Where are your heroes Caribbean?
Kaieteur News – Dave Martins did ask in song: “Where are your heroes, Caribbean?” Well, this past weekend, we say goodbye to another one – Sonny Ramphal. He was a true son of the soil, and a big name across the region. A man who put Guyana and the Caribbean on the map.
Ramphal stand up with de best of dem. Leaders from de Caribbean fly in fuh de national funeral. Dem was all there to pay respects.
But everybody asking why one man who was missing. Yuh woulda think a funeral for a national hero woulda bring out all de bigwigs. But not this time One man was nowhere in sight. Was he hiding behind a pillar? Or maybe he was sitting where de camera couldn’t reach? Who knows! It was one of dem funerals where you see who missing more than who present. Ah well, like dem boys seh, sometimes presence speak louder than absence. And sometimes absence make more noise than presence.
But one thing clear: we have to honor we heroes. We can’t wait till dem gone to show respect. And when we do show up, we can’t be missing in action.
Sonny Ramphal walked with the greats of the world. De Caribbean leaders come to stand by him one last time. But de one man everybody expect to see, nowhere in sight.
And it not enough to remember dem by tombstones alone. We need monuments too. We need statues, streets named after dem, and scholarships in dem names.
We must teach de next generation who these heroes were. Let dem name live on, not just in speeches, but in de things we build to remember dem. Sonny Ramphal deserve more than a spot in de cemetery. He deserve to live on in de hearts of all Guyanese.
Talk half. Leff half
