Month: August 2017

New York City Council Elections: Guyanese Richard David campaign creating waves

TIMES INT'L

By Irshaad Ishmail Imagine a Guyanese defying all odds and making history. This is exactly what Richard David has set out to do. The New York City Council has never had a South Asian, Indo-Caribbean, or specifically a Guyanese serve as a Council Member. The Richard David campaign is setting out to change that, and with help, the monumental feat is plausible in District 28 which include Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, South Jamaica Rochdale Village and a portion of Ozone Park. While this election is potentially historic, it is…

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Conga Drums of Union Village

TIMES INT'L

Over the years, in celebration of Emancipation, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) honours many villages that have a common history of being purchased by freed slaves. This year, the Association honours Union Village No. 53 on the Corentyne River, Berbice with special focus on Conga drums. Conga drums of Union Village Drums provide the soundtrack to the rhythm of life in a village that maintains most of the small, close-knit, communal way of life. Union Village, a name evocative of the unity of its founders who purchased the…

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Escalating…

TIMES INT'L

…authoritarianism Your Eyewitness, writing this on “Emancipation Day”, is struck by the irony of having to comment about the Government curtailing the most important freedom of all: the right over one’s property. Government obviously sees “emancipation” as just “dressing up”. The most invidious characteristic of slavery was not just that planters owned slaves, but that the slaves couldn’t own anything. This has led to the structural condition that still channels the descendants of slaves into “conspicuous consumption”. If you couldn’t own and pass down anything to your children, why save?…

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A History of Hopetown

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Hopetown, a village in West Berbice, approximately 97 kilometres from Georgetown, was bought by the Blaire brothers, who pooled their money to purchase the village. It was said that the men loaded their pennies and other savings on to a wheelbarrow and pushed it all the way to Georgetown, a journey that took four days. They named the village ‘Hopetown’ in pursuit of hope for a better life after slavery. After the community was purchased, it was divided into Fybrace, St. John and Number 22 Village where farming and bartering…

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Conga Drums of Union Village

TIMES INT'L

Over the years, in celebration of Emancipation, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) honours many villages that have a common history of being purchased by freed slaves. This year, the Association honours Union Village No. 53 on the Corentyne River, Berbice with special focus on Conga drums. Conga drums of Union Village Drums provide the soundtrack to the rhythm of life in a village that maintains most of the small, close-knit, communal way of life. Union Village, a name evocative of the unity of its founders who purchased the…

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Preserving African heritage in Guyana

TIMES INT'L

The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) is celebrating its 24th anniversary this year, and since its establishment plays a pivotal role in the preservation of Guyanese African culture. Founded in 1993 as a non-governmental organisation constituted to promote equity, equal access, accountability, shared governance and citizen’s participation at the local and national levels, the organisation was officially registered under the Friendly Societies Act of Guyana in 1995. All Guyanese of African descent, regardless of class, religion or political affiliation, are eligible to be members of ACDA. ACDA has members…

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Notable exhibits features proudly at African Heritage Museum

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The African Museum of Heritage in Barima Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown is said to be the first of its kind in the Caribbean, and there are many fascinating artefacts on exhibition at the museum that tells of our historical and cultural connections to Africa. The exhibits include paintings as well as everyday items and ceremonial artefacts that symbolize mostly West African art in daily African life and culture: from combs to iron and wooden masks to the carved door and sculptures. A visit to the museum will prove worthwhile…

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Promoting Culture and Community Development

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The Miss Emancipation pageant, launched in 2012, aims to showcase the beauty of African culture while promoting community development, edifying patrons on African heritage, challenges and solutions. It is a highly-anticipated occasion that takes the form of an “African gala”. It is one of few occasions in which Guyanese adorn themselves in their African attire showcasing the richness of the culture. The show takes the format of an Introduction Segment, where delegates introduce themselves adorned in beautiful African wear, reciting a spoken-word introduction written by them on the Emancipation theme…

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Amerindian Act, CoI to top agenda

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– at 2017 Toshao’s conference The controversial Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Amerindian land titling, along with the Amerindian Act are among the top issues that will form the basis of this year’s National Toshao’s Conference, Chairman Joel Fredricks has said. The Conference is scheduled for August 21-26 at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and will be held under the theme “Good governance – A brighter future for Guyana’s first peoples”. Speaking to this publication on Wednesday, Fredricks said the “burning issues” that have been a burden to…

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The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

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‘Years of High Hopes’ (part two) By Petamber PersaudBy Petamber Persaud Extract of an interview with Dorothy Irwin, Georgetown, Guyana, March 2017. Ms Irwin compiled and edited the book “Years of High Hopes: A portrait of British Guiana, 1952-1956” from family letters, mostly written by her mother.DI: … I thought it is wrong for me to be the only one to know of this – the people who wrote them were not around, the people who received them were not around, it was just me reading them and that’s no…

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