Dear Editor,
Two sons of Guyana left for a better life in the “developed” USA. And even though they were identical in social status and education, one followed his appetites and pursued a self-serving life of crime. Becoming an animal, Daron Wint, the shame of Guyana, murdered four innocent people in Washington, DC on May 14, 2015. Now, Daron Whit is locked in a cage of his own making where he is expected to die.
The other son of Guyana had the wisdom to recognized truth from falsehood and the strength to embrace truth and reject falsehood. This son of Guyana, our shining star, Randolph Holder, became an officer of the law, in New York City, where he was killed in the line of duty.
Office Holder was honoured and laid to rest in his native soil by his family and fraternity of fellow New York police officers. Even in death, Officer Holder continues to serve us as he reminds us that we cannot choose when we die, but we can choose whether we are good and honest men when our time comes.
We have all seen and experienced the likes of these two men. Many of us see this in our siblings as we ask ourselves how can brothers of the same parents who were raised in the same environment with the same opportunities have such diametrical characters. Some defend their wanton ways by saying it is the place and circumstances that dictate their condition, but their decision to embrace existentialism still shows they have a choice.
Do they need to be reminded that we all face difficult situations where our humanity is tested? Will our decision to pursue our appetites of greed, pride, lust, etc. be pinned on the excuse of circumstances? Should we look at the siege of Stalingrad where some of the starving residents had to choose whether to die as humans rather than live off the flesh of others? We can always defend our self-serving decision on circumstances, but we need to see how we diminish ourselves as we betray others and ourselves for paltry things. If the corrupt, be they criminals, politicians or family have anything to teach us, we should see them as models of failure that are everything we should despise and reject.
Yours faithfully,
Stanley Niamatali
