We prefer the calmer consumption of news- the format that is comparatively neither cantankerous, contentious nor packaged in the name calling and gutter wading that is the trademark of some that peddle under the label ‘Information’.
The name Melly Mel, with the favored demeaning variation of the spelling with a preceding ‘S’ and the FB accounts with the obvious Black fake names of ‘groups’, purportedly based in Canada, existing mainly for low end Black ‘bashing’, started popping up in our feed…as did derisions from folks who were once mistaken for adults…being six plus decades, male and all.
A quick search produced articles written by penmen who assert literary prowess, offering conclusions on what may have been ‘motive’, for what was future prediction of her current predicament.
Videos purporting to capture live conversations about a scam ‘surfaced’.
Then we got the arrest and detention of the victim;
– of this apparent multi point, coordinated attack, simmering seemingly, for a while –
that she was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and shipped off to Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana under last name Holder.
Louisiana triggered more concern than curiosity.
It’s a State with a well documented record of prisoner abuse, not excluding death or routine sexual abuse while incarcerated.
The prison, as we anticipated, is privately owned.
The owners, a William and son Clay McConnell have been in the human for – profit prison business for years – owning prisons in several States with ‘people are profitable’ as their de facto motto.
Unsurprisingly, William McConell is a Methodist Minister. Profiting off of the people you ‘lead to the lord’ is all part of the holy hypocrisy.
And the political donation from America’s Prison Gentry to the Party that brandishes incarceration as a weapon- the Republican Grand Old Party – is routine.
America, land of the free and unique exceptionalism that is part of its Ambassadors’ diplomatic package, currently operates 158 private prisons, with a pursuit of profit that generates practices that are, at best, unethical.
All of this increased our curiosity about this Guyanese woman whose incarceration seemed to elicit immeasurable delight within a particular community which, not so long ago, was in prayer for our fellow Guyanese in Queens New York.
It was this Guyanese Community’s Leader who was pleading with its neighbors not to rat its illegal members out to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement; holding several vigils to advise them to be both alert and protective of their ‘countryman’.
Surely, Miss Atwell was within that collective, particularly now that we’re celebrating an extension our national motto as ‘One Guyana’, which we consider to be mete and right having been billed a s a“unifying concept!!??
Her continued beration for public entertainment is more than curious, especially since high ranking Government Officials are referenced.
And there’s an oddness to the denial by government officials who see the Opposition’s protest against the detention of Ms. Atwell as a protest against America’s Immigration Policy.
NO…is the answer to your question about whether there was a similar sentiment expressed when the community leader of Queens was advising his neighbors not to ‘rat’ each other out – WHICH WAS, IN FACT a protest against America’s immigration policy!!!.
The burning at the stake of Miss Atwell makes us wonder why the festive glee in a specific segment of the Guyanese Community, why the misapplication of obvious talent to cartoon her demise – behavior that’s a clear vestige of the past, as wafts of ‘One Guyana’ float over the political horizon to suggest just that.
And the characters butchering Miss Atwell on behalf of this segment of the community and its political Party aren’t from amongst the flawless beacon bearers.
Why this concentrated deluge of smear artillery coming in on this black, female, target?
Why no political representation through the resident US Embassy for this Guyanese woman by the elected politicians?
We ponder because we remember when another Guyanese, who was incarcerated in America for criminal cause and then subsequently returned to Guyana by way of deportation. He was never characterized by scorn or disparaged with the raw contempt that’s pouring from these actors.
And the dedication, rabid and surgical, in the name of some anonymous crusade that seems constructed around members of the ruling Party, takes the tribalism to a more insidious level.
His deportation, more like ‘repatriation’, came with a motorcade in spite of pledges to treat him like any ordinary felon. He was subsequently released on bail and ultimately released without charge…events that never elicited this rage and dedicated social battery, in the name of politics and its associates.
Again, we don’t know who Ms. Atwell is and from related accounts of what her posts were, we would never have been subscribers to her reported strain of communication.
But curiosity persists because, we’re told, she was a member of the Ruling Party and socialized amongst the folks who seem most aggrieved and retaliatory against her.
We learned she was sued by the current Attorney General for $100 million.
Performatory maybe, but the question is, why the need for the performance.
The origins of the lingering dispute between the Parties and their predominant racial composition are always just a lit matchstick away from the flammable potential of any sense of unity.
Now ‘One Guyana’ is on fire.
The convergence of assault against a Guyanese remains the