Category: Features

By Lakhram Bhagirat Every community is different. It has its own set of rules, customs and traditions and when we introduce those things that make that community unique, it creates a recipe for exchange – the exchange of stories, experiences and knowledge that leads to the further development of surrounding areas. That is the goal of young Kyle Anthony Joseph. He is on a mission to link the communities in the Rupununi with each other and then take that link even further to other Indigenous villages. At just 22, Kyle…

Read More

By Lakhram Bhagirat Teaching is an art that many have yet to master. Teachers are our contact with the outside world, they quite often introduce us to the world through their classrooms and encourage us to dream and dream big. They instil the sense of imagination and fuel the drive in us that makes us want to conquer the world. They share their experience in order to make us learn so that when we head out into the real world we are better equipped to take on the challenges as…

Read More

By Lakhram Bhagirat At the age of about 8, Sharon Rose had to be working with her sister who was a year older than her. She had to tutor her elder sibling in various subjected and for most eight-year-olds that would have been a tedious task, one they despised. But for Rose, it was not. It ignited something in her that to this date she is at loss for words when she tries to explain it. But she knew that she had to follow the burning desire to become a…

Read More

By Lakhram Bhagirat Some people are just a natural at what they do and they have the ability to leave a long-lasting impression on everyone they come into contact with. It is not as though they are trying to leave that indelible mark, rather they are just being their authentic self and making a difference in the lives of those they encounter. When Angela Bennett-Persaud is in front of a classroom she is at her best. You can see the passion in her eyes as she imparts knowledge to the…

Read More

African culture, also known as Black culture, refers to the cultural contributions of Africans to the culture of their country, either as part of or distinct from that country’s culture. The distinct identity of African culture is rooted in the historical experience of the African people, including the Middle Passage. African culture for Guyanese is rooted in West and Central Africa, understanding its identity in the anthropological sense, conscious of its origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Africans…

Read More

By Kizzy Coleman Emancipation day is observed annually in Guyana to memorialise the ending of slavery of the African people and celebrate their freedom from servitude. August, 1, 1838 was one of the most important days of the country’s history: it brought an end to a European institution deliberately designed to acquire wealth from the “sweat” of Africans through forced labour. But on August 1. 1838, the people forced into enslavement were finally freed from anguish and poverty and were free to live – to really live. However, being free…

Read More

By Hazel Woolford On February 23, 1763, Cuffy led a revolution that shook this hemisphere. It undeniably contributed to the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution. Cuffy was the first African Guyanese slave to attempt to establish a Republic. He gained control of the colony and ruled Berbice for over a year. His attempts at social cohesion or unity of the Dutch and Africans in the fledgling black republic failed. Cuffy was a high achiever. He succeeded in communicating with the Dutch, with the assistance of white…

Read More

Bringing Peace from Troubled Beginnings November 7 will mark 180 years since 83 freed Africans who were previously enslaved, bought Plantation Northbrook and renamed it Victoria, in honour of then monarch of British Guiana, Queen Victoria. Located some 18 miles east of the capital city, Georgetown, Victoria Village is revered as the first village that the Africans purchased after becoming free from years of bondage and abject suffering. Today it rests peacefully along the East Coast of Demerara, after initially harbouring its original inhabitants, scarred from generations of slavery, who…

Read More

By Odeen Ishmael The campaign for the end of slavery gained momentum in Great Britain and it was expected that slaves in the British colonies would soon be set free. Finally, on August 28, 1833, the House of Commons in England approved the Emancipation Bill which was earlier introduced by Thomas Buxton. The final Act, which would come into effect on August 1, 1834, stipulated that immediate and effective measures would be taken for the abolition of slavery throughout the British colonies; all children born under the passing of the…

Read More

…a father tells harrowing tale of son being stranded at sea By Lakhram Bhagirat Many times when your parents restrict you from doing something, it means that there is intuition and for some reason, we as children, always rebel. We accuse them of limiting our opportunities to explore the world, to learn and discover and in the end, we rebel. Sometimes the rebellion pays off and we are exposed to amazing opportunities and sometimes it all goes haywire and we think “I should have listened to mommy/daddy”. That may have…

Read More