Friends from the Diaspora and persons impacted by his work continue to pay tribute to the late Guyanese social history icon, Godfrey Chin.
“Godfrey Chin is a hero. His love for Guyana was complete and his life has been a story of great adding to the great Guyanese story, never subtracting from it and never seeming to divide it into narrow little categories,” the Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc said in a statement.
Chin’s funeral service will be held today at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The body will be in the church from 2 pm for tributes and eulogy. The Funeral Service will begin at 3 pm and the body will be taken to Le Repentir Cemetery for burial.
In a telephone interview with this newspaper, from the Association’s headquarters in Brooklyn, executive member Dr Vibert Cambridge said that Chin’s passing came as a blow to the entire organization. “The news of his death came as a blow to us all…Godfrey was a founding member of this organization which promotes and propagates Guyana’s culture through the largest Guyanese festival here – the Annual Guyana Folk Festival celebrations – held in Brooklyn. He will be remembered in the annals of Guyanese cultural history as more than an icon for the works he contributed,” he said.
The organisation plans to designate February 21 a day to celebrate his life. On February 19, it will hold a public memorial service for him. The organization also plans to present to a successful reporter of the heritage and preservation of Guyana’s issues, the Godfrey Chin Prize for Heritage Journalism. Requirements for eligibility are currently in the works.
First Street
In his personal tribute, Cambridge said “Godfrey and I grew up in First Street, Alberttown where we shared and enjoyed the joys of growing up in a small community…There was always a lot of sports and from then his creativity was shown be it through the coconut branch turned super bat or balata balls. He was also a national player of squash and hockey.”
Dr Cambridge added that he would always remember Chin as approachable and affable. “He was never stuck up and could talk to from the man in the street to the person in the highest office without airs although he came from quite a wealthy and affluent background…He was a creator and could make something from what every other eye saw as nothing. It was through that creativity that he was able to mix what was taking place in Guyana through the years through art. He took pride in creating spaces to celebrate especially street tramps and costuming. Godfrey, for all that he was, will be missed immensely”,” he said.
Literary Critic and University of Guyana Lecturer Al Creighton noted that although he personally never met Chin, he was distressed by his death. He said he became aware of Chin’s invaluable contributions though his extensive research of certain elements of Guyanese Culture, particularly the origins of Mashramani. Creighton said it was Chin’s love, during the 50s and 60s, of road masquerades and tramps that fed into Mashramani being a reality. He said that his loss was incalculable in terms of Guyana’s heritage. “Godfrey Chin seemed to have stored so much knowledge and elements that he so enthusiastically recorded. The fact that he had documented, preserved and was still collecting so much of Guyana’s history shows that he should not have died at this time. He was a valuable archive. His death is indeed unfortunate.”
The author of the popular Nostalgias series was found dead at his David Street, Kitty residence on Monday after several calls made to him over the weekend went unanswered. At the time of his last communication with his brother Kyrel, he had said that he was suffering from and taking treatment for influenza.
