Black History Month Series: Guyanese Writers of African Ancestry, part two
E. R. BraithwaiteAs it was in the novel, ‘To Sir With Love’ (1959), so it was in the novels, ‘Paid Servant’ (1962), ‘A Kind of Homecoming’ (1962), ‘A Choice of Straws’ (1965), ‘Reluctant Neighbours’ (1972), and ‘Honorary White’ (1975) – E. R. Braithwaite’s poignant exploration of all forms of discrimination especially social conditions of and racial discrimination against Black people. Braithwaite’s frank and crisp use of language endeared the reader to the issues, catapulting many persons to action, improving their condition, righting wrongs. Some responses to his writing were, however, distasteful especially the ban of his books in apartheid South Africa. Dennis WilliamsDenis WilliamsArtist, art historian, archaeologist, anthropologist, biographer and novelist, Denis Williams was born in 1923 in the capital city of Guyana. He lived on three continents at crucial times – times of intellectual upsurge, times of political ferment and times of creativity in arts. Williams was caught up in the action wherever he went, sharpening his perception of the living and the past as reflected in the innovations found in his art, craft and writing – ‘Other Leopards’ and ‘The Third temptation’. Responses to this author please telephone 226-0065 of email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com (to be continued) Eric WalrondEric WalrondEric Walrond was expected to write the Great Negro Book – a grave responsibility. How come a black person in the early 20th century from a little known country was strapped with such a responsibility? Walrond’s life was one of paradoxes engendered by his writings. He gravitated to the editorship of ‘New World’ after he won a fiction contest sponsored by Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (U. N. I. A.) for his piece, ‘A Senator’s Memoirs’. Later he fell from grace when he penned, ‘Imperator Africanus, Marcus Garvey: Menace or Promise?’But it was the publication in 1926 of his short story collection, ‘Tropic Death’, which brought him to prominence. ‘Tropic Death’ was valued alongside ‘The Quest of the Silver Fleece’ by W. E. B. Du Bois, ‘The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man’ by James W. Johnson and ‘Harlem Shadow’ by Claude McKay. The other notable writers at that time supporting the Harlem Resistance included Marcus Garvey, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, W. E. B. Du Bois.
(Part one featured Ivan Van Sertima, N. E. Cameron, Jan Carew, O. R. Dathorne and Beryl Gilroy. Part two features another five names.)There are as many ways to celebrate as there are appropriate ways to celebrate. The tenor of Black History Month should be celebrated with books. Here’s a short (but in no way a comprehensive) list of Guyanese works and their authors which could be used to commemorate the above.Egbert MartinEgbert Martin was a remarkable writer on many fronts. His was a short life of less than thirty years, most of it lived from a sick bed, but he managed to write and publish a significant amount of poetry, songs and some short stories.His first poems were published when he was only nineteen. His first collection of poems, Leo’s Poetical Works, was published in 1883, when he was only twenty two.His second collection of poems, Leo’s Local Lyrics, was published in 1886, laying claim to the honour as the first collection of poems to be published locally by a Guyanese writer. Another first for Martin was that he was the first Guyanese to publish a collection of short stories. That collection, Scriptology, was published in 1885. That collection was lost but recently recovered, credit going to Manu Chander who is in Guyana at the moment and David Dabydeen.Walter MacArthur LawrenceHe gave us ‘Oh, Beautiful Guyana’, and ‘My Guyana, El Dorado’ among other significant patriotic songs. In 1920, the Daily Chronicle published his first poem, commemorating the arrival in the colony of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales.In 1929, he published ‘Meditations’ with a subtitle ‘Thoughts in the Silence’, solidifying his position on the landscape of Guyanese literature.Two years later, in 1931, Lawrence produced ‘Threnody’, a song of lamentation for his dead son, exploring trauma as part of his heritage – a healing poem. The following year, 1932, his ‘delightfully nostalgic’ poem ‘Unreclaimed’ was published in the Chronicle Christmas Annual.The 1930s was definitely the most notable of Lawrence’s short life. During this period, his poetic output was remarkable – long sentences and very long poems in Greek and Latin traditions, examples in titles of poems like ‘Threnody’, and ‘Meromi’. In ‘Meromi’, Lawrence displayed an uncommon gift of telling a story in verse, matching Keats’ ‘Isabella’, Tennyson’s ‘Princess’ and Egbert Martin’s ‘Ruth’. Also in ‘Meromi’, he employed a technique that has become quite useful in Caribbean poetry – borrowing and modifying; he transposed a local heroine into the Garden of Eden.
