The Guyana Groove

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Stella Says…If The Gov’t Gags The Media, the People Are Next

(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 15 June 2010)

My column has always been from an observer’s point-of-view. I have long been an observer of Guyana on many fronts, but especially concerning the social and political issues. I have written numerous “Stella Says” columns from my safe desk, in central Texas.

The Guyanese culture is unique and intriguing, so much so that those who move away continue to feel connected to their motherland for the rest of their lives. Even this observer feels the pull of this captivating land.

When I quit writing this column two and a half years ago, I did not intend on a return to it. At the time, my health was at an all time low and it has taken me the better part of two years to get back to semi-normal life. But if I am to be honest, there was another reason for my quick departure.

The other reason was an overwhelmingly disillusionment with the way things were going in the country. I know, this is a paltry explanation by any standard, but it is – sadly - one of the reasons. Instead of staying the course, I ran from it.

I cannot offer any excuse for my cowardly retreat. I suppose at that time, with my poor health, I felt this was one fight I did not need to fight since I otherwise lived in relative comfort behind my safe desk – far from Guyana.

Soon after I quit this column in late 2007, my lower right lung collapsed and I was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, including wheat, gluten, eggs and dairy. I spent months re-learning how to cook without these ingredients, which are a staple in all of our diets.

I was also very slowly recovering from post-concussive disorder after hitting my head on the lock of a car trunk. Even three months after the hit on the head, the doctor could still see the mark of the lock on my head. Like I said, it has taken me all this time to get back to being healthy.

Throughout this recovery time, I started a bookstore that sells used, rare and collectible books. I love the bookstore and the slow pace it has afforded me during my recovery. However, in the past few months, my mind has been pushing me for more.

I started reading the Guyana dailies again – and that old fire was back in an instant. I might not be a Guyanese native, but I care deeply about this country and it is so difficult to turn a blind eye to the many injustices, the plight of the women and the rampant corruption.

I was forced to ask myself how I could have ever justified walking away. How could I have just quit?

The reason I was first asked to write a regular column for Kaietuer News in 2005 was because I initially wrote a letter to the editor incensed over the fact that the president of Guyana was suing a newspaper (Stabroek) for a letter it had published. Something caught Boss Man’s eye and he asked me to continue to write for the newspaper.

Look where the last five years has brought us. The progression from 2005 to 2010 clearly shows the government is not just stifling the media anymore, but wanting it shut it down completely. All the evidence shows the PPP/C has launched an all-out-assault on the free press of Guyana. Any objective observer could see this in an instant.

Therefore, I felt it was only right to echo the words from that very first letter (July 2005) to the editor in which I wrote:

“To maintain an open government system, it is imperative to encourage the free expressions of the people, as well any medium used to articulate such expressions.

…Democracy demands that the press be able to operate openly and freely without censorship or interference by the government.

Imagine if George Bush started suing people for criticizing him in such a way. American courts wouldn't be able to handle so many cases – and much worse has been said about him. Daily people call him a murderer and say he is trading blood for oil.

Surely, one must have a thick skin when seeking public office, but that does not negate the public's right to express their opinion.

In other words, Mr. President, if you don't want to be criticized – don't run for office.”

I am quite able to give credit where credit is due. Be it good (see my column from last Sunday where I applaud the PPP for passing the Sexual Offences legislation) or be it bad. And this situation with the government concerning the free press is bad. It is very bad.

I can see where this is going from my desk in Texas. The rest of the world can see it, too. If the people of Guyana want to continue down the road of true democracy, then it is time to tell your government to back off the nation’s free press.

Mark my words, if the people sit by and allow the government to silence the free press today, there will be no free press to stand by the people when they are silenced in another five years.

StellaSays@gmail.com

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Stella Says…Score One for the Ladies!

(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 06 June 2010)

I do not know if you have been keeping score, but I sure have. Team Ladies has been the underdogs in the game of life for…oh, a millennia or two (or three or four). So when I see a government call foul and start encouraging fair play – as Guyana’s government has done with recent legislation – I cannot help but jump up and yell, “score!”

