Campbell's Commentary - IN GUYANA, BLACK GOLD MATTERS

By Aubrey Campbell

NEW YORK, NY. Tuesday, June 30, 2020 –Folks, we must be thankful for another day and another week.

In a matter of days, Americans will pause for the cause, to celebrate the 243 anniversary of Independence from British colonial rule. So, cheers to you America. Happy Anniversary and best wishes for a safe celebration, pandemic, fireworks and all things, considered!

For celebration, I will have a Red Stripe. Me and this Corona/Carona thing, still at odds! I thought a second wave was a fake!

And that is to say, I will not take up too much of your time on this one.

The primary elections in New York were last Tuesday. We congratulate the winners and wish them well as they go forward to represent in this fast-paced political environment. To those who were not so successful, we know you will stick around until it’s your turn, so long as your intention is pure.

Our community needs honest and sincere representation and not persons who we can call ‘political rivers’, those that just run for every office, continue to run, run, with no end in sight!

They have no agenda, they have no base and those who are advising them, have no clue how the science of politics works.

For example, one candidate in question in the Bronx. He has deep roots in one of the larger minority communities in the borough, yet he is a relative unknown!

Are you for real, bro?

It must also be noted that Congressman Elliot Engel’s loss can be attributed to the moment and the movement, done in by a ‘hot’ microphone!

What they say about Wolves in Sheep clothing…?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the moment and the movement is strong. The footsteps are louder and the voices are stronger, carrying farther, into the halls and corridors of justice.

The focus on those symbols and the symbolism that points to the inequality in race relations must be taken seriously.

Let’s keep the pressure on Borough Hall, City Hall and the White House. The coronavirus is not a flu, no matter where it originated. What must be understood is that ‘real men wear masks’ when outdoors because they respect the health, well-being, and the rights of others to be safe.

Don’t be a super-spreader!

Truth be told. Your life matters in much the same way as the person beside you, whether in your household or next door.

Are you with me?

I want to come back to the matter of elections and to note with some curiosity that persons on the ground in Jamaica, think that a general election could be called by year’s end, considering, of course, that elections are constitutionally due by the first quarter of next year (2021).

Folks on the ground, there, are of the view that the government’s move to end the State of Emergencies across ten of the island’s police divisions are to prep for campaigning.

We will see!

What we are not seeing is any indication of an end to the fight over which side will be better at managing the billions of dollars in oil money flowing into Guyana coffers.

That, I think is where the real fight is, a fight that started a week before Christmas, 2018, and after round 2, on March 2, the jury is still out, literally and figuratively.

It has gotten so bad that even the late Forbes Burnham has come back from the grave, as the matter is headed to the weak-kneed Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), for a ruling.

I will not get into what can best be described as an ugly chapter, episode if you must, in deciding the government of the Republic. Why the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition wants to stay on and why the Opposition PPP/Civic wants in, so bad, is everybody’s guess.

Brigadier David Granger is no slouch. He’s an army man but boy I tell you, he was outfoxed by the Opposition leader and former president, Bharrat Jagdeo! Based on my scorecard, two rounds completed.

Granger 0, Jagdeo 2.

What I do know is that black gold matters!

And if the anomalies discovered in the court-mandated recount that ended on June 9, after almost a month, at the Arthur Chung Convention Center, is so bad, making the election results so tainted, why is it so difficult to declare it null and void and call for fresh elections?

I thought dead people only voted in Jamaica and the living, voted early and often! I did not know that those seminal Jamaican characteristics were copied and practiced by our Caribbean neighbors!

LMAO!

Back herein these United States, the movement for racial equality is in full effect, let’s seize the moment!

Wednesday, July 1, is World Reggae Day and that deserves a celebration! I will light a joint for the Commander in Sleaze!

Continue to be safe.

You have the floor!

--00—

Editor’s note. Aubrey Campbell is producer/host of ‘Caribbean Conversation’, a magazine program airing on WVIP, 93.5 FM, and streaming on the Wee Radio Network at; www.weeradioonline.com, Sundays, 2 – 4 pm.