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Showing posts from April, 2010

eres Latina...?

The nice short girl ask me to put back the boots on the top shelf. Me and she had a nice gaff about how I does walk, she watch meh shoe bottom and say.. oh oh.. you need the Asics.. I ask how much, she say US140, I say..oh, i dont like runnin' that much.. she say she short, i say she should play basketball and get tall.. me and my racism that all black people in America like basketball and all bangladeshis like cricket, she say no, she dont like basket ball, she like baseball.. and i say..ah eres latina and she say 'si ' and in the next store the latina chat me up nice nice and mek me buy a shoe cleaner which i dont need, On the plane, the woman next to me told me she was from bluefields in nicaragua, she had a book studying, she about to retire but she said that she cannot keep her mind bored, so she was studying for another exam which she will take just before she retire. She talked about bluefields nicaragua like how many Guyanese probably talk about Guyana.. they miss

You from Guyana?....

I asked the taxi driver if he will give me  a receipt and then got a shock when he asked in an 'Indian' accent if I am from Guyana.. I have never been asked that in a foreign place.. but then I find that New York is  probably not that foreign where Guyana is concerned. The man standing next to me at the luggage carousel tells me he come from Guyana and felt that staying in Miami and the USA was like being in a prison without a key.. he tell me that he dont like US because among other things he cant go and pee anywhere and that he cant find a place to tek a beer like in Guyana and he want go back, but his family got his passport (that is trafficking?).. I am reading Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes and I had reached the part when the heroine arrives in South Carolina a slave thrown into a canoe. The immigration lounge at the Miami Airport has a nice thing with Welcome to the United States and what to show the immigration officers. Two older men stand up in uniform next to

Kissoon, who cares about you ?

Last week I resigned from what would have been the most significant appointment in my life so far. The comments and feedback have been mixed. The article in Stabroek News had some interesting responses . Many people have indicated that they approved of this move, funnily some of them who wanted me off of the Commission in the first place are not sure whether or not to be happy that I resigned.  One lady said I am pulling wool over people's eyes, I am not sure what for, since the issues are pretty much clear. Some people's silence on my resignation seem to shout out about how much they do really care about what I did, but for some reason do not wish to engage me on the decision. I am fascinated by how Mr Roger Williams kept pressing his case (a 10 page dossier apparently!) and I think it is amazing that I have inspired vitriol in a man who I have never met. I know there are many who would have hoped that I would have been kicked out of the commission, so I must apologis

Resignation from the Rights of the Child Commission

22 April, 2010 Hon Hari Narayen Ramkarran SC MP Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Guyana Parliament Buildings Georgetown Dear Sir I hereby submit my resignation from the Rights of the Child Commission. Please convey this decision to the National Assembly. I believe that I have a different framework of principles from the National Assembly in terms of how the work of the Commission should be conducted. In 2009, there were allegations of child maltreatment made against Mr Kwame McKoy, the representative of the Ministry of Human Services on the Commission. I believe that these allegations are serious and warrant an appropriate intervention from the National Assembly and the Ministry of Human Services t o ensure that the allegations are resolved. I believe that any Commissioner facing such allegations should also recuse themselves from the activities of the Commission pending the investigation and resolution of the allegations. The first me

Am I trans??

"Are you trans??" the woman asked me? Some talk this week about gender identity and sexual orientation and sin and disorder and humoungous hoaxes in the newspapers I trying to see how to answer the question. I have been transgressive.  No, I have not worn any high heels or wigs or makeup but rather I joined up with Help & Shelter way back and I ended up being the only 'man' there. A woman had said that she suspicious because is only woman does do this kind of work. Another  transgressive thing I am involved in include standing with a whole set of women protesting sexual violence against children for many weeks, now and then other men who transgress the gender norms (real men like to have sex with children?) join up in the protest. And many people think from my name that I am a woman, in fact all my refusal emails from the CARICOM Secretariat start with Dear Ms Kissoon. Now and then, people express disappointment that I am not a beautiful intelligent