Women are scoring big in Guyana with the passage of the Sexual Offences legislation, the inauguration of Women of Worth (WOW) – a micro-credit loan scheme to help single mothers start and run their own businesses, and the increased focus on training single women on how to find their way in the workforce.

Not only has Team Ladies scored, the game is now being played on a far more even playing field. Let’s face it; the game has not been fair for a very long time. Women have been beaten, forced into physical, mental and emotional subjugation, and treated as property to be bought, sold and discarded.

Women were kept from an education, from participating in political decisions and from speaking on religious issues. Once women were “allowed” to work outside of the house, they were still expected to continue with the work inside the house and not complain – after all, it was such a benevolent act to allow women to do something besides dishes and laundry.

Sadly, I could go on and on. Some of these unfair rules that have governed the game of life have been corrected in our part of the world. Though many still exist for women in other parts of the world. Moreover, some of these damnable issues are still woven into the fabric of our own so-called “enlightened” society.

If I came across the path of the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, I would give her a big, long hug. It might get uncomfortable for those watching since my emotions of great appreciation would not allow me to just give a quick hug and leave it at that. I’d hug, and hug, and hug, and hug.

And I’d hope with everything in me that Freddie Kissoon would be there to see it. Let him steam over the fact that some people in this world acknowledge the good others are doing – even if he is incapable of such magnanimity.

I hope I never get to the place in life where I believe only those who think like I think can perform good acts. The PPP pushed this VERY GOOD legislation through. Minister Manickchand worked very hard to put together a highly comprehensive package that has changed the game forever in Guyana.

Like it or not, under the PPP, the government of Guyana has accomplished one of the most moral, decent and honourable actions I’ve seen from any government in a long time. The women (and children) of the nation are now far more equipped to live their lives to the fullest than they were even a month ago.

My only concern for the Sexual Offence Act is, of course, enforcement. I cannot help but wonder if the voice of a female victim will be heard in the police stations. Are the judges ready to implement the full force of this law? Will these remarkable changes be taken seriously in the humdrum of the day-to-day grind?

This is where the test begins. If society fails to understand that the rules of the game have changed, then no one wins. Not Team Ladies. Not Team Gentlemen. No one. In this game, only time will tell.
I am cheering for the home team. If the home team wins this one, the entire nation will have won a decisive victory. Go team! Go!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

If every country had a Freddie Kissoon the world would be a better place

(Letter to the Kaieteur News Editor 05/30/10)

Dear Editor,

Of all the possible things a person can throw on another person, some miscreant chose to throw feces on Sweet and Sensitive Freddie Kissoon.

This man could have thrown water on Freddie, or pieces of paper, or rose petals.
But no, the scoundrel threw sh*t on poor, poor Freddie. This has to be a new low for even the most depraved of minds.

Let us take a moment to acknowledge what many have either already said or thought. Freddie can be a real big pain in the umm, rear. I’d bet he would even get on a holy man’s last nerve some days. Moreover, he truly isn’t all that sensitive anymore. And after this week, he probably does not smell all that sweet either.

Now, having acknowledged the obvious, it is clear that Freddie handled a very er, stinky, situation like the hero we all know him to be deep down inside. (Very, very deep down) He dealt with the whole fiasco using more grace and finesse than most of us would have been able to manage.

After all, Freddie is not just a columnist in Guyana. He is Guyana’s columnist. (No matter how stinky and insensitive he is) My initial reaction to the news was mixed with sadness and outrage. Is this how a journalistic icon should be treated? Hell no!

No matter that Freddie takes no prisoners. No matter that the whole country trembles with the thought of being caught in the cross-hairs of his angry pen. Freddie Kissoon symbolises the ongoing struggle toward a fair and just Guyana. As such he should be able to write whatever he wants regardless of who he hurts in the process. That’s only fair and just – right?

Sarcasm aside, the nastiness of this act against Freddie disgusts me. Even if one doesn’t always agree with his politics (which I don’t) and even if one thinks he crosses the line all too often (which I do), Freddie is one of the most important things that is right about Guyana. If every country had a Freddie Kissoon, the world would be a better place.

