This beautiful day has arrived – today! This humble, man-in-the-street column has completed twenty (20) years today.
Yes friends this is the twentieth anniversary of Frankly Speaking which started in January 1993, when (Mrs) Doreen de Caires challenged me to “continue” writing for Stabroek after the PNC’s Election loss. Though I had facilitated written features for publication for the Party, I did not write them all, as Mrs de Caires thought. Anyway, Mr David de Caires also agreed and he chose “Frankly Speaking” over “Allan-Being Frank”. The rest is Stabroek News history, as this, the only real discipline in my life, has outlived many other columns and must rank as one of Guyana’s longest, consistent journalistic features.
So I thank Stabroek News and all of you readers for the support. Attending the University of Life, though the Faculty of the Streets, unlettered as I am, I know I have provoked thought in a positive manner. This long sharp blast on my own trumpet sometimes regrets that my prescience has not been usually acknowledged by those concerned. Indeed I’ve seen others, in various media, take hold of many of my themes and hints and work them dry. But then, that made me useful too, as it came/comes with the turf. So bring out today’s drums and dancing girls! What were those main themes over twenty years?
Themes and issues – Frankly Speaking…
Those who bothered to follow me over the two decades would know that I – not unlike many other commentators and columnists – explored the following quite often: The moral dilemma Drug Trafficking posed. This is where I explained my sad realization that the insidious business of narcotics handling pervades society to such an extent that even upright, religious, law-abiding citizens – unwittingly or knowingly – are made to mix, mingle, even support Drug Lords and their enterprises. And shrug off that involvement. Joining them because you cant beat them?
2) The corruption/kleptocracy culture: The few (?) moralistic and upright Guyanese
