more immigrants and limiting the rights and entitlements of those already present. This article is not to address the many reasons for desperate people to take dangerous trips. Instead, it is about a specific group: American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) attempting to deny reparative US resources to persons whose ancestors were never enslaved in the US. This is just another form of anti-immigrant sentiment and part of a global wave of conservatism tha...

The Beckles’, The Gayles, The Dons, Caribbean Cricket, and Slavery: A Rudie Awakening

By Clairmont Chung All of the three people, who read my blog, counting my siblings, know I have written about the strange decisions of the West Indies Cricket Board and proposed reasons. Now, one of the WICB’s directors, Sir Hilary Beckles dramatically clarified these strange decisions and the WICB’s intentions. The WICB has dropped, fired and maligned some of the best players in the world. Prof. Hilary Beckles, also the Principal at University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, recently addressed an audience in St. Kitts, at the annual Frank Worrell Memorial lecture entitled “Frank Worrell: The Rise & Fall of West Indies Cricket” [i] . In that address, Dr. Beckles described the attitude some players, namely Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, exhibit as ‘donmanship’. He said, "Those who follow him (Gayle) and his cohort in the team do relate to him as their don and it is said that he has brought the donmanship into how things operate in the (West Indies) team....

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