Pause for just a moment and consider what Guyana would be like without Freddie Kissoon. Sure, we might be able to digest breakfast a bit better since we wouldn’t be fretful over his abrasive writing tactics. However, beyond that, without Freddie Kissoon this nation would not have one of its staunchest advocates.

Let’s face it; we are never really sure how many of the other “advocates” are just blowing smoke.
Their words say one thing and their actions say something completely different. With Freddie, we always know where we stand – and we always know where he stands (glad it was far from me this week – phew!).

In short, Freddie Kissoon is not perfect (far from it) but Guyana needs this man.

A good man is not made up of what someone else throws on him; he is a culmination of what is in him. President Jagdeo may well be a “Champion of the Earth,” but Freddie Kissoon is Guyana’s Champion.

Stella Ramsaroop

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

We deserve better leaders

(Letter to Kaieteur News Editor - 05/26/10)

Dear Editor,

As I gazed at a video of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured British Petroleum oil well, all I could think is, “what a mess!” My heart wrenched when considering the loss of sea life and the long-term environmental impact of this mess.

My next thought was that surely we could do better than this. Surely we can find leaders who will protect us from such catastrophes. We deserve better than this.

I had similar thoughts concerning the circumstances surrounding the most recent scandals to hit Guyana. What a mess! Surely Guyana can find leaders who can guard it from such indignity. And yes, the people of Guyana deserve better than this.

We need good leaders, not leaders who prove they despise their social contract with the people by their actions. Most times the political sphere seems more like a frat party than a collection of a nation’s best minds.

Yes, I am aware that power corrupts. I also know there is a certain psychological make-up that is pulled toward positions of power. In other words, there is a certain “type” of person who is drawn toward power and too often these are not the “types” who should be in power.

For example, there are very few people (thankfully) who could or would play games with the lives of others. I cannot even begin to consider using another person as a pawn for my own political or personal gain. Those who can do this are dangerous to the rest of us.

On the other hand, those who would be the best leaders – the ones who truly want to represent the interests of the people - are also the type of people who cannot stomach the political environment created by those who seek power.

Moreover, even if those good leaders do find a way to stick it out in a sick political atmosphere they oft times find they must “play the game” to get anything done for the people. Thus, they become part of the problem when they could have been the start of the solution.

It turns my stomach when leaders scorn the people they represent. Politicians think the people are ignorant. They believe the people to be gullible. When in reality, the people are given a choice of leaders of whom they know nothing except what those leaders present themselves to be in public.

It is the job of the journalists to discover and report the truth about a leader. Politicians and people alike throw scathing words (and now, evidently, fecal matter) at journalists, but if journalists do not tell us what our leaders are up to, who will?

Our leaders should be protecting society. They should be enriching society. They should be the ones on whom we can depend and in whose hands we can entrust our future. Instead, they are the ones from whom we hide our children. They are the ones to whom we point and tell our children to never follow their example.

We must find a remedy for this situation. I cannot say that I know what that remedy is right now. I do not. But a remedy must be found – and soon. For as long as it takes us to find a way to cure this sick political atmosphere, we continue to be led by leaders who no one should be following.

Stella Ramsaroop

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Yes, Stella lost her groove

I haven't updated this site for a while, though it still has some fantastic reading that continues to be relevant to Guyana today. This is especially true of the articles on women's issues.

I have spent the last 18 months (since retiring my Stella Says column in Kaieteur News) trying to get healthy again. I discovered only recently that I am allergic to several foods, including wheat (no breads, pastas, etc), milk (no dairy like cheese or ice cream), eggs, and gluten (which is in many spices). Unbeknownst to me, these food allergies wreaked havoc on my body for months and caused even more health issues.

I have been allergy free for over two months now and I am finally feeling like myself again. I'm even getting back some of the spunk I had before I started feeling so poorly. Although I am not yet up to par enough to start writing again, I do want to reconnect with all of my friends who care about the political and social issues in Guyana.

To be my friend on Facebook, Follow this link to my Facebook page.
To follow me on Twitter, I am @stella_says.

Warmest Regards,
Stella

Friday, December 14, 2007