Activity: Conversation
Host: Moray House Trust
Date: Wednesday 28 May 2014
Moray House Trust had the distinct honour of hosting a conversation between Eusi Kwayana and Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues. Miles Fitzpatrick served as host on behalf of the Trust and welcomed a capacity audience to the event.
This event was part of a series of interviews with local experts, social commentators and writers organized by the Trust over the past year with the aim of interrogating ideas and promoting debate in our society. Previous participants include Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Dr Winston Mc Gowan, Rahul Bhattacharya and Clive Lloyd. Their debates have touched on the composition of Lloyd’s victorious West Indies team, the singularity of Chanderpaul’s batting, the depths of the references in Philip Moore’s wood carving, ‘Bat and Ball Fantasy’, the merits of Stanley Greaves’ style and Martin Carter’s poetry and much more. Last night proved no exception to this trend.
Though he now resides abroad, Brother Eusi continues to take a lively interest in Guyanese affairs and makes regular contributions to local debates via the letter columns. He is a veteran politician (with nearly 70 years of experience in Guyanese politics at a local and national level) who has served as a senior member of the PPP, the PNC and the WPA in the course of time. Eusi Kwayana also composed the party songs for the PPP, PNC, and WPA.
Eusi entered national politics as a supporter of Cheddi Jagan. He was one of the PPP candidates in the 1953 elections (the first to enjoy universal adult suffrage), won his constituency polling 70.6% of the total votes cast and served as a Minister in the first PPP administration. He was one of the PPP members held in detention when the constitution was suspended.
In 1958, Kwayana joined Burnham’s People’s National Congress and served as General Secretary and editor of New Nation until his expulsion from the party in 1961. In 1964 Kwayana co-founded the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (ASCRIA), an organization dedicated to the promotion of African pride, dignity and culture among African-Guyanese. He also changed his name from Sidney Evanson King to Eusi Kwayana, which means ‘Black Man of Guyana’ in Swahili.
For the last forty years, Kwayana has been a member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). He was the party’s presidential candidate in 1985, a parliamentarian in the years 1986-90 and editor of the party’s newspaper, Dayclean.
Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues is a Jesuit priest with a long and distinguished history of involvement in higher education in Guyana, civic participation and human rights activism.
Brother Eusi Kwayana, provided enthralling insights into his life and work as a Buxtonian ( by choice, as he put it, if not by birth ) in community and educational work and in politics in the 1940s and 1950s. It was an extraordinary and fascinating excursion into an age when youthful enthusiasm and imagination and patriotism began the process of freeing Guyana from colonial rule. This was vivid history in the telling — an evening to remember.
Video clips
Part I: Introduction
Miles Fitzpatrick introduced Brother Eusi Kwayana and Jesuit priest Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues.
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/4-baRzsZdR8
Part II: Of Buxton and Bartica
Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues talked about his experiences in Buxton in the early 1970s and Bartica in 2013 at the beginning of a conversation with Brother Eusi Kwayana.
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/yZCF7SumycI
Part III: Buxton Youth and County High School
Brother Eusi Kwayana talked about the youth of Buxton and County High School in Buxton which he founded.
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/ybheSe1F6lI
Part IV: The Elders of Buxton and Annandale
Brother Eusi described the influence of the elders in two village communities on the east coast of Guyana.
You Tube Clip: http://youtu.be/2JHk3rmi0zQ
All photos are courtesy of Chontelle Sewette.