White Lies....

Early on in my activist career someone referred to me (jokingly I hope) as an 'equal opportunity offender' and I liked that description so much I included it in my bio. What I have since come to know as par for the course in this field is that one has to put up with much, including but not limited to the loss of friends and family members over positions taken on public issues simply because, in many instances, there is no common ground on which to build compromise. How do you compromise with a father who get's his own pre-teen daughter pregnant? Do you refer to him as a rapist and a beast for his actions? Or does your opinion of him change if you know him so you refer to him instead as an expectant dad? How about the public official that uses his position to rob the treasury of millions of dollars, if he is also someone that dines regularly at your house and you and your family at his, do you ignore the theft and instead congratulate him on his newly found wealth?

On Wednesday of this week I received an email that was being circulated among a certain class in society that attacked me personally on every level - my past, my present, my future; my politics, my right to an opinion, my activism, my writing and any thing that I may or may not think, say or do in the future, demonizing me to my core and laying blame for every sin imaginable squarely at my feet. Why? What was my sin that brought such wrath upon me? One can surmise that, as it was signed by a 'Concerned Citizen,' that it was all for the public good, but if one were to look at the  big picture one might see it for what it really was.

John F. Kennedy said - 'The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.' It seems to me that this was the intention here, to discredit me and shut me up, and I cannot say that I am surprised. One cannot be as vocal as I am on the myriad of issues I take and not upset some people, and it is precisely this type of public 'flaying' that keep many from stepping into public life despite a burning desire to contribute to change.

Suspending critical thinking for a minute, and as even the writer goes on to say in the very email that he or she agrees with much that I say, what could be the point of the exercise, mischief? To what end? He or she also took the time to 'show' all the email addresses that the document was being sent to, so why do that, incompetence? Or to show that it was being sent predominantly to 'white' Trinidad society? And if so, why would things get so rocky all of a sudden? Does he or she see me as some growing threat to whoever currently sees themselves as the 'white' political champion?

Accomplished writer Mark Twain was noted to have said -  'A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.' In matters like these one must be careful not to suspend disbelief but to look into the matter for more than is written on the page. Let me set the writer's mind at ease where his or her demographic is concerned and  attempt to clear up any misconception as to my 'whiteness' based on this caramel latte complexion of mine. Many of my ancestors arrived on these shores fleeing hardships all over the world, from Syria to Portugal and Lebanon to Spain. But one of my great, great, great grandparents arrived here not of his own accord but in the belly of a ship, chained to others and sold as labour. I have never let go of his struggle and as I am as white as my European and Middle Eastern heritage I am also as black as he was. Try your best.