.... CAN YOU ?
By Max Sterling
If only we knew our history we would not be prone to repeating it and Keith Mitchell would not have been given a chance to walk in the vicinity of power far less to hold the seat of power in Grenada and thus hold the nation ransom. But a people who do not know their history "are" bound to repeat it.
So much has happened in Grenada since 1950. Fortunately for us, there are so many who are still alive who experienced the upheavals of "Sky Red" more properly regarded as "The Social Revolution" led by Eric Gairy.
What is of more interest is the fact that consummate self professed socialists like Bernard Coard and others, and Senator Chester Humphrey are happy to be identified with the struggles against estate owners and by extension the establishment, as ably led by the same Eric Gairy they ended up seeing the need to overthrow and replace.
None of them has any qualms with Singham's very detailed account titled "The Hero and The Crowd in a Colonial Polity". As far as many of them are concerned Gairy was satisfactorily referred to as "Hero" in that context.
We all who lived to see it, will agree that the Gairy of the 50s was definitely not the Gairy of the 70s.
Many of today's people have no clue that it was as a result of the urgings of Gairy that they are able to enjoy the wide array of opportunities they now take for granted.
I once heard a vulgarly frank local radio personality whom many love to hate state boldly, that it is because of Gairy we cannot find anyone to scrub our yards and clean out for us since all those kinds have elevated to working in banks and offices today.
Even though T.A. Marryshow (whom many of us have not heard the other side of yet) dedicated most of his life from 1919 to 1951 to furthering the cause of universal adult suffrage, Marryshow was never known otherwise to be concerned with the issue of better wages and better working conditions for the working class.
He may have written and articulated his issues well, but he was never strong on morals and charisma to attract voluntary follower-ship en masse.
Notwithstanding how impacting the results of his long struggle for universal suffrage in Grenada had been, Marryshow's thunder was easily stolen from him by a young 29 year old dapper trade unionist who positioned himself at the right time and place and successfully challenged the establishment in the interest of the working class for better wages.
It was no turning back for Eric Gairy after that as he attracted "mass appeal" with a charisma/charm second to none.
Marryshow was fortunate to continue, up to his death to win the opportunity to represent the people of St. George's in the Legislative Council the pre independence equivalent of our House of Representatives.
Never was he able to whip up national (wider) support as Eric Gairy was so easily able to do for Marryshow was perceived to be about Marryshow as his first person inclination in most, if not all of his public speeches indicated.
All of this historical account has been provided as a means of connecting my ardent readers, especially the detractors i.e. all those "ole t'ief and dem" who pose as authority in Grenada.
The road was rough for Eric Gairy after he succeeded to be not only a labour leader but political leader.
The establishment which was widely maimed by his efforts as widely supported by the masses, exerted other pressures on him to the point where he was forced to react constantly.
It is the opinion and conclusion of many that Gairy found himself stuck in the defensive mode for so long that his modus operandi became irrelevant.
He became a mere replacement for the white man by becoming known as the black man with the white clothes and the large black police-driven Cadillac.
While he concerned himself with being cosmetically correct, his style of management was deteriorating and becoming day by day reflective of a dictatorship which was eventually overthrown violently.
Ironically, his administration was replaced by a movement comprised of "children of labour" i.e. young men and young women who may have (most if not all of them) been children of devout Gairyites.
The March 13th, 1979 popular Revolution was received with fervour by most and considered a breath of fresh.
It presented itself as a fresh start where our claim as a politically independent nation could have been given real meaning.
Everything started to look good in that a sense of national pride and patriotism began to flow from our people en masse.
Unfortunately, the enthusiastic youthful leadership found it necessary to exert severe pressure and apply extraordinary measures in order to protect the interest of the revolution and its Communist/Lennisist/Marxist doctrines.
To our greatest dismay, we were placed under heavy manners physically and mentally. Grenadians grew to exhibit a quiet but uneasy distaste for the revolution and its abuses and excesses, wishing to see the end of it.
The excesses of the Revo became unbearable as known as well as suspected opponents were picked up and jailed without charge or trial by members of the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA) of which Senator Einstein Louison, Keith Mitchell's current Minister of National Security was a big player by virtue of his position as Chief of Staff.
During the 4 years 7 months and 6 days of the Revolution, it was estimated that over 3,000 Grenadians passed through our prison without charge or trial.
The purpose of this historical account is to apprise my readers (including Keith Mitchell and his goons, my most ardent readers) of the most unpleasant aspects of our history which we seem either not aware of or couldn't be bothered to know so as to inform our future actions.
After all, the common denominator in both the Gairy and Bishop eras has been excesses which led to a police state where "heavy manners" were brought to bear on individuals who were identified as non-supporters of the regime.
When we are as people do not pay attention to our past negative experiences with a view to not having any of them repeated, they are bound to pop up as recurring decimals. When will we learn as a people?
Grenadians in the 50s, 60s and early 70s right up to the '79 Revolution demonstrated vibrantly against abuses of the system whether perpetrated by the Colonial Masters or Eric Gairy and towards the climax of the revolution in 1983 too.
Yet for all these same people remain dormant and inactive under NNP whose main focus seem to be corruption, nepotism, victimisation of persons who refuse to be identified with their outright dishonesty.
Even a blind man can see that Keith Mitchell is BAD for Grenada with all his lies and deceit.
In spite of the letter they said they had regarding Grynberg who was supposed to be trying to work out something instead of proceeding with the suit against Gregory Bowen is well on his way to receiving judgment against him in a court in New York in that Oil and Natural Gas fiasco.
Old people always say if you have patience you will see ant's belly because all in the fullness of time the truth surfaces.
The blatant mismanagement of the nation's affairs and the constant misbehaviour in public office is enough for the people to rise up and pelt Keith Mitchell and his brigands out of office.
To me there are thousands more reasons (justifiably at that) than the reasons given for Gairy's overthrow in 1979.
I am a little distressed that the parliamentary opposition seems to be playing "nanate" with Mitchell and his "chupidness".
Never mind what he said regarding RMC and Communists, etc. during the last election campaign, even with widespread allegations of voter padding, NNP and Mitchell came within six votes of being replaced.
If voter padding was not allowed to push as many as five of NNP's eight seats over the top, Mitchell could have been in opposition and by now up in "Richman Hill".
The opposition needs to understand and appreciate that the people voted them because they expected them to give Mitchell real thunder which they are not seeing.
I can understand their demeanor but feel real opposition is sadly lacking now so that the sleeping giant in our people could be aroused to assert people power to take back Grenada from all who want to t'ief it from them.
I can hear the jail door banging! Can you?
