Frankly Speaking

Festivals – For People and Politicians

Letter-writers:  Prolific and Prominent Thoughts of the just-concluded Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival held in Georgetown, the Guyana Cultural Association, New York and its Labour Day week-end, Guyana-oriented Folk Festival and  the quite imminent preparations for the Mashramani 2013 Festival all combined to prompt these reflections and personal opinions on Festivals generally. 

‘We selling hay eleven years now’

On Monday of this week, during one of the Georgetown City Council’s usual inconsistent sporadic, “law-and-order exercises”, the “single-parent” pavement vendors – all female to “a man” – let go their normal protest-anthems.

The I-GCF: Three Guianas? Festival?

However back-handed this might appear (below), it is a plug for all Guyana to go out and support all the (free) events that comprise this weekend’s Inter-Guiana Cultural Festival in Georgetown and suburbs.

Ole-time August Holidays

Whilst again slightly escapist from our now-normal sordid national goings-on, I recycle much of this, after three years, to celebrate the youth of my generation, in the hope that the nostalgia could influence today’s Guyanese young to balance their captivity by the technology, with clean, healthy, innovative, even outdoor pleasures, at this time.

More martyrs? Really?

It’s amazing–and baffling at times–with what we Guyanese do with words, which, in long-time accepted English, have natural, traditional meanings.

`No-no, we were never really slaves’

Four, five days from today it’ll be time for the observance, the celebration, the jollification – soirees marking the anniversary of the 1838 emancipation of enslaved Africans from the British– owned sugar plantations of the British Guiana Colony.

Nostalgia, Heritage: The good old days?

It’s escapist me again today. Avoiding our front-page daily, gory goings-on, I’ll wax somewhat “sentimental” again, briefly exploring issues hopefully still related to our collective Guyanese Soul.

A People’s Parliament? Committees like peas!

Dr C:  When music mattered more (?)       During the last fifteen years of my professional existence, there have been two or three Public Education Programmes which I was privileged and pleased to participate in but which still managed to cause me anguish.

Any areas for national hope?

Ho-hum my friends and readers.  Especially you Guyana-born, living-in-Guyana Guyanese. This contributor tires of both local goings on and the more negative behaviours and aspects of world-wide existence, the Arab, African, European mix of conflicts, slaughter,

Sperm-Donor Fathers (day)

As another American-inspired (now commercialised ) “Day” looms on Sunday, I feel compelled to re-visit these views I first shared here a few years ago.

Phillip Moore at 35

Death on the front pages

Another very brief sermon today.  I suspect that I might have even used the caption years ago and that I would have discussed, in layman’s terms, issues related to publishers’ priorities or prerogatives, editorial policy and the fact that, in the print media, bad news attract interest, attention  – and money Just a little more of the same today.

After Saturday’s “Arrival”

Most brief will today’s offering be. First, a fleeting but perhaps provocative flash-back at last week-end’s observance of the 174th anniversary of the arrival in Guyana of people from India.

‘A Single Parent’ on Mother’s Day

Trying not to be caught up in the mere commercial hype surrounding the American-inspired Mothers Day observances, I chose to repeat these thoughts, first penned a few years ago, today, a full eight days before this year’s day dedicated to those females who are mothers of some kind.

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