Thoughts of a minibus traveller

It has been an intense couple of months, with a range of experiences and tests of spiritual faith. Two practitioners of Nicheren Buddhism introduced me to the Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo chant . Today I resigned from SASOD - an organisation I helped to found nine years ago.  Nam  To devote oneself to attain enlightenment . Dharma - which has no real English translation. In our living and working, how do we find ways of fulfilling our obligations to the human beings around us? There are no easy answers really. We realise that there is something to fix in the society, we join up and organise to do it, form an organisation. We agree to principles, we expect each other to honour the principles and to commit to adhering to them. We realise that we can disagree , but core principles of respect for human dignity and worth , and a commitment to accountability are important. LGBT organising in a homophobic society in my mind requires that kind of demonstration of respect for humanity, ...

So is Friday morning. I tense up bad, I have to go face the media and things are toxic with some of my colleagues.  A 44 bus pull up, I late, but I hear beats dat say de music loud. But I late, I aint got time. . Bus got indian driver, indian conductor, indian passengers, black passengers.  Dancehall blaring, lyrics not bad. Some of the guys at the back at the bus singing. Track changes and now we hearing about gyurl and hole, and sit down and win' .. and I get racial and shout to de driver.. driver change de track.. put on Gospel , black people like Gospel. The indian passengers ignoring me.. face ahead.. the black boys at the back laughing and seh yeah driver.. we know .. you trow de gospel out de window... and I start sing amazing Grace.. two lines.. the driver raise the volume of the music. I raise my voice louder. A lady behind me not sure what to do.. boys at the back laughing louder. Driver start fumbling in the sun flap to look for CD. He find Bob Marley One Love.. I ...

Twenty minutes after the scheduled start time, a loud trumpet blasted us out of our seats to stand to attention to the National Anthem before The Exotic era of dance opened. Apsara 2012 is a production of Apsara .  The advertisements promised spellbinding performances of "classical, filmi, bangra, salsa, hip-hop, Marathi, Arabic/Turkish fusions and much more .. - 60 dancers" no doubt excluding the people like me in the audience who would have wanted to do our own thing in our seats. Curtains opened and there was this dazzling set.. yep.. dazzling, there was a broad strip of glittering gold background at the base, and lots of glitter everywhere. There were many dancers on the stage. My 3D vision is deteriorating but some of the costumes seemed to blend in with the background so I could not make out the moves.    Since I love to dance even though I really cannot dance, I am probably not the best person to review any era of dance, much less an Exotic one. The name...

Miss Jordan , my former Chemistry teacher called me up and asked if me and others from SASOD would meet with Sister Michelle Smith. Sister Michelle is a pastor whose Ministry is about saving gay and lesbian people. Sister Michelle has written her own story about being saved from the lesbian lifestyle. This week in Guyana there was a series of activities against homosexuality, organised by Operation Restoration.   The meeting included three women from Operation Restoration, Sister Michelle and her colleague Janet from Jamaica; and Janessa and Camille from Power of Change in Trinidad. Two weeks ago, I was on an NCN Roundtable with Pastor Loris Heywood. Today, some of my colleagues will be at one of the public forums against homosexuality. In the two hours or so which I spent with the group, these are the points which I heard.. some of them I had heard before, some were new :- Homosexuality is a sin, the Bible is the law and the Church must obey the law They will not tol...

Janelle the producer called one hour before the recording is scheduled to start. Yes, she said, we still on. We going to record a Roundtable discussion on 'Gay Rights in Guyana' or something like that. The programme is scheduled to be aired on NCN Channel 11 on Sunday 3 June, 2012 at 7pm - yeah I know, same time like 60 minutes - and broadcast on Wednesdays at 4pm. I ask Janelle who else coming. Janelle said.. she did not get any policy maker, but she confirmed Pastor Loris Heywood.  Pastor Heywood is a member of the Georgetown Minister's Fellowship (GMF) and will represent the Church. The GMF plans to have a campaign against homosexuality. I know Loris long too.. tall, neat, with a nice smile,  with a deep authoritative voice.. when he talk I does think of the Christian God some people used to tell me about. This not going to be easy. What to wear? How can I represent SASOD best on this show? Joel and Namela have set examples which are hard to follow. I look at...