What is arrogant about speaking the truth? It is clear even to the low IQ types that Amerindians are the forgotten Guyanese. The ranking as being 70 percent in poverty speaks poignantly to that tact. That they are trapped in such dire straights is a consequence that they were hopeful that the two tribal parties will one day mean what they say. But all such hope is lost. The mere fact that Shuman decides to speak truth to power has the APNU dark arts department in a tizzy.
You do not intend to inform us on any thing. You are here in the usual role to beat down on the head of the good Shuman by casting him in the role so familiar to us; that is he is “arrogant”, “uninformed” and mentally ill equipped and not competent to have a voice. How dare he break out of the subaltern backward box and speak in the public square!
If the above tome is your case against Shuman’s competency to speak then you are claiming privileges and smarts you do not possess. The world knows by osmosis that we are poor; we are powerless; we are wards of the state ( by definition) ; we await handout by decree and are conditioned habit to a status of mandatory subservience and knee bending to the resident autocrat in power!
As long as those conditions are met; men like you can call our leaders stupid. Sorry, we know wherein that quality resides and will no longer sit back and be quiet. We are here; this is our grand father's patrimony and while we know we must share we will no longer accept being treated as mere tenants in our own home with those like you land-lording over us. We want to redesign, the house as it suits us, when it suits us and also to select who are our architects. You will not stop that.
All the claims of grand schemes and great transformations since 2015 is unadulterated crap. Poverty in the nation has not decreased one bit and Amerindians who are usually the last in this trickle down development stream are still waiting their for the first drop in their desiccated communities. What we do know is that over the tenure of the APNU our d our land rights were tied up to a Commission on supposed African ancestral rights. We also know that a prominent member of said commission declared that a few of our tribal siblings do not even belong! Imagine that. The creep even elaborated spurious theories that we were not even to be called first peoples since that belonged to Africans!
Whatever billions you chime about in infrastructure building is not for us or because of us. It is because you must as a national necessity. We are incidental to all things as usual. When we are in the room and have a voice in what happens to us; when we can control who marches into our communities; squats on our lands and when we can be sure of protections against those who casually defile our women and children then you can speak to us of “development”. Since we do not trust you we hope Shuman prevails with a few seats and be the sword of Damocles over the heads of both APNU and the PPP.
That you insist that Shuman is gaming the system by playing to ethnic identity is also utter nonsense. Is that not implacable cultural practice by the two large tribal parties to press race buttons at all times? Just look at the make up of your party and the ones in leadership across all political and civic organizations since the APNU came into power and tell me who is using race as a foot stool! Could you point me to a statement from the reverent leader granger or from you admonishing the virulent racist statement by the minister about knowing only PNC types?
Lets be clear, it is insulting to insist Shuman lacks understanding, is uninformed or is by any means a man of lesser caliber than you or any one. What he speaks offends you and fail to acknowledge is the persisting condition of impoverishment of Amerindians. Neither the APNU or the PPP has shown us any respect. Both parties have treated us as children of a lesser god. Well no more. We cannot beings with virluent agit prop defile our leaders. We will call you out.
I exhort Shuman to speak like the good friar Antonio Montesinos did some six centuries ago about the cruelty and injustices that has been and continues to be meted out to our people. And Amerindians, if you are listening, know you can only lift up yourselves only by and through those who know, understand and recognize your pain. Obviously this nit above does not.