The Village of Enterprise Hall

HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE.

Enterprise Hall is a small village of a little over one hundred acres n the parish of St. George, near the center of Barbados. Until the middle of the nineteenth century it was a family owned and operated sugar plantation. In the early official records it was known as “Brace’s Plantation” and the last member of that family to control it was one Edward Brace. Near the end of the eighteenth century it was sold to Ann Workman in payments of debts owed to her by Brace. Ann Workman, in a will dated September 15, 1790, left it to her daughter Katherin Spry. There is no record of the sale of the property by Katherin nor is it mentioned in her will.

The next reference is found in the will of Thomas Applewaite who refers to it by the name “Braces or Enterprise” but adds that it was then part of his plantation called “Walkers”. His will of 1816 leaves the entire estate, Walkers with Enterprise included, to his grandson Edward Applewaite.

It appears that Edward, like many other property owners, left Barbados for England soon after emancipation. A deed dated December 23, 1856, records the sale of “Enterprise Land” to Peter Chapman. Applewaite made the transaction while resident in England. A price of €3,500 was paid for the 1023/4 acres. Chapman, an enterprising solicitor, had the property surveyed, divided into one and two acre lots and put up for sale at a price that averaged €70 per acre. This pattern, incidentally, was followed in the founding of the majority of the villages on the island. The sale of the land began before the end of 1856. On the payment of a fraction – usually close to half- of the total price, the purchaser took possession. The balance, plus interest, had to be paid within a specified time. Some of the sales were recorded at the registrar’s office in Bridgetown, but as the law did not require this, the majority of the sales were not recorded. Many persons could not complete payment after making a deposit and lost both the land and their money. As a result, Chapman never sold all of the land since sections were returned to him whenever payments could not be met. On his death there is no mention of this property in his will, but informants reported that the land, plus the money due for it, went to his son-in-law.
Of the original purchasers, only 23 recorded their deeds, the amount of land involved being 321/4 acres. A large group of present-day landholders, however, have no clear title to their property, and they attribute this to the fact that most of the land in the village was never “paid off”. The descendants of Peter Chapman collected payments for many years, but the landholders could never raise the amount required to obtain title. Many landholders migrated, leaving friends and relatives to continue making sporadic payments.
After many years, the Chapman family stopped making collections. The purchasers or their heirs were then left in possession of the land but without legal title thereto. Today the Chapman family owns none of the village. The villagers explain this by referring to a legendary deathbed statement of the last member of the Chapman family. “In his speech”, Villagers claim, “he said that Enterprise people have paid enough; they can keep the ground”.
The holdings were worked in the same way the poor whites worked their land and the estate labourers worked their allotments. Sugar was the crop and most acreage was used to grow it. Provision crops were raised, but everyone grew some cane. The major difference between the villager and the plantation tenant was that the latter usually did his own heavy work while the landholder hired a labourer to do this for him. In most cases the male villager was primarily an artisan who earned his livelihood by working outside of the village. As a result, he was away most of the day, often leaving before sunrise and returning after sundown. This left him only Sunday to take care of his crops. During the week his wife took care of such matters as the hiring and directing of labourers.
In the Pre-World War 1 era of wind-driven sugar mills, the villager arranged with the estate to bring his cane to be ground at a give date, and only his cane would be ground at that time. He received all the sugar and molasses produced, less the twenty-five percent charge for the use of the mill. The villager then had to take his sugar into town to sell it to a merchant for cash. All of this was done by the men and it was possible, though difficult, for them to do this in addition to holding a full-time job. From the very beginning the sugar crop grown on the small holdings was an extra source of revenue for a man, a lump sum that supplemented his weekly wage.
This may be part of the explanation for the continued preference for growing sugar, as opposed to provisions and vegetables. The man markets the sugar and receives a lump sum, often more than he can collect at any one time from any other endeavour he might undertake. He can accomplish this in addition to holding a full-time job. Food crops, as contrasted with sugar cane, require almost daily care. They mature quickly and must be harvested and sold quickly or they will spoil. All this takes time and attention not available to a man who works from sunrise to sundown six days a week. Food crops, therefore, are the woman’s province. The “mistress of the house” cares for them herself. She either sells them herself or turns them over to passing hucksters. Money received for food crops, is kept by the woman and usually forms a supplement to her household budget. From the man’s point of view, he receives nothing from the part of his land planted in food crops. As one man put it, the money from provisions and vegetables “goes into the pot and never into the pocket”.
For the island as a whole, the amount of sugar cane – as opposed to food crops – planted by all villagers varied from year to year according to cycles of depression and prosperity. In the good times more cane was grown to earn more cash while in periods of depression provisions replaced cane. Since the island never experienced the “fall of the Planter Class”, sugar never lost its place as the crop. Some ginger and arrowroot were grown for export and for a time sweet potatoes and cotton were considered, but none of these ever seriously threatened the supremacy of sugar.
One of the first central sugar factories in Barbados developed near Enterprise Hall. At the beginning of the present century the owner of a neighbouring plantation was able to purchase and control several contiguous plantations. By coordinating their management he expanded one factory to handle the canes from his growing number of estates. As the factory grew, it was discovered that still greater efficiency could be gained from increased production, and cash payment was offered for raw cane. This policy was first instituted to obtain cane from small plantations, but it soon was extended to the freehold villages. The establishment of the factory and the payment of cash for raw cane was a further stimulus for the growing of cane by the villagers. The small holder benefited because he had a sure market for his plants. He no longer had the problem of finding a buyer for small quantities of the finished product.
Factory management soon offered cash advances to induce the villagers to sell to them and not to competitors. In the 1956-57 crop season, the largest in the history of the island, twenty-five percent of the cane ground by the factory near Enterprise Hall came from the villagers in the surrounding area. The factory, which was then the largest on the island also, had about $70,000 in loans outstanding to these villagers. The possession of land did not produce a subsistence economy. Instead, the land became a part of the money economy.