Tyson English, former Physical Education Instructor at the Bishops’ High School, is pleading with the Education Ministry to “walk the talk” as he seeks legal advice regarding his predicament.He has not been paid a salary for the last six months, and now assumes he has been dismissed following his staging of a one-man protest outside of the school last Friday.Tyson EnglishThe PE instructor was, in January this year, appointed a part-time teacher tasked with teaching all five levels at the school (Forms 1-5). He reportedly has not received any salary or financial compensation for his services within the first term.“I was told by the principal that the system, or the process that was holding up the salaries, was because there was a switch or changeover in permanent secretaries within the ministry,” English explained.He pointed out that even though he understands there is an ever prolonging procedure, he still has to be compensated for his teaching services.“If I work or teach, I expect to be paid. I can’t turn up at the ministry or at the school and request payment, unless I would’ve carried out my duties,” English told this publication on Monday.The teacher alleged that at the beginning of the second term, he approached the principal, and upon making checks, it was discovered that his documents had been misplaced. It finally was decided that a contract was going to be prepared by the school’s board to validate his employment, leading him to believe that his problem was being rectified.For a second time, he was instructed to sign documents that were identical to those he had signed when he commenced teaching at the school, but he complied with the request. Having received no substantial feedback after some time had elapsed, he reportedly lodged numerous complaints regarding his non-payment with the school board and the Education Ministry. However, he still received little consolation.Frustrated at the prolonged delay in getting a response, the teacher resorted to staging a one-man protest in front of the school, and allegedly was thereafter denied access to the school’s premises. He reportedly was even instructed to remove his belongings from the school.“During my protest, I was informed by the deputy principal that she was instructed by the principal to have me remove all my belongings from the staff room, and I am no longer allowed access to the compound; so the security guards were also instructed to deny me access to the compound,” the teacher explained.While stating that the school had made no provision for locker rooms, he declared that he refused to change in “toilets”, thus being the reason why he was attired in “track pants and t-shirt”. He likened the scenario to that of an agriculture teacher going to the farm, who would have to be “dressed for it”.English is urging teachers who may be confronting similar situations to rise up and fight for what is fair and just, without fear of being victimized. He highlighted that the three months’ probationary period has been done away with, thus teachers are eligible to receive their salaries by the first month upon entering the teaching profession.The exasperated instructor says he has had to struggle to support himself and maintain his family during this period of non-payment.“It would be foolish of me to say that I have been living from paycheck to paycheck, because in six months I haven’t seen a single pay(check). So, basically, with the support of my family, I’ve been able to get by; and it is ridiculous to know that I have been working and I have to be depending on the support of my family to pay bills and offset other expenses,” he explained.Meanwhile, this teacher is pleading with the Education Ministry to pay more heed to the welfare of teachers, who are vital dispensers of knowledge to the leaders of tomorrow. “Recently, they would have invested millions in the commission of inquiry (CoI) in the education system, and I would like to believe that one of the things that they found was teachers being paid on time or properly compensated for their work to be a part of that package,” he stated.Principal of Bishops’ High, Winifred Ellis, has refuted the claims made by English, contending that he had stopped teaching since May 25, and was asked to remove his belongings as he no longer taught there.Moreover, she affirmed that English has not served any formal notice of resignation to the school since his departure, while adding that the school’s board is not responsible for the payment of teachers; this responsibility being solely vested in the Education Ministry.
The student chosen has not only excelled in academic achievement but has contributed in a meaningful way to life at the College or in the community. In 2011, Lines achieved a great deal of success representing NLC in Skills Canada competitions at the provincial and national levels. He captured the gold medal at the Skills Canada provincial championships in Abbotsford, and followed that by winning the silver medal at the national championships in Quebec City. In preparation for the competition, Lines put in extra time after school two or three days a week. As well, Lines was very active helping other students within the AME program. – Advertisement -Lines was active within the college community. He volunteered with student council, and worked as a residence assistant in the Dawson Creek Residence. The announcement was made during Convocation ceremonies on June 15.
