Defining political vision, building relationships, packing barrel - Groundings on the Diaspora connections 9 August, 2020

 Managing expectations

"You have to manage your expectations.. "the man from Canada said.  'Understand that somethings take longer' .  I know.. I tend to have zero expectations too of OBGs returning and holidaying generally but I am guilty of stereotyping. I avoid conversations about OBGs and Guyana because, well, there are so many other things to worry about that priorities have to be made. And I know that there is this thing about the ungrateful set of us who receive barrel and so or remittances , and then we don't pay enough homage to the sacrifice and labour and so.

We were in the virtual Groundings organised by Sherlina, Dr Wazir Mohammed, Professor Vibert Cambridge and me to talk about Diaspora connections and looking at the love/not love relationships.

Alissa Trotz in the first In the Diaspora column had described some of the complexities of Overseas Guyanese and local Guyanese.   Marlon James wrote in the Introduction to So Many Islands "Scratch the surface of any nasty fight between a local stay-putter and a diaspora drifter and it comes down to a greater argument about in-touchness, lost in a lesser argument about authenticity"

Blackout was on and I had hoped that I could have an honest excuse to not to have to talk about OBGs and those of us who live in periodic blackout, slap mosquitoes, have to holler at minibus drivers to turn down music, wade in flood water, eat nice fruits in season and get bad eye from diaspora when we post selfies on facebook with the nice genip, or mango and so... 

I know a couple of people who were deeply hurt that Guyanese were not warm and hospitable to their 'own' who were returning for the first time'..that famous Guyanese hospitality seemed only reserved for o white people.  I  know of resisting the urge to cuss up people who tell me what I must and must not do to fix Guyana - how many times I have deleted or found other words which say 'why you don't come back and do that..'  and who assume that Guyana is a mess because all of us want it so. And depending on which political party they support, that I don't know how nice Guyana is really compared to their hell holes which they life/or something mussee wrong with me that is why I am still  

 And  how much I am in awe of people who stay clued into Guyana's politics and so and who feel bad when they ask me what going on and I say .. I am.. not really taking on..

I get the authenticity thing too because India, regardless of which political party in power there, has targetted diaspora successfully.. and to be an authentic coolie here , there is pressure to consume Made in India clothes, films, prejudices etc as ways of showing my in-touchness with the place my ancestors left a long time ago.

Many OBGs have really been nice, some come-backees have been very considerate in their engagements, taking time, processing their own integration, understanding mutual accountability, and knowledge sharing and so, and that Guyana has Pizza Hut and KFC  which they didn't have when they left, and that Guyana does not have many things that it used to have while they were here and which are probably more available in the countries they now living in.  

The tension.. that the diaspora has money and people rob them.. and when some diaspora do come and spend lavishly. I remember a pandit telling me of his work to remove alcohol from Hindu weddings but how difficult it is when it is the overseas guests who buy and share all the expensive liquor.. drinking without restraint in Guyana which they might not be able to do in their home countries.

And at a personal level, I feel more connected to the diaspora people who are not yearning for Guyana, but who are embedded where they live, who show resilience with new problems (racism from different sources, hurricanes, Covid, other politics),  who use the opportunities available and through whom I could see a version of the world beyond Guyana.. a kind of vicarious migration for me.

But my battery held, the electricity came on and I stayed on,. Listening badly so this blog is NOT a report.

Most of the people in the call live outside of Guyana.

 Gatekeepers, incompetent professionals

One person who returned after living most of her adult life outside of Guyana talked about her experiences of coming back. She talked of facing resistance from the gatekeepers , not from the ordinary people. From people who she saw had limited education. She was passionate about that experience.     Another man talked about being contracted by a local company, who paid his airfare, and he turns up to work and the manager tells him 'We were not expecting you'.  He also had worked with the oil companies and like many others , felt powerless and frustrated that Guyana seemed to be repeating mistakes made by other countries..

There were many experiences. Depending on what the people wanted to do. Some people come on holiday and want to do good, medical outreach and so. Another woman said she has not faced any problems with doing the things she wanted to do.    Another woman said that time has to be spent in building relationships and understanding what is happening. (A man in a previous conversation had talked about he comes to Guyana and tries to talk to (and listen to?) to 'everybody' not only friends and family . )

Varied experiences.  Clearly depending on the nature of the engagement, the PNC/PPP nature of the engagement and how it is received, We talked about 'white-washing' - if people who were in the Northern countries felt closer to whiteness so that the reactions in Guyana was about anti-blackness. 

Questions about how culture could be used to build the relationships were asked, and the possibilities of mentorship, expanded opportunities and how diaspora also benefits from homeland.

 LGBTQ inclusivity

 A man questioned about inclusion of LGBTQ citizens. His experience of homophobia in Guyana and with the Guyanese diaspora were a turn off to him and he wondered how the organisations dealt with those who have felt excluded and marginalised in Guyana. One of the men said that his organisation was conscious, but raised the issue of inclusion only if they were dealing with specific communities. A queer woman who lives in Guyana said that LGBT people live here and deal with things, another woman said that she has done her work , and her queerness has never been questioned.. The man wrote to me"for me it's about operating with an intention of inclusiveness and making the invisible visible where necessary". I thought of the other men who had gained asylum abroad after homophobic violence in Guyana,  one returning to live, the other one visiting and hoping to return to live.

We talked about how Guyana's divisions are reinforced and replicated in the diaspora, with the the political parties having strong chapters and so.

 Guyana apparently has a large  number of alumni , home town and other associations which do different kinds of work in Guyana. Some people wished that there was some organisation and co-ordination of the charitable groups especially, to prevent duplication of effort, while also meeting needs across Guyana.

Defining political vision

A researcher at the end of the conversation said to question what and who is diaspora, that in Guyana for example, Barbadians had migrated here, that Linden in Guyana was a town built on internal diaspora. She also said that this focus on diaspora started with the International Financial Institutions wanting to look at remittances which poor, working class people used to support back in their home countries.. "to prop up neo-liberal policies, not to reduce poverty and inequality' and she was clear that 'we should be suspect of any Government who wants to engage diaspora, to see if it is not to prop up their policies...'. She also shared that in the current oil and gas discussions, that there was a lot to be gained from South South experiences, other diasporic connections, but that it was up to people in Guyana to organise and welcome those interventions.  "We should define a political vision for what diaspora means'.. 

and I thought that meant.. leave as is with nostalgia, relief organisations, donations - or to get more radical and involved in reforming/transforming the Constitution, and lobbying for the changes to the status quo which creates the circumstances which cause people to leave.

A first-timer at groundings messaged me to ask about whether there was an agenda and I explained that no, no Groundings don't have agenda. 

People agreed in the call that the conversation should be structured to get to some action points and there could be a virtual diaspora 'mega groundings' with some clear outcomes apart from this blog.

Resources referenced in the conversation include :-

• Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc
• Last Lap Lime
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diaspora project
• Guyanese Canadian Young Professionals
• Work on diaspora and remittances by Manuel Orozco for USAID and other IFIs
•  Timehri Film Festival
  

Stem Guyana is a new diaspora project.  There are many others which do relief/charity work .

  Image by Youssef Jheir from Pixabay