THE VILLAGE TODAY

The freehold village of Enterprise Hall contains 630 persons. It is not a complete community in the sociological sense. It has a primary school, but children from other villages and plantation tenantries in the vicinity attend and mix freely with its children. There is no single church attended by all the inhabitants. As is true for most of the island, the majority of villagers are nominally members of the Church of England. Those villagers who attend services, however, have to go to a parish church several miles from their homes. Within the village there are several “meeting halls” used by members of the numerous evangelical sects. The diversity of Protestant sects present on the island makes community adherence around church organization an impossibility.
There are no meeting places where the local inhabitants can come together and there are no associations to which they belong solely as members of the village. All associations are joined freely and are not organized on the basis of kinship or residence. Occupational diversity precludes the formation of associations that could provide communal integration on this level.
Though the inhabitants of Enterprise Hall do not form an integrated sociological community, they see themselves as “Enterprise people” as distinguished from the inhabitants of other villages and plantation tenantries. There is a sense of a historical connection to a place of residence with specific neighbours, rather than one of membership in a functioning community. There is, however, a definite and effective public opinion which sanctions behaviour for all inhabitants, even for those who have little or no contact with their neighbours. This public opinion carries over to other villages at the borders of Enterprise Hall and ties into an island-wide value system. There is no such thing as an isolated area on the island, since all villages border on other villages or plantation tenantries which in border on other villages or tenantries. Within this chain each village or tenantry sees itself as a distinct entity with historical boundaries and enumerated members. Individuals do or do not “belong to the village”.
There are no legal boundaries, there is informal agreement as to where each village begins and ends. There are fifty – three such villages in the parish varying in size from a little over five acres to over 175 acres. The population vary from twenty in the smallest to over thousand in the largest and 9,714 of the 16, 527 residents of the parish reside in such villages. The remainder rent from the estates which own 88.6 percent of the 10,750 acres of land in the parish.
The residents of Enterprise Hall regard themselves as distinct from their neighbours and the difference relates to the specific historical continuity of the village. The land became freehold before the other present day villages in the area and its occupants became differentiated earlier than their neighbours.
The village area, a little over one hundred acres, is inhabited by 630 people distributed in 187 holdings ranging in size from an eighth of an acre to one piece that is five and a quarter acres. The average size of each holding is one-half acre, thus making any attempt at subsistence agriculture hopeless. Only four adult males devote their full time to working their own land, and even this is on a cash crop rather than subsistence basis. Three of the four are over sixty years of age. Two have lost an arm and a leg respectively, and are unable to find other employment. The third is seventy five years old and a retired blacksmith who works the land more to occupy his time than from necessity. The fourth, still in his forties, is a former shopkeeper trying to earn enough cash from a large irrigated vegetable garden so that he can buy a lorry and go into the transportation business.
A large percentage of village land is owned and worked by people from other villages who came to tend the land and then return home. In the same way, many of the people from Enterprise own or work land in other villages. These plots that are distant from the owner’s home are usually planted only in sugar cane. It is said that food crops will be stolen if the owner is not continually on hand to watch them.
Opportunities for employment within the village are limited. In addition to the landholders, there are a few shopkeepers, several tailors and seamstresses who work at home on orders taken from both in and out of the village, the teachers at the primary school, agricultural labourers hired occasionally to work peasant holdings, the local butcher and tinsmith, a few masons and carpenters occasionally hired to repair homes or construct new ones and a few stonecutters employed in the local stone quarries. Most employed is found outside the village.
Those employed in the sugar industry work at the neighbouring estate or factory. Factory workers especially must travel considerable distances to get to work. Many people go to the city for their employment, travelling several hours per day. Others, such as the artisans in the construction field, travel all over the island to find work, and many of these men –particularly the younger ones – do not return home until the weekend, or when the job is finished.
Individuals who are employed are unable to spend many hours at home. They must rise early and travel long distances to arrive at the job by eight in the morning. Then there is the trip home, plus a little work on the land before dinner. It is dark before there is time for other activities.
The work habits of the villagers correspond to the general economic cycle of hard times and crop prevalent throughout the island. Many individuals move into jobs in the sugar industry during crop, returning to others after the season is over.
Most villagers own some livestock, such as cows, donkeys, pigs, goats, and fowl. These are held in small quantities and each individual generally participates in stock raising as another supplementary activity. Income collected from this source is added to the rest, and an individual’s total income is the combination earned from several sources. The income and expenditures of the villagers conforms to the general pattern for the island described by K. H. Straw and summarized in an earlier section.
THE DAILY ROUND

