You deh pun a mission - Groundings Friday 8 Aug, 2014

Gulliver called to ask if I was there already since Granny would be coming to collect the books. Granny also called when I was near there - High and Hadfield Streets. I choose to go near the Parliament buildings because the pavement was broader.

The other grounder had texted earlier to say she was not coming so I had to rearrange and prepare to do this alone - new site, on my own and with performance different.

Idea is to get people to read, think talk about love and revolution and Guyana in general.

Please take one FREE!!

I lay out the magazines and the sign on the black cloth . And the newspaper boxes which I had made. I had visions of sharing out the boxes with something in them but the pebbles were too light and the boxes kept blowing away.

Performance requires good knowledge of stage and props and I laughed at the breeze blowing away all the visions I had of these quirky things. Granny took two magazines and left.

So, me alone.



I start asking people if they want a free magazine/book to read and  people pass , some say no, some look at me, some do not look at me, some give me the "oh oh is another one gone" look.


A man comes up, elderly man, beard, face looked like it had not laughed in a long time, stops and picks up a magazine and puts it back down and then takes a book written by a Guyanese author. He is from the East Coast, he remembers going to the meetings with Walter Rodney.


He said in Guyana people are divided so nothing good will happen. I wished that I could have gaffed with him some more, find a way to make him laugh.

Another man passes and looks and says.. give me one deh. I show him the newspaper boxes and he laughs and says that he never see anything like that and he takes one.

Another man who passed and looked away came back and said that a man in the bus said he could get a magazine here and he takes one.
A lady laughed when she saw the sign and said no problem, she took a magazine with an article about the Teenage Brain because she has 'teenagers'.
 Another young woman said she don't like freeness.

A young man comes up and starts gaffing. He leans against the fence and I feel better that at least there is one other mad person who with me. He says he likes to read. He is on leave from the army. He has a plastic cup in his hand which he puts in his pocket. He says he grew up in Antiqua so he knows not to litter. He says only God can save Guyana, but once he finds a good wife he will stay here.

He likes to write as well but he does not get much chance since work keeps him busy.  Another man comes up and says that he does local herbal medicine . I get a chance to offer a quotation from the box and the man chooses the quote about love and he agrees that love cannot be abusive or hurtful.

A 10 year old boy turns back and I give him the small book I had. He laughs and says yes, he can read.

This corner also has a lot of persons who would not be described as normal by many of the normal people. One guy asks me for a 100, then a 40 and I ask him if he wants something to read and he look at me like if something is wrong with me.




Another young strong man, dressed in black tee shirt and black shorts came up and I called out and asked him and he looked back. He said National Geographic.. took one. The soldier said yep, he is a deportee and that many of them could read.

Mr Westmaas came, I said I aint had nutting for him just the magazines and he smiled and said yep. Mr Westmaas like to read and he took one. 

The magazines are gone. A lady comes up, she knows the soldier. The soldier calls out her name. She looks at me and smiles and asks me if I do charity work - like send  barrels with clothes for children or money for feeding programme. She tells me she is a community worker and I remember her standing with clipboard asking for donation. I tell her I don't do charity and she laughs and says she don't believe me.

I realised I should have left the blasted beard on my face and maybe she would not believe that I was a rich man who gives out money and clothes barrel for children.

She ask me where I does be and I give her my number but say that I don't want nobody saying nutting about strange woman coming by me. She laugh at that too.. she know the evasive thing. She ask me what I doing, and I say I talking love and revolution and getting people to read.  I ask she why she not teaching people to sew clothes instead of bringing barrel with clothes. She stop smile and say that is old time story. I show her the newspaper box and her face serious she say that I take my eyes and pass her , dat is slavery ting I showing her. Ting better now ,"you live in big house and got big car" and why I want black people fuh mek box out of newspaper.  I say no, no is to show that self reliance, if she aint remember Burnham . (This was Groundings, was supposed to be Rodney we talking about). And she say nah, nah time different.. dat de only thing now is money and she want money not no newspaper box.

I say man, but we gotta learn to do do thing.. she then laugh and said she can read me and I say to mehself yea, I reading you too is.

She seh .. if you was president would you give people money? and I say lady, I aint want to be no president , I want you to be yuh own president and mek sure dat you don't have to beg fuh no old clothes fuh de chirren in yuh community.
She seh' you sure you is not a missionary' I say no no.. I is a Hindu and show me hand with the sutra and then feel a lil weird after because that is the ultimate con thing right - fuh put on de trappings and den use de trapping fuh prove ?

She say, well "I am a Hindu too" and I say definitely, in fact I think more than Hindu she is God because my religion say that everybody is god. I ask she if she know who Devi is, and that she is Devi.

She laugh loud.. she never hear that before and I say listen, before white people take away yall god, you know God was a woman right? She get ready to leave and we shake/hold hand in that con man way when you not sure if you gun get back yuh hand, and I call she name and she seh.. how you know me name. I say, arite I gun call you God, and she bus out a big big laugh and seh.. you is a wicked man, you is a very wicked man.. I seh if you name God, is how you gun put Wicked pun me and she loose me hand, and walk down the road laughing.

The soldier on leave shake meh hand too and he walk with her.

I pack up my cloth and the newspaper boxes that remained and jumped in a minibus at a spot where minibus not supposed to pick up passengers.