“One people, One nation, One destiny” -The motto of Guyana

Ms. Parris reporting and this entry marks my first official internet post from the land of my heritage and heart: Guyana. I’ll add more content/reflections when I’m back stateside in the good ol’ U.S.A., but for now please enjoy these pics and brief updates about the events and projects that are going on of late.

The Beginning Days

This pic above showcases the Guyanese Coat of Arms and waterfall greeting travelers at the Cheddi Jagan International airport. Such scenes of  the quiet dignity and heritage of Guyana are fortunately commonplace.

I pass this statue of  the “1763 Monument” often to get to and from where I first stayed in the neighborhood called Kitty. In 1763, “Cuffy” became a national hero for leading the people of Berbice in a fight for freedom from slavery and inspired generations of social justice seekers in Guyana.

Here is a bonus close-up pic of the “1763 Monument.” To this day there is great admiration of the strength and power of freedom-fighting  in Guyana dating back to the colonial era with Cuffy’s Berbice slave uprising.

Cuffy’s legacy certainly still lives on today and this “OCCUPY GT” pic is just one example of that same spirit of freedom. The sign is not only a Guyanese statement of solidarity with the occupy movement around the world; but most importantly, it is a reaction related to the recent Linden Uprisings that began in July of 2012 and reached a climax during my journey here. There were protests and a struggle to demand economic justice in the low-income Linden neighborhoods which resulted in the loss of life and the blockade of a crucial bridge. In addition to this sign, there were also protestors standing in solidarity with the Linden mothers in front of Guyana’s parliament building as negotiations and compromises are starting to be navigated by parties on both sides of the struggle.

Likewise, there was also this sign in front of parliament which served as a make-shift forum for citizens to express their  point on view on how to “solve the problems of Guyana.” There is truly a strong willingness to have dialogue and move forward with progressive action to improve Guyana so such signs and even Guyanese  TV shows like “Voice of the People” are really inspiring.

Finally, since I truly believe that power is in knowledge and relationships, this last pic for the day is one of me doing some research with the help of one of my family/partners in Guyana inside the National Library in Georgetown.

See you later for more updates and thanks so much for your attention, time and/or support! 🙂