Seasonal conditions bring about slight variations in the daily round, but not enough to merit mention here. The normal time of rising is between 5 A.M. and 6A.M., but this will vary from household to household, some rising a little earlier and a few sleeping until 7 A. M. or later. The one-or two-burner kerosene stove – or a fire, if the family has no stove- is lighted as the first act of the day. This is usually done by the woman of the house, but there is no set rule. Everyone then washes up, either out by the standpipe, if there is one near the house, or in the yard, where water is stored in large cans. Most people fill the cans in the morning before eating and this means that someone must walk to the standpipe, fill a bucket and carry it to the can. Water is usually carried by the women and children, but if the latter are small and the woman is busy, a man will carry water. The communal standpipes, of which there were four in the village, are centres where people meet and gossip in the mornings, especially during the slow season when there is no great rush to get to work. The women often stand talking while the children do most of the work.
The family then takes “tea”, a hot drink that has been prepared while the members of the family were busy washing themselves and filling the water can. The tea maybe made of leaves of a local bush, or it may be cocoa, or chocolate purchased at the local shop. It may be nothing more than hot water with sugar and milk added. “Rice tea” used to be popular before the war when long grain rice imported from Burma was available. Informants claim that the new rice imported from British Guiana is not suitable for tea. Green tea or coffee is used only by those who can afford them. A biscuit or a slice of bread may be eaten with the tea by those who can afford to purchase such things. Others will eat anything left over from the day before, or have their hot drink without eating.
After tea the men will leave for work. During crop, work on the sugar estates starts at 7 A. M., before the sun is very high. Men who work outdoors like to start early to get as much done as possible before the heat of the midday sun is felt. Construction workers start at 8 A. M. and, since most have long distances to travel, they too must leave home early. Men, who are employed in the city, or in other distant places, cannot return home for their midday meal, called “breakfast”. Some will carry it with them and in these cases it must be cooked along with the morning tea. Most men like a hot meal at midday, and whenever possible a child, or some other member of the household, carries the hot food to the man’s place of employment. At 11 A. M. the worker gets his hour off for “breakfast”.
The man is away all day and has very little contact with other members of his household. Normally he will not see them until dinner time. On his way home he may stop the “shop” and spend several hours drinking and talking with other men. If he has work to do on the land, or repairs to do around the house, he will go out again right after eating. Often he will go back to the shop after dinner, not returning home until after 11 P.M. when the local radio station signs off. The shop provides the only place for men to come together to drink, talk and relax. It might be said to function more as a social centre for men, than as a centre for the distribution of alcoholic beverages.
Since the men are away working for most of the day, and away from home in the evenings socializing with other men, their contacts with their women and children are restricted to Sundays and holidays, and even these days are often spent at the shop with other men.
After morning tea the women begin their daily activities. These include cleaning, washing and ironing, caring for small children, tending the animals, managing the land, and marketing. The older children are sent out to weed the land before going to school, although this practise is becoming less common than in former years. Children must also help care for and feed the animals, milk the cow or goat and cut “meat”, the local term for green grass or cane tops. They also help with the cooking, cleaning and shopping as soon as they are considered old enough.
By 8:30 A. M the school children are ready, their mother or older sister having “platted their hair” and helped them to dress. School commences with a prayer at 9 A. M and classes run until noon. The children go home for lunch, returning at 1 P. M., and classes resume until 3 P. M.
The recently introduced twelve o’clock lunch has disturbed the schedule of many mothers who have to cook the midday meal by 11 A.M. for their men folk and wait until noon for their school children.
After the youngsters are off to school, the women do their cleaning, washing, ironing, and shopping. Clothes are washed in the yard with water from the standpipe. There are no traditional washing days and some washing or starching is done every day. Since it takes at least two days, and longer if it rains, before clean clothes can be washed and ironed, the women must be at it constantly.
By 10 A.M. the stove or fire must be started up again to cook breakfast. Very often as much as a half hour is spent in deciding what to prepare. The women may walk out to see what a neighbour is making, or visit the house of someone who is harvesting yams, potatoes, or other vegetables, and purchase some for the midday meal. The phrase “I don’ know wha’ fa cook” can be heard over and over throughout the island at this time of the day. The half hour of uncertainty is usually ended with a decision to make the inevitable rice dish once again.
During crop the woman will have to carry food to her man by 11 A.M. Her cooking will have to take place a little earlier so that she can walk to the “cane piece” or factory and arrive as he goes off to eat. If there are older children or non-working relatives in the house, they may save her the job of carrying the food. In many instances, older children are kept home from school to help with the housework and to carry breakfast.
If the man works close to home, he will return for his food, usually eating alone. When he is finished he will take care of odd jobs, leaving to return to work before the children are home from school. Only in rare instances will he have time to play with the younger children or to see the older ones on their return from school.
When the school children come in the woman has already “shared out” the food for each member of the family. The man’s share is always taken out first, even when he eats after the others. The food is placed in bowls and in most cases there is one utensil for each person. Often the children quarrel over portions and try to steal each other’s food. They eat in groups formed on the basis of similar age and sex. Very often the woman does not take a share, but leaves some in the pot. She uses this food for herself and as extra for a favourite child. After eating, the older girls “wash the wares”.
After 1 P. M. the woman may finish what she had been working at earlier, or she may embark upon some new task. Often she will visit with neighbours, either at their homes or, as happens most often, at the shop or standpipe. Women may take care of their shopping at the local store or get water to fill the can, but even if these tasks are started, their completion is usually postponed until the children are available to help.
At 3 P. M. the children are let out of school and they return home to change into old clothes. Many must then finish carrying water or do such other chores around the house as caring for the “stocks”. When these tasks are completed some will receive permission to return to the school pasture to play games with the other children. This play is unsupervised and unorganized, but the games are usually continuations of those organized by teachers and played during school hours.
When the older boys return home from school or work, the smaller children are chased from the school pasture which then becomes the village cricket field for several hours. The boys are joined by most of the adult males in the village. Those who do not play will sit and watch either from the steps of the school, or from one of the two shops situated just across the road. There are endless debates as to the best batsman and best bowler. The debate is not always restricted to cricket, and may range from varieties of sugar cane to politics, the latter being a favourite topic.
With the evening meal the women again face the problem of what to cook. Since the children are home, they are sent to run errands and carry messages. They may go to the shop for last-minute purchases, or they may be required to help with the preparation of food. If the children fail to do their lessons before the sun sets they will have to rise very early the next morning to do them, or face the anger of the teacher.
In the poorest homes the evening meal will consist of another “tea”. Bread, cake or biscuits are served if the family can afford them. In some homes the evening tea may be as large as the midday meal. In any case, it is served and eaten in the same manner as the other meals. By sunset everything is cleaned and put away and the family sits down to relax. The adult males may go out to the shop to talk or to play dominoes and cards. If the women have someone to stay with the young children, they may go out to the various prayer meetings held each night by one of the several denominations. It makes no difference which denomination the woman belongs to; she will usually attend all. Political meetings or showings of the mobile cinema provide special treats for which the children are allowed to stay up late. On other nights they are put to bed, according to their age, when the evening meal is finished.
This description of the daily routine assumes the existence of an employed adult male and the presence of an adult female to run the house. Many households do not have a separate wage earner and the woman must double as breadwinner and housewife. Understandably, her routine differs from that described above, but only in that she has more of the enumerated tasks to perform. The woman may be a widow receiving money from her adult children. She may also have adult daughters and grandchildren to help her in the performance of her tasks. A woman left alone with small children is in the most difficult position of all as she must obtain cash in addition to caring for the house and children.

HOUSING

“If there’s one golden rule we all on this island got”, says a character in George Lamming’s novel, “ It is this: if the good god give you health and strength, work till you can get yuhself a shelter over ya head by day, and a corner to rest yuh bones at night. And once you get it, give the good God thanks and never get rid of it”. This quotation indicates the value placed on owning a home by a Barbadian. As another character puts it, “A man ain’t a man til he can call the house he live in my own. And it ain’t matter how small it be once you can call it my own house”.
According to the 1946 census of Barbados, 77.2 percent of the 47,987 houses on the island were owned by the occupants. The overwhelming majority of rented houses are to be found in the capital city of Bridgetown where only 38.2 per cent of the occupants owned the houses in which they lived. In the Parish of St. George, 88.2 per cent of the houses were owner-occupied.
While it is usual for the inhabitants to own the house, it is quite common for them to rent the land on which the house stands; 46.7 per cent of the total house owners rented the land on which their dwellings were erected. In the Parish of St. George, 59.9 per cent of the homeowners rented the land. Only 30.5 per cent of the homeowners on the island owned the land while only 28.3 per cent of the homeowners in the parish owned the land upon which their houses were built.
A selected study of 34,360 houses in eight of the eleven parishes on the island in 1946, including St. George, revealed that in 9,712 cases, or only 28 per cent, did the occupants owned both house and land. In 17, 599 cases, or 51 per cent, the occupants owned the house but rented the land. In only 6,652 cases, or 19 per cent, did the occupants rent both house and land, and 5,375 or 80 per cent of these were in the Parish of St. Michael which contains the main city of Bridgetown.
Thus, the most common situation is for the householder to own the house, but to rent the spot on which it stands. However, this is not true for the inhabitants of Enterprise Hall, the great majority of whom owned both land and dwellings. Of the 135 functioning households in the village, 106 owned both house and land while 22 houses were owner-occupied on rented land. In only 7 cases were both house and land rented, and 2 of these cases represented the shopkeepers from outside of the village who rented the dwelling area with the shop from the merchant who owned them. Another 2 cases reflected single individuals who were allowed to occupy vacant houses for which they did not pay rent. Only three cases represented families who did not own their own dwelling and were forced to rent a shelter.
The great value placed on home ownership makes every man strive to be able to own the house in which he and his family live. It is degrading for a man to live in the home of his wife or her family. Even where the couple has been living together for many years in a house inherited or built by the woman, the man will not rest until he has built his own house. Several of the vacant houses in the village are owned by women whose husbands have built new dwellings for their families.
Of the 156 houses in the village, only 135 are occupied, with 10 vacant, 2 under construction, 2 used part time by the occupants of other houses and 6 used as shops or meeting halls.
The buildings themselves range in size from large stone bungalows, two stories high, to 14 feet by 8 feet board and shingle structures. Of the 156 houses in the village, 46(30 percent) are at least part stone. The stone is locally quarried coral limestone. This percentage is larger than is usual on the island, this again being the result of land ownership. The estates would not allow tenants to build immovable buildings on their property. The tenants, on the other hand, would not build immovable buildings on immovable houses on rented land for fear of having their property confiscated by the landlord.
The remaining 110 houses are of varying size. All are built with imported Canadian pine. There are five standard-size houses built, ranging from 14 feet in length to 22 feet, and from 8 feet to 12 feet in width. Larger dwellings developed over a period of time as a new house is attached to one already being used. Many structures are composed of several smaller houses built together.
Of all the buildings, 113, or 72 per cent, are more than ten years old. The inflation which hit the island since the end of the Second World War has raised prices greatly. The devaluation of the BWI dollar in response to the new exchange rate of the pound sterling, has added to the increase in the cost of housing. As the islanders must now pay approximately seventy per cent over par for Canadian and American dollars, this amount must be added to the already highly cost of building materials. Since almost all building materials are imported from these two countries, the individual Barbadian must spend well over two hundred per cent above the cost of the same items before the war. The increased cost of labour, which has gone up at least as much as the cost of materials, has added to the present high price of housing.
A few examples of the cost of building new wooden houses will illustrate this point. The following estimates are based on 1957 costs.
Case 1. 14’ by 8’ house of Canadian pine.
930 feet of wood at 35c per foot $306.90
7 bundles of shingles at $6. per bundle 42.00
3 sheets of hard board 4’ by 7’ at 13c per sq. ft. 10.92
20 pairs of hinges at 60c 12.00
2 locks at $2.16 4.32
18 lbs. of nails at 34c per lb. 6.12
8 window bolts at 12c .96
2 door bolts at 72c 1.44
Freight (between $1.50 and $2. per 100 feet) 17.50
Total Cost of Material for House $402.16

If the individual has the time and the talent, the building can be constructed for this figure. If a carpenter is hired to do the job the normal labour fee is approximately one-third of the cost of the materials. This would add another $133.00 to the cost of the house, bringing the total to$535.16. This will not give a complete living unit, since there is still no kitchen. The normal practise is to build an additional structure called a “shed roof” to serve as a kitchen. The shed roof that accompanies a 14’ by 8’ house is the same length as the house, a foot less in width and a foot lower in height. The materials cost:

438 feet of wood at 33c $144.54
8 sheets of galvanized iron at $4. 32.00
7 lbs. of nails at 34c per lb. 2.18
4 pairs of hinges at 60c 2.40
Freight (between $1.50 and $2. per 100 feet) 7.00
Total Cost of Material for Shed 188.12

If a carpenter is hired, $63.00 must be added to the cost, raising the price of the “shed roof” to $251.12.
The materials alone for this tiny house cost $590.28. The labour cost comes to almost two hundred dollars, raising the total cost for the serviceable dwelling to almost eight hundred dollars and no calculations have been made for the cost of sanitary conveniences and paint.

Case 2. For a slightly larger house measuring 20’ by 11’ the estimated cost would be:
1500 feet of wood at 33c per foot $495.00
18 bundles of shingles at $6. per bundle 108.00
3 sheets of 4’ by 8’ hard board at 13c per sq. ft. 12.48
75 feet of extra wood for windows (glass windows can
be had for $20 in glass and $50 in labour)at 33c per foot 24.75
27 lbs. of nails at 34c per lb. 9.18
20 pairs of hinges at 60c 12.00
2 locks at $2.16 4.32
8 window bolts at 12c .96
2 door bolts at 72c 1.44
176 feet of extra wood at 33c 58.08
Freight (between $1.50 and $2. per 100 feet) 30.62
Total Cost of Material for House $756.83

If we estimate the cost of materials for the shed roof at three hundred dollars, the cost of the materials alone is over one thousand dollars. A completed estimate for the house and the shed with the cost of the carpenter’s labour raises the figure to almost fifteen hundred dollars, again leaving out the cost of sanitary conveniences and paint.
The ideal of a man bringing his wife and children to live with him in his house is difficult to achieve. It may take many years to accumulate the money needed and other arrangements have to be made during the period of saving.
The estimated life of these houses is short –between fifteen and twenty years – and frequent repairs, restoration or renovation are necessary. It has been noted that more than seventy per cent of the houses were more than ten years old in 1957. This attests to the fact that the houses are not only old, but that they are constantly being repaired. Houses are frequently handed down from generation to generation. After a decade so little is left of the original wood building, and so much is added in repairs, that the unit may be considered to be a new house on the basis of cost and materials.
Wooded houses can readily be inherited because they are so constructed as to be dismantled, reassembled or moved at any time at little cost or damage. For this reason, too, disputes over land do not affect these houses. Stone houses, on the other hand, cannot be transported nor taken apart. In many cases they may be termed untransmissable unless specific instructions for the inheritance are made in a will. There are several cases of fine old stone buildings falling apart from neglect because the children concerned could not agree upon the division of their parent’s property. These cases result from intestacy. Usually the legal heirs are absent from the island. Even in cases where detailed provisions are made in a parent’s will, the absence of one or more of the heirs from the island will result in the neglect of the stone building concerned.
An example f this can be seen in the estate of J. E. Sealy. At his death, he left a will leaving his fine stone house and five and one-half acres of land to his children. Detailed provisions were made in the will, and the house was assigned to his son john. The will also contained the provision that the house would pass to his daughter Anita and her heirs in the event that John had no issue. John went to British Guiana, where married, and later went to Africa, eventually returning to Barbados, where he died. Though married twice, he had no children. At his death, the house passed to his sister Anita, who had lived in the family residence until she emigrated to the United States. She never married, has no children and is still living in New York City. All the other children mentioned in the will are either dead or have left the island, with the exception of one daughter, Mary. She married one Hillary Taylor and still lives in Enterprise Hall. She had two children, a daughter who now resides in Trinidad, and a son with whom she lives. The latter, a 42-year –old school teacher, is therefore the only member of the family on the island. He has taken charge of the land, but has done nothing with the house. Until the end of 1956, it had been rented to a family in the village, the teacher collecting the rent. By that time it was so badly in need of repairs that the tenant was forced to move. The teacher would make no repairs, claiming that the house did not belong to him and that all repairs should be made by his aunt in New York. The latter wanted no part of the property since she did not plan to return to the island and had no children to inherit it. The result is that the fine old stone building is falling apart and can no longer be occupied.
Several other cases similar to this were noted. The original cost of these old stone buildings are difficult to estimate, but today a six-or seven-room stone bungalow with running water and a toilet may cost between six an seven thousand dollars to build. This figure includes the cost of labour for masons and carpenters. The price can vary slightly depending on the desires of the owner, but in any event it requires a sizeable sum to build a bungalow.
These estimates all serve to show that the ownership of a house requires more cash than most young men can raise. Inheritance can ease the situation, but it usually entails complications which make for greater difficulties. As a result, most young people starting families cannot move into their own home immediately. Some temporary measures are necessary while the capital is being accumulated.
The general housing shortage makes renting difficult, and in any case strong sentiments are expressed against renting. Villagers argue that paying rent is wasting money that can be put toward building your own house. Every dollar spent in this way is considered wasted, and Barbadians only rent houses as a last resort.