Harry Redknapp joined Adrian Durham and Matt Holland in the studio for a special edition of Drivetime. The former Tottenham, West Ham and Queens Park Rangers manager spoke about QPR’s chances of Premier League survival, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, England and much, much more.
Tony Cottee claims Everton face a battle to ensure Romelu Lukaku remains at Goodison Park – despite the striker signing a new contract.Lukaku will become the Toffees’ highest-ever earner after finalising terms on a new five-year deal worth around £110,000-a-week.But Cottee insists that offers no guarantees over the 23-year-old’s long-term future.Recent reports have claimed Lukaku’s new contract includes a clause which would allow him to join one of Europe’s elite clubs, and Cottee has warned the Belgian will look to move on if Everton don’t start competing for major honours.Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, the former Everton striker said: “The bottom line for any football club is you need to win trophies or be playing in the Champions League if you want to keep your top players.“Lukaku will be signing that new deal on the basis that, ‘come on, next season we are going to have a real go at this and we have got to either win a trophy or get in the Champions League’, because if you don’t players will look to go elsewhere.“He is 23 now Lukaku – you forget how young he is – and he will be saying ‘hold on a sec, I am coming up to the prime of my career, I can’t not be playing in Europe, I need to play in the Champions League’.“That is the challenge for Everton.”
AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREWhy these photogenic dumplings are popping up in Los AngelesThe current president doesn’t love the family’s coastal getaway quite as much as his parents do, preferring his dusty Texas ranch. This was his first trip to Kennebunkport in two years. It was a family wedding that drew him in August 2004, and it is so again. This time, the nuptials are for Walker Stapleton, the son of the former president’s cousin Dorothy Walker Stapleton and Craig Roberts Stapleton, the U.S. ambassador to France. KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine – President George W. Bush went fishing Thursday off the rocky coast of Maine where his great-grandfather built an oceanfront estate that has become entwined with American presidential history. Beginning a long family weekend, Bush first met privately at a local elementary school with the families of five soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Then he settled in at the family compound, more than 100 years old, at Walker’s Point, a craggy finger of rock that juts into the ocean. His father, former President George H.W. Bush, has summered there – except while serving as a World War II Navy aviator – since he was a boy visiting his maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker, for whom he was named. George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, are well liked in Kennebunkport, whose citizens have helpfully forgotten the traffic jams that accompanied the former president’s visits when he was the nation’s leader. Soon after arriving, the current president and daughter Jenna went fishing with his father. 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set!
160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! 2:00 p.m. Area teams posted a 6-7 record in Week 1 football. Less than a .500 winning percentage, but it’s still early. What was surprising was that in nine of the 13 games, area teams scored one touchdown or less, and in three others, they managed only two TDs. Where was all the offense? Surprisingly enough, it was Pioneer and Cantwell who were the big point producers, with 42 and 36. Santa Fe got 28 and Whittier Christian scored 15.
Inishowen chef Brian McDermott’s cookbook ‘Brian McDermott’s Donegal Table’ has won a major award.The book, which was launched earlier this year to great acclaim, was named the best cookery book in Ireland at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.Brian was the winner in two different categories and will now go on to represent Ireland at the world awards. A delighted Brian, who hails from Moville, said “My whole family are so so happy and proud today. This is also a huge boost for Donegal as I carry the flag for Donegal and Ireland.”Brian recently opened the Foyle Hotel which has been a major success.Chef Brian books in another top endorsement! was last modified: December 7th, 2018 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:awardbookBrian McDermottInishowenmovillewinner
