By Rosaliene Bacchus -March 12, 2023
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Radical social change is possible. I saw it unfold as a teenager growing up in Guyana, a former British colony caught in the tight grip of the rich and powerful white sugar plantation owners. Such change demands courage, persistence, and self-determination. It means pushing upstream against the flow, ignoring the voices of naysayers, and not succumbing to discouragement and hopelessness when faced with setbacks and defeats. Winifred Gaskin (1916-1977) was a woman who displayed such traits to the fullest measure. |
Comments
I was very fortunate to have known ‘auntie Winnie’ personally. She was a frequent visitor to our home.
My parents trusted her to the extent that she took me on my first visit to Berbice.
Congrats on this well written and informative piece .
Thanks very much, Myrna 🙂
Cyril, thanks for sharing my post with your readers. Much appreciated 🙂
“The wives of the predominantly white ruling class and the wives of the local fair skinned elite did not work outside of the home.”
Ironically, this is the “patriarchal” setup that those who preach patriarchy are glad to live as expats in warm and tropical countries.
For a White American expat in the West, living in a tropical country without having to work, or just earning passive income from YouTube is a paradise for them.
Meanwhile, the Guyanese work for less than US$500 a month in the fastest growing economy in the world.
I see in Guyana there are elite clubs and swimming pools where the wives and adult children of wealthy people mingle and party and never work a day in their lives. The wealth of course gained from the labour of the working class.