Melly Mel woke up the African spirit
Mar 21, 2025
Dear Editor,
The door of the carriage I was in, opened at Streatham Common Station. A very old African woman was struggling to get in. The bag she had, appeared to be quite heavy, and she carried a stick to keep her balance.
“Hold on, aunty, let help you,” I said. I took the bag and offered her my left arm. She held onto my wrist. Her grip was surprisingly firm for such an old woman. “Thank you, son,” she said, as I helped her to sit on the seat opposite mine. The carriage was virtually empty. She asked whether I was from Ghana. I told her I was from Guyana.
The train pulled into Balham Station where she got off. I assisted her off the train and, as I was about to get back on, it happened.The old woman said, “Kwame. Your name is ‘Kwame’ and you are from Kofi’s land. Remember, Kwame, gods get their powers from being worshipped.”
The doors of the train were about to close and I quickly thanked her and bid her goodbye. I sat down and was a bit puzzled. How did she know my birth name and why did she say that I was from the land of Kofi?
I felt a reassuring warm sensation on my wrist. I rubbed it gently and came to the logical conclusion that, African people would usually bestow upon children of slaves, African names. I thought it was just a coincidence. I felt the warm sensation again on the wrist she had gripped. I wondered why she said that gods got their powers from being worshipped.
The next day, I contacted a friend and asked them to sponsor a new backdrop for my podcast. They agreed and were true to their promise. I contacted a professional graphic designer in the U.S. and told him what I wanted.
The old woman had said, “land of Kofi,” but I knew that she meant land of Cuffy, her country man who successfully led the 1763 slave rebellion in Guyana.
PPP leaders stayed in government for 23 years, and had turned the Square of the Revolution into a public toilet facility, and Mandela Avenue into a garbage dump site. They knew what they were doing. Meanwhile, Babu Jaan became a holy shrine for yearly rituals that kept that party in power. Today, a black woman that dared to confront the PPP, by exposing their corruption and many wrongdoings, is locked up in a U.S. detention centre. President Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo went to the U.S. to ensure that that happened, and as I watched our politicians and our people gathered together in protest under Cuffy in the land of Kofi, I knew the persecution of Melly by the government and other powerful international players had caused the African spirit to be awakened. As I write this piece, I can feel a warm sensation coming over my left wrist.
It is over for the PPP.
Sincerely
Norman Kwame Browne
Social and Political Activist
(Melly Mel woke up the African spirit)
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