“Going over the line I didn’t actually know if I had him or not, but seeing the replay I saw I’d won and I was just overwhelmed with joy.” South Africa finished in 17th place on the medal table, and second among African countries behind Tunisia, which finished in 14th place with nine gold, five silver and four bronze medals, for a total of 18 medals in all. Natalie Du Toit was South Africa’s leading performer, as she had been in Athens and Beijing, winning three gold medals and one silver medal. Oscar Pistorius, with two gold and one silver, was next best for Team South Africa. Team South Africa finished on a high as Oscar Pistorius stormed to victory in the men’s T43/44 400 metres in the last track event of the 2012 London Paralympic Games on Saturday. A Fanie van der Merwe gold in the T37 100 metres and three more silver medals added further shine to the team’s efforts. The gold medal count, however, fell from 21 to eight. The most obvious factor in this was undoubtedly a massive improvement in the standard of competition, which produced a tidal wave of world records throughout all sports. ‘The most amazing feeling’“Usually I’m so focused and so in my zone, but I could hear the crowd and it was just the most amazing feeling that I could have possibly had. “This has been the most phenomenally successful Olympic and Paralympic Games, and I think the world is finally seeing that Paralympic sport is truly elite.” Same timeBoth Van der Merwe and China’s Yongbin Liang were timed in a world record of 11.51 seconds, but Van der Merwe, with a desperate dive at the tape, was revealed by photos to have crossed the line fractionally ahead of the Chinese athlete. The Chinese captured 95 gold medals, 60 more than second placed Russia’s 35, as well as 71 silver and 65 bronze medals. Pistorius, though, the first disabled track athlete to compete in the Olympics, was the star of the show on the final evening. Dyan Buis took his personal haul in London to two silver medals and one bronze medal by finishing second in the men’s 200 metres in the T38 class. Reliving the race, he said: “Seeing the Chinese guy next to me, I knew a normal dip wasn’t going to do it, so I thought I’d give it a dive. Van der Merwe had qualified fastest for the T37 100 metres final, the first event of the evening track programme, by equalling the world record in the heats with a time of 11.52 seconds. The final proved to be a real humdinger and if it had been any tighter, two men would have walked away with gold medals. Pistorius told reporters after his victory: “For one of the first times, I thought I could actually hear something coming into the home straight. With just four marathon events remaining on Sunday, the Russians (35, 38, 28, 101) had claimed second place from Great Britain (33, 42, 43, 118) in a great tussle. Ukraine (32, 23, 28, 83) and Australia (31, 23, 29, 83) completed the top five finishers.
Personal best for silverWomen’s 200m T46 bronze medal winner, Anrune Liebenberg, moved up to a silver medal in the 400 metres. She clocked a personal best 56.65 seconds, but was beaten by Yunidis Castillo of Cuba, who won in a world record time of 55.72. In the final, however, the Russian, improved by almost five seconds to take victory in a world record time of 1:04.02. Paul smashed the African record, touching the wall in 1:05.70 to take silver, and Furong Lin set an Asian record of 1:07.40 to win bronze. The defending champion in the T12 200 metres, Hilton Langenhoven, finished fourth in the final in a time of 22.29. Poland’s Mateusz Michalski broke the world record to win in 21.56, Russia’s Fedor Trikolich set a personal best of 21.81 to finish second, and Yansong Li of China set a regional record of 22.04 to take third place. Medal tableThe two gold medals and three silver medals lifted Team South Africa to a final total of eight gold, 12 silver and nine bronze medals, for a total of 29 medals, one less than in Beijing in 2008. “I was very nervous for the final because it is my main event, but it was really something to run my personal best,” Liebenberg said afterwards. 9 September 2012 Looking back on his performances during the Games, Pistorius added: “I guess my 200, I was very surprised by losing my first race ever, but I’m very happy I set a world record in the 200 heats. I set a world record in the 4 by 100 and I set a Paralympic world record tonight, and I can’t be upset with that.” He won by a massive distance, finishing almost three-and-a-half seconds ahead of Blake Keeper, who nonetheless ran an American record of 50.14. It couldn’t touch Pistorius’ Paralympic record of 46.68, however. Fastest qualifierKevin Paul qualified fastest for the final of the 100 metres breaststroke in the SB9 class, over two-and-a-half seconds ahead of the next fastest qualifier, Pavel Poltavtsev, setting a personal best of 1:06.21 seconds. He set a regional record of 22.51 seconds, but Australia’s Evan O’Hanlon was a convincing winner of the gold medal in a world record time of 21.82. Union Sekailwe, who won bronze in the 400 metres, ran a personal best of 23.66 seconds to finish sixth. Top medal winnersAustralian swimmer Jacqueline Freney was the leading medal winner, taking home an incredible eight gold medals. At the top, China, with 231, more than doubled the number of medals won by Britain, which was the next highest country in the medal count with 118. Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material
