Rejection of state burial to honour Philip Moore by PPPC

Jonathan Butler – No Woman No Cry (Live In South Africa)

Rejection of state burial to honour Philip Moore shows PPPC small mindedness, bias, and uncultured rejection of all things not PPPC “When I carved up to a certain point, I felt that when I was holding a piece of wood in my hand, it seems to me that I was holding the mind of the world in my hand.”– Phillip Moore From all accounts, Brother Phillip Moore did all that was asked of him by his nation. Over and over again he answered the call of his countrymen and contributed significantly to the upliftment of Guyanese society. Mr. Moore enlightened, he enchanted, he inspired and he awed us. His contributions made us exceedingly proud and his talent inspired a cadre of young artisans who continue to fill the space in the nation’s hallowed halls of art and culture. According to an important voice in the Guyanese intellectual community, “… there is no question that Moore is the most represented and revered artist at Castellani House and in the National Collection” Yesterday, it was widely announced that the PPPC government had decided not to honor one of Guyana’s greatest icons with a state funeral. It was reported that a request was made to Prime Minister Sam Hinds who then punted to Mr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture. When Mr. Anthony was publicly confronted, he was overheard saying words to the effect that, “… I do not make promises that I cannot keep.” That these unlearned and unsophisticated little men, who have so little regard for our nation, our history, our culture, and for the citizens of Guyana that they would take this opportunity to be vindictive, to invoke party paramountcy, to display their ignorance and shallowness to the world in such an audacious manner speaks volumes. “When God said from the sweat of brow thou shalt eat bread, that was not all that he said. He said too that by the meditation of your hearts you can be in attunement with me and by the craftiness of your minds you will make gardens even better than Eden. Those words are not a threat to man. Those words became what we call a consolation to man and man became a co-creator with God to make things for his own happiness.”– Phillip Moore On his Facebook page, in relation to this tragedy, a young Guyanese commentator shared, “If Phillip Moore does not deserve a state funeral, then surely NO ONE deserves a state funeral.” And so, OneVoice will leave the intellects and public commentators to make polite requests to the government for reconsideration, and to pronounce with eloquence and subtlety on why the PPPC decided to dishonour this national icon in this way. OVNN must speak for the people, for the masses, for the oppressed and therefore cannot afford to be constrained by the fetters of politeness and civility in the face of such egregious effrontery. We feel free to point out that this blatant dishonor was not only racist, but also shows a crass lack of appreciation for the importance of art and culture in our nation’s history and social fabric – not so unexpected behavior by this power hungry and intellectually deficient cabal. It reflects vanity, and puffery and entitlement by the ruling class of corrupt PPPC elites who are only concerned with raping the country of the people’s resources while they plot their escape routes when their despotic reign ends. They are not confident in the longevity of their reign, so they birth their children in foreign countries, they squirrel away the people’s money in hidden overseas accounts, they transfer the nation’s assets into the hands of family members and friends, and they build gaudy and obnoxious multistory concrete mausoleums with the ill-gotten proceeds from their nefarious activities in the gold, diamond and drug industries they have compromised. They cavort with drug dealers, with murderers, with rapists of women and children, with thieves, and with known felons and racists without shame and yet they balk at the opportunity to celebrate the life and journey of a national treasure like Mr. Phillip Moore. Surely, they must be despised; surely, the people must speak out against their evil. Not only was the rejection of the request an affront to all right-minded Guyanese, it is also blatantly disrespectful of all who embrace and share art and culture with the masses in the quest to stimulate us, to make us dream, to make us think, to motivate us to reach higher and to embrace the beauty and possibilities of our great nation. “We can re-educate the minds of people through art. The same as how the Hindus have the murtis, Ganesh, and Krishna and Hanoman-ji on calendars and postcards, the African man too has to get his spiritual heroes and surround himself with them so that they become a part of his everyday life.” — Phillip Moore This grotesque indignity which serves to further degrade those of African ancestry in Guyana should not be ignored. It is not enough to pontificate about the evils of this regime under cover of darkness. All concerned citizens must step into the light and insist that they change their position. “If a people do not have the endurance to struggle for their own liberation, then surely they are deserving of the enemy’s wrath which will continue to be visited upon them” — Unknown

©2012 OneVoiceCanWin | Georgetown, Guyana