POPULATION

The 135 functioning houses contain 630 people with an average of 4.7 persons per dwelling. There are 294 males and 336 females, a sex ratio of .872 males per female. This is higher than both the island rate of .801 and the parish rate of .860. When only adults over 25 years of age are considered, there are 113 males to 155 females, a ratio of .728 males per female. The under 25 age groups show a total of 181 males and 181 females, but a 146 of the males are under 14 years of age, compared to only 122 females. In the 15 to 24 age category there are 58 females to 35 males or 1.657 females per male. The discrepancy in this category may be partially explained by the high rate of emigration, both internal and external, for young men. Many still go off as contract farm labourers to the United States in order to earn comparatively high wages. Others have participated in the recent emigration to England. Of those remaining on the island, many of the artisans do not sleep at home, returning only for weekends. The pattern is for these young men to sleep at the homes of young girls with whom they have become friendly while working in different parts of the island.
In the main reproductive age category, 25 to 44, there are 68 men and 71 women, and a ratio of 1.044 females per male. It is only in the age categories over 45 that the number of women greatly exceeds the number of men. In the 45 to 54 group there are 1.727women per man. This ratio drops to 1.222 in the 55 to 64 age bracket, but increases to 4.750 in the 65 to 74 age category and to females per male in the over 75 group.
This preponderance of females over males in the upper age brackets may be explained partly by the greater longevity enjoyed by women. Another explanation, however, derives from this study: men who are unable to fulfil their roles within the family unit depart in later years, leaving their conjugal partners with the families that have been produced during their years together.


Source: Greenfield, Sidney M. 1966 English Rustics in Black Skin: A Study of Modern Family Forms in a Pre-Industrialized Society. College and University Press, New Haven, Connecticut: pages 77-95.

Disaster and Distraction: Party Politics in Guyana, 1953 – 2005

I am absolutely convinced topics addressing the life and the times of Linden Forbes Samson Burnham, for the most part, result in illogical expressions, uttered primarily by those who choose to defend the culprit, and his cohorts.

They simply continue to rehash their interpretations of the history of Africans in Guyana – lifting the Burnham era, Paramountcy of the PNC, idolizing the politicians, and the most disastrous period in Guyana’s history since the days of slavery - over, above and beyond the era of the village movement, the shareholders, their own ancestry, and other relatives. It is all, too sickening for my tastes.

I will readily admit I would often use political and religious articles to drum up interests, and to assess people's thought process. The revelation is as always narrow-mindedness and indoctrination. People's expressions lack personality, they display the parroting of their political choices.

Only a very few seemed at all concerned, about the people, the masses of Guyanese and the state of underdevelopment which seems ever so permanent in the life and times of Guyana. They refuse to charge the politicians with holding up the country. They simply refuse to accept the simple fact, that more than any singular force, it is the politicians who have held Guyana hostage, and are continuing to do so – all because the people of Guyana permit them to continue to do so unabated.

It is the people of Guyana who gave, are giving and will give, their politicians free passes, to do whatever they please.

I am simply tired of the rethreaded discourse, especially in which logic has taken wings. I am at the stage of life where I am not bemused by the folly of others. Enlightenment is a rare bird, and that's what I intend to seek daily until I shall see no more. I remain surprised at the level of indoctrination, people express, completely tossing out that, what even Steve Wonder can see.

I can not believe that after 52 years and counting Guyanese will still be so blinded. Walter Rodney and the WPA, made their mark, and for an all too brief a period were pointing the working class peoples towards the light; self-emancipation – the glory of our ancestry. The powers that be, Burnham and the PNC assassinated the dynamic young leader.

Dr. Rodney displayed such rare qualities which seemed destined to move Guyana on the path of economic development. You and I know what followed – for most of us intensified our effort – to show Burnham and the PNC a clean pair of heels – opting for the racisms of Europeans over the oppression of those who look like us in the land where we are birthed.

And that's the truth. Deny it all you can or will publicly but I know that you know you will never fool yourselves – for you know that I am telling you, reminding you of the truth. And that's the bottom line.

Party politics in Guyana, informs us even to day – that the PPP and the PNC – are arrogant. They will forever continue to assume Guyana is their monopoly. It seems it will be in the hands of future generations to break the yoke of the politics of ethnicity in Guyana. Guyanese will resort to alternative methods to replace in competent administrations.

Why not begin today by supporting a third party or a coalition of parties? People, by so doing sweep those two inept units out of the political landscape. I am confident Guyanese must make an issue, create an event and establish a national position based on the will of the people and thus committed to the common good of the people, adopting such a position is paramount if Guyana is rise above the petty ethnic insecurities which has been promoted by the politicians for their own selfishness.

I am positive unless Guyanese confront their stereotypes, and make the necessary changes – regardless of the initial consequences – progress will remain a dream and the reality nothing but nightmares.

THE PAST ARE LESSONS THE PRESENT OUGHT TO KNOW AND NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES.

THE PAST ARE LESSONS THE PRESENT OUGHT TO KNOW AND NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES.

“Racism wears different masks in different places at different times, but when the mask is torn away, the same malevolent face of exploitation and greed is exposed”. Jan Carew, 1925.
“Only lunatics want war”, Jawaharlal Nehru


Eurocentric trained academics are failing us in the Twenty first century. Why hasn’t Guyanese scientists – as intelligent as they appear – produced the answers to Guyana’s political, social, religious, economic, educational and other ills plaguing the nation – which has been ever present in our history? They got together in Howard university, a few years ago, and allowed their political interests to destroy that attempt. I offer the view the behaviour at Howard University was an embarrassment. One Indo–Guyanese female was reduced to tears – such was the folly among those who are employed in the Class rooms in colleges in Guyana and the Eurocentric world. The call is to try again and again until they get it right. . How is it that a vast majority of the print media found in the libraries of Great Britain, and USA, relate to racism in British Guiana (Now Guyana) yet Dr. Gibson’s scholarship is scrutinized to such an extent? It is absurd at best. People, the truth is racism has been in the society from the day Europeans disembarked in Guyana. Guyanese political scientists ought to research, do the analysis, and prepare documents detailing efforts in pursuit of resolution. The political philosophers must endeavour to exterminate this “gridlock of perpetual racial antagonisms” which has entrenched itself between the two major groups, almost from the day the Hesperus and Whitby arrived at Vreed-en-Hoop.
The shareholders of the East Coast Villages recognized this situation, and begun to do something about it. Whether the principal reason was economics – our nineteenth century representatives saw, and understand the need for self-preservation and unity. The other ethnic groups of Guyanese were allow to participate in every phase of life in the villages. How it is the leaders of rural communities in the nineteenth century were more progressive than the so-called national leaders of the modern era? The intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century has failed to build upon the ambitions of the former slaves and indentured servants – our ancestors – who recognized the need for self-determination, and the role of unity of the various ethnic groups in community development.
Guyanese has misconstrued the damage the party system has done to our collective physique. The truth is the two major political parties continued the practise of divide and conquer the routine which the Europeans employed against melanin dominant people of the world with a high degree of success for centuries leading to the privileges, the descendants of Europe continue to enjoy, ever since Europe emerged from the dark ages. Oppression gave rise to two groups the privileged and the victimized. The premises holds true with the scenario of racism. Doesn’t that make you angry? If you love yourself - If you love your ancestors – if you love Guyana – it would. Who is the Guyanese leader who will place national unity, and development above even their own life? I know such a leader has not held the highest office in the land.
The masses were and are being manipulated. I am sick and tired of this “Tricknology” with which the PNC, and PPP has poisoned Guyanese for 52 years.
It’s as sure the sun shines; they used us for their personal triumphs – and protecting personal interests – seem to be their paramount concern. Paraphrasing these ringleaders who has mislead, and continue to mislead Guyanese with tranquilizing effect has bankrupt the country. When is their day of reckoning? Come on – How long will this continue? Show your love for Guyana- tear away at the racism which has survived for far too long among us – from British Guiana to Guyana. Can you explain how the PPP and the PNC convinced thousands for whatever reasons to disrupt and endanger the lives of fellow Guyanese? I am convinced it is not about the majority of Guyanese. I am convinced from Jagan to Jagdeo, all placed themselves above the people – instead of what’s best for the colony, the nation – self interest has been their priority. The solution is education. The solution is restructuring the administration – from Central to local Government. Peoples Power, the working class people must make the necessary steps to strengthen local government administration. The grass root must see themselves – neither PPP nor PNC, neither African nor Indian – but identify as Guyanese. Guyana above and beyond all else. That is the indoctrination needed, and is sadly missing.
I can not in my right mind see Guyanese as the politicians who prey upon the people by promoting division. I fondly recall the days of being with indo-Guyanese friends – and pleasing the stomach by the hand of Indo-Guyanese females. What’s revolting is there are many who seek only to destroy. Jawaharlal Nehru
said, “only lunatics want war”. You and I ought to agree with him on that statement. The blood shed of the 1960s is more than enough for me. Local government reform – political reform at the national level. Good people must over come bad structure.
The lessons will be learnt, and new practises will be put in place spring boarding national development. I do believe generations in the future will reclaim, and embark upon the journey bring about, realizing the dreams of ancestors, and Guyana would be a proud united developed nation. I would not be around to witness – I know and I am very sadden –such is unlikely to occur in my life time. The call, therefore is for leaders of villages, local authorities, and villagers, and overseas based Guyanese to work together to improve the present conditions. Thus preparing and making the effort to eradicate this situation which has not benefited the nation. I am afraid the small man will never be a real man but will accomplish rewarding experiences when they stand side by side – ever united for the same cause, only then the people would overcome this political malady which has imprisoned them. The masses of people – Afro and Indo Guyanese – must recognize the choice of national unity is representative of the dreams of the Indentured Servants and the Shareholders of the villages. It’s crystal –until Guyanese nationalists, the masses of the people, and the exploited retire these conmen and gunmen, including these politicians, and their faithful pattern of simply promoting, hiding behind, and exploiting, an atmosphere of ethnic fears, conflicts and groupings – while betraying the nation will not put to rest – cycle of poverty, and violence for which Guyana has become noteworthy. Thus moving Guyana swiftly along the road from underdeveloped country to the top of the world’s stage. Isn’t that where the aim ought to be? Down with mass ignorance. Vote for change. Long live the power of the people.

I am Who I am - Who I always were - Who I always Will

“The English…lumped us all together as ‘niggers’ – Asians, Africans, West Indians, the lot. They compel us to unite whether we like it or not. Of course, throughout the empire, we had the same educational system inflicted on us and so we carry the same cultural baggage… so despite enormous cultural differences, we can still communicate fairly easily with one another”. – Jan Carew, Ghosts in my Blood.
“Our liberation struggle is a complex one in which historical conflicts of race, class, caste, colour, and culture determine both how we see ourselves and how others see us” Jan Carew, Ghosts in our Blood.
“It’s our destiny as an African people to fight for our Civil Rights and Human Rights”, Malcolm X
“People have to come to realize that THE FATHER created us for each other, and until we understand that we are going to make a whole heap of problems out of differences instead of accepting the privileges of similarities because we are all of the human family”, Bunny Wailer


Do Guyanese of all walks of life take great pains to forget the past? The articles, and conversations I access, for the most part, leaves me wondering –Why am I accessing such an unfamiliar British Guiana? Why are their experiences in British Guiana so vastly different from mine? Even though, I did not spend great amounts of time in Georgetown and was born twenty years after Noel Compton Bacchus I am familiar with a number of with a number of events and experiences he documented in his book, Guyana Farewell. I can recall Military Bands, British Anthem, Union Jack, and Radio Demerara. The business of singing “God save the Queen” was not something I anxiously anticipated. I would be hard pressed to recall and identify which parade was the Empire Day Parade. I remember the train stations along the railway line from Georgetown to Rosignol, especially that of Enmore and Golden Grove. The confectionaries and the array of refreshing drinks were sold at what we called ‘Cake Shops’. I am not sure, either Brindley Benn or Balram Singh Rai was then the Minister of Education when the radio was introduced as an instructional aid – the programme, “Broadcast to Schools” – loved the Guyanese folks and patriotic songs but oh those English folk songs – ‘Oh! Where have you been charming Billy?’ and the powdered milk and biscuits were distributed to pupils.

The first noted racial violence between working class peoples occurred in New Amsterdam, Africans and Portuguese were the combatants, in 1848. When I opened my eyes, more than a hundred years later, New Amsterdam, was a sleepy, and seemingly innocent town of 12, 000 souls. The event occurred in Alexander Street, during the Interim Government’s administration, between October 1953 and 1957. Kanhai and Butcher were the masters of batsmanship at regional level. Walcott, Weeks, and Worrell were among the ten best batsmen in Test Match Cricket. The differences between Burnham and Jagan were noticeable. The PPP were split into the Burnham Fraction and the Jagan Fraction. Emmett Till, an African child in the USA, was murdered, for whistling at a white woman. Rosa Parks was tired of riding in the back of the bus. In the days, the beginnings of my youth, children of the neighbourhood would play, mostly Cricket and Soccer, on the streets it would be hours before vehicles would travel down Alexander Street, interrupting the activities. Although it was located just one block from the Public Hospital, traffic was very sparse.

Alexander Street offered a microcosm of British Guiana with all six peoples represented on the two blocks between Water Street and Back dam. Among the residents of Alexander Street, New Amsterdam in 1952, were the following; Z. B. Amerally, Kingsley Brassington Coddett, Randolph Leon A. Coddett, Irene Albertha Choy, Cyril Choy, Thomas N. Davis, Marlon E. Ferrell, Clifford Fredericks, Joan Fredericks, Ralph Fredericks, Stanley Fredericks, Rupert L. Fung-Fook, Habiblulla, Kathleen Headley, Hubert Hopkinson, Edward Houston, Philbert O. H. Howell, Hughes, Hunter, Isaacs, Richard Jones, Kingsley H. Mars, J. T. Mook-Sang, Jane E. Mook-Sang, Eric Nicholas, David Reddock, Ross, Winston Rozario, Lambert Edward Smith, Duncan McGregor Stuart, William Sullivan, Winston Sullivan, Eric C. Tello, James Ten-Pow, Phyllis M. Warn, and Saizie L. Warn. Amerally owned the saw mill, and there was a grocery store at the corner of Alexander and Water Streets. Desmond Bryan’s father was employed at Harvey’s bakery which was located on Alexander Street between Water and Main Streets. A tenement yard was also found on that block. At the corner of Alexander and Main Streets were four places of business, including three parlours – cake shops – and grocery stores. The Choy family also ran a taxi service. The Berbice River, and Back dam trench, was out of bounds, associating with residents of the tenement yard, complaints by adults, and not at home by sundown, were all capital offences. Martin, Reddock, and Sharper were known relatives resident in New Amsterdam, during that period. By April 1966, the fire station was then under construction in then swamp land, over Back dam.
Mr. W. O. R. Kendall was the top ranking politician in New Amsterdam. It was futile to oppose him at the polls. Mr. Kendall was a father figure. In fact Mr. Kendall is the first politician I ever saw performing at a podium, on a platform at a street corner - the same street on which Central Police Station is found and Main Street - before a considerable gathering. It was the image of the colourful and emotional Cheddi Jagan which had a lasting impression on mind. I know I can not recall a word he said but I seem to recall a crowd of the vast majority, Afro-Guyanese responding and the Doctor firing - like a Baptist preacher. I would, years later, see and hear Cheddi speaking to a crowd in front of Golden Grove Methodist School. He was not as impassioned as I remember his performance I witnessed in New Amsterdam. Mr. Austin, the barber, whose business place was located on Water Street, near Alexander Street. Mr. Austin administered a solitary hair style for boys, the much dreaded, baldhead. Mr. Harold Christopher Scarder, formerly Head Master of St. Patrick’s Anglican School, East Canje, Berbice, was the Head Teacher at Victoria Preparatory School – known as Scarder’s School. I am now aware both Mr. Austin and Mr. Scarder are connected to the Buxton-Friendship Village District.
Edward Augustus Chapman (1892-1974), popularly known as A. E. Chapman, former mayor and businessman, owner of Chapman’s Bookstore. Errol Alphonso, then a businessman, grocer and Eustace Wilson, the mayor, principal and owner of Victoria High School. In the 1930’s the outstanding Joseph Eleazer reigned supremely in New Amsterdam. B. L. Crombie shouting, “Sports Flashes” at five minutes to eight, and ending with his creed, “It’s not whether you win or loose but how you played the game”. Mr. Brindsley Lewis Crombie (1908-1972) stressed athletes to be good sportsman and women. Prominent Guyanese associated with New Amsterdam include the following; Mr. Shridath S. Ramphal, Rashliegh E. Jackson, Norman E. Cameron, Edgar Mittelholzer, Edith Pieters, the Legendary legal family – the Luckhoo and their first cousins, the Rohomon family, including brothers, the writers; Joseph, and Peter, Wilson Harris, Joseph Oscar Fitz Haynes, perhaps the most brilliant legal mind ever born in British Guiana, Dr. John Monteith Rohlehr, and Milton Pydanna.

The matriarch of my household, as I reminiscence, seemed to plan her life around the event, “Kanhai at bat”. It seemed activities stopped when it was announced Kanhai is approaching the crease. Immediately after Kanhai was dismissed, cricket commentaries ended and life resumed. If Kanhai destroyed the bowling I was likely to be granted my wishes, and often escaped the rod but not the verbal discipline. Rohan was one of her pupils in 1947 at Port Mourant Roman Catholic School. I believe Mrs. Magnel Grovesnor, was the midwife, in the district and participated in the birthing and health care of Rohan, prior to Mrs. Muriel Ross, her niece instructing him in the classroom. Kanhai was certainly a member of the household.

Holidays were spent in Golden Grove and Nabaclis village district, and occasionally in Georgetown. The brief interludes in Georgetown were spent at my father’s residences on Charlotte, and lots 105 and E1/2 115 Regent Streets, and the residences of my Cousins Dorothy McIntosh and Gloria Duguid, in East Ruimveldt, and East La Penitence Housing Schemes. I loved hanging out with my cousins – to this very day fond memories of those experiences, surfaces – but my father’s residence remains what I term encounters of the close kind with dictatorship – children must be seen and not heard – I might add my rebellious nature often resulted in painful experiences. I love going visiting my father’s place of employment – for it afforded me opportunities to interact the best legal minds in the colony of British Guiana, J. O. F. Haynes, and Fred Willis, and others. I loved the Jazz and Calypso music my father played – I remember hearing him declaring there is no comparable pianist in Guiana – Count Bassie, Ahmad Jahmal, Duke Ellington, Miles, Charlie, Dizzy, Ray Charles and Lord Kitchener were a far cry from the Soul Stirrers, Mahaila Jackson and the Gospel music I was allowed in New Amsterdam. While so near, Bourda was just too far away. Thus it was never my Mecca. I still hear the sound of the bullets and the cries of people – Police shot another – next door at Prince Rum shop on Regent Street, and the echo of the slap which sent me angrily to sleep – vowing to keep my distance from my male parent – all the remaining days of my life. I never found out who were the participants. I believe to this day it was bias crime.


I preferred Golden Grove and Nabaclis. It afforded opportunities for the grounding with several members of the Sancho family, including the following families; Abrams, Adams, Benn, Cosbert, Elliott, Hinds, Joyce, Kendall, Lutchman, Marious, Patterson, Ralph, Roberts, Sandy, Scotland, Sharper, Valentine, and Willis, on the East Coast. I experienced, prior to the Racial Disturbances, every ethnic group, except the indigenous of the land, in Golden Grove and Nabaclis Village District. It was on the East Coast of Demerara, I begun to notice differences among the working class peoples of British Guiana. The aftermath of the violence which erupted in the community, during the racial disturbances of the early 1960s resulted in changes to the social dynamics of the Village District. I have no idea when East Indians, Chinese and Portuguese were allowed to purchased land, reside and partake in phases of life within the community. I concluded only Africans were allowed to own property and conduct business in the community for a number of years, after the cotton estates were purchased on January 5th, 1848, for among the articles of the Agreement for the local government of Victoria Village which was signed on May 2, 1845, by 79 of the 83 shareholders before Mr. Thomas Porter Jr., the Acting Stipendiary, stated the following;
# 12th – And be it fully understood by all the proprietors and householders, that they shall dispose of no land (either in front or back of the estate) to any stranger that may wish to purchase from them, without the consent of the President and Committee –
# 13th – Any proprietor or householder wishful of disposing of their shares in the estate, or any portion of the land they be in possession, is to mention the same to the President and Committee, so that arrangements may be made by the other proprietors for the purchase of said property.
# 19th – No stranger shall be allowed to remain on the estate without being able to give a clear and satisfactory account of himself such as, his business and with whom he is staying – (Young 1958: 224)

It is known, Afro-Guyanese performed community service to prevent death and destruction to Portuguese and their property in the village district, during the Angel Gabriel Riots of February, 1856. Violence pitting Africans versus East Indians were not noticeable except concerning labour. In the main, policemen following the instructions of European officers were the folks victimizing Indo-Guianese. I subscribe to the thought process that the exodus of Indo-Guyanese from the community had far reaching effects on the social, economic, and local government development of the village district. The aftermath of the events of the early 1960s highlighted mass ignorance, differences, propagated ethnic insecurities, produced further division, and prevented unity of the Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese sector of the population.

I am not sure when and where I first encountered racial slurs. I believe it was at # 68 Village, on the Upper Corentyne Coast in September 1966. I attended Blairmont Estate Primary and Cumberland Methodist Schools located in predominantly Indo-Guyanese communities on the West Bank of the Berbice and the East Bank of the Canje rivers. I have no recollection of being addressed in derogatory manner in those communities. In fact, I recall residents treating me most respectfully. I was offered a number of items – without compensation – simply because I was a teacher’s son. What used to bother me was the members of the community seemed genuinely offended when I refused their offers. Therefore, I would accept such, with the widest grin I could muster, even if I did not care for same. The folks of prior generations, especially in the rural districts, and particularly in Berbice, did not it seemed drunk from the well of racial hatred. While residing in the villages # 64, 65, and 68 on Upper Corentyne Coast, even during the fraudulent accounting of National Elections of December 1968 I have no recollection of threat to my welfare because I am Afro-Guyanese. The PNC meetings were held at Oscar King’s residence at #64 village and at Tucker’s residence at #65 village. I do not recall witnessing East Indians in attendance. PPP and PYO meeting were held all over the community. I would go to those in #66 Village. The meetings presented another opportunity to see Chitrani, who had bedevilled me ever since I first saw her in September 1966, in Fourth Standard - Common Entrance Class - in #68 government school. We would often walk together to and from school. Indo-Guyanese of the area would be so offended that they decided to attempt to put an end to it, (including perhaps my like) – a mob gathered at #66 Creek bridge to greet me; I did not like the odds – I quickly assessed the creek afforded me the only opportunity to escape without being victimized. I am here today without a scratch from that event.

I fondly remember ole Mahrajee of # 68 village, ensuring I learnt the art of eating with my fingers as the Indo-Guyanese did – how delighted the old woman seemed when I knocked down a few of her Dhal phouris. While residing at # 64 village Joe Doolam, his mother and relatives were whom I considered my closest friends. Randolph Etwaroo and Joe Doolam are the folks who taught me how to master the game of cricket. Joe is a big brother to me. I would go any place with Joe at any hour. In fact, I remember shedding tears when I understood Joe was getting married – that meant less time to share his company. Joe’s marriage hanging out all hours of the night listening to test cricket commentaries from Australia was a thing of the past. It was in this period Roy Fredericks told me, playing table tennis, well, improved the hand eye coordination and mastering that game would lead to improved performance at the crease –I ran with it. I would play in a limited number of organized matches representing Skeldon Line Path Government Secondary School, at the secondary school cricket, and # 64 Village, at the club level in Davson Cup Competition in Berbice. Among the cricketers I interacted with are the following; Liquat Alli, Ansel Hazel, Leonard Baichan, Sam Suchit, Annand Sookram, Isaac Suirnarine, Shew “Black Jack” Shivnarine, Ramchiritar, Burlin Shaheed, Reginald Etwaroo, Gopie and Vinoo Beasmonie, Seebalack brothers of # 71 village, and Lall Munilal.

I am sure I am not anti-ethnic. I believe the Ancients of Earth is the Blackman, and every human being is descended from the Blackman. Thus every kind of man is that of a Blackman, regardless of their interpretation of themselves. I did not know I have East Indian bloodlines within my genealogical make up. I recently understand Kissoon, Mootoo, and Ramotar of Golden Grove-Nabaclis, and Unity-Lancaster districts on the East Coast of Demerara, are my relatives. I am firmly against social systems which cast one group over another – that’s it. I resolutely believe the option is either national unity or complete separation. It is necessary to choose one or the other. Guyanese must study and practise the positives of the global experience of the relationship between Africans and East Indians if they intend Guyana to foster national unity. The composition of Guyana’s population will neither allow Africans to convert Guyana into an African state nor will provide Indians with another Indian. I suggest let Guyana be Guyanese. The people and the state of Guyana must diligently work to improve the conditions of life and develop the country for future generations. Live for tomorrow – let peace and love abide – support National Unity – support Alliance For Change – support Working peoples Alliance – vote for peace progress and prosperity. Vote for change from 52 years of PPP and PNC’s politics of ethnicity, and inept administrations. Vote for Alliance For Change.

Recommended Reading:
Young, Allan (1958) The Approaches to Local Self-Government in British Guiana.
Bacchus, Noel Compton (1995) Guyana Farewell.
Carew, Jan (1994) Ghosts in my Blood.