The Beaver is recovered from Jerusalem Bay. Source: ATSB. Australian air safety investigators are looking at whether smaller aircraft carrying fare-paying passengers should be fitted with lightweight digital recording systems in the wake of a fatal New Year’s Eve seaplane crash involving a British businessman and his family.The December 31, 2017, crash at Jerusalem Bay in the Hawkesbury River region north of Sydney made global news after it took the life of top UK executive Richard Cousins, his extended family and experienced seaplane pilot Gareth Morgan.With Cousins, the chief executive of Global food giant Compass Group, were his sons Edward and William as well as fiancé Emma Bowden and her 11-year-old daughter Heather.Cousins and Bowden, a magazine arts editor, were due to be married in July and the family had been eating at a waterfront restaurant.An interim report released Thursday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau confirmed there were no problems with the DHC-2 Beaver seaplane and clarified the flight path taken by Morgan prior to the accident.The seaplane was not required to have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder and was flying too low to be on radar.But some intriguing and skillful work by investigators unlocked passenger photographs from a damaged digital card and used them to determine most of the plane’s final journey.Witnesses provided additional information about its final moments.“With no onboard data available from the aircraft itself, transport safety investigators have been able to use witness statements and images retrieved from one of the passenger’s cameras, to determine what happened in the lead up to this accident,” ATSB transport safety executive director Nat Nagy said Thursday.The investigation found that after taking off from Cottage Point, the aircraft climbed and turned right into Cowan Creek heading towards the main Hawkesbury River into the prevailing wind on a standard departure path.However, while over a landmark known as Little Shark Rock Point, the aircraft made a right turn, reversing its direction.The aircraft leveled out before flying on a straight path directly towards Jerusalem Bay with a tailwind, entering the bay at an altitude below the surrounding terrain height.As the aircraft approached Pinta Bay the aircraft was seen to make a steep right turn during which the aircraft’s nose suddenly dropped before it hit the water in a near vertical position.
A map of the flight path and the crash vicinity. Source ATB.A key to determining the flight path was damaged CF card from a Canon digital SLR camera recovered from the mud-filled aircraft cabin.
The camera in the mud. Source: ATSBInvestigators clean and dried the damaged card but found they were unable to read it.They set about painstakingly removing four memory chips and a controller chip from the card by hand and transplanting into a similar CF card circuit board.The jubilant investigators discovered the card contained 362 images and a forensic reader managed to extract an additional 50 photographs.
One of the images recovered from the camera. Source: ATSB.Five were of the passengers boarding the aircraft and another 22 were taken during the taxi and after the aircraft became airborne, nine of them over a 39-second interval.The last photograph was taken through the front windscreen with the seaplane in a right bank over Little Shark Rock Point heading south towards Cowan Bay.The ATSB teamed with the NSW Police Forensic imaging Section to conduct a re-enactment flight to establish the Beaver’s location and altitude at the time each of the passenger photographs was taken.This was done by matching the focal length and aperture setting using a DSLR camera on board a police helicopter flying over Cowan Creek to give a detailed latitude, longitude and estimated altitude.Although the last passenger photo was taken before the crash, several witnesses saw the plane enter Jerusalem Bay.A witness responding to a plea for information also provided the ATSB with a photograph taken from a boat and showing the aircraft turning near a point in the bay known as the Hole in the Wall.
The last photo of the plane prior to the crash. Source; ATSB.After this investigators are relying on witness statements about what happened in the final moments of the crash.An analysis and any safety recommendations will have to wait for the final report, likely to be published in the second quarter of 2019.Among the issues being considered by the ATSB are the pilot’s health and autopsy report, similar occurrences involving Beavers in Australia and internationally as well as occupant egress and survivability.It is also looking at the fitment of lightweight flight recording systems “for passenger operations in aircraft with a maximum take-off weight less than 5700kg.”Sydney Seaplanes fitted its aircraft with GPs tracking devices capable of providing real-time position and flight data after the crash but there is no doubt such a device would have significantly helped the investigation had it already been installed.The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has just made new regulations removing the distinction between charter and regular public transport operators but a spokesman said they will not require digital recorders on smaller aircraft when they come into force.However, he said the regulator would look at any recommendations in the ATSB’s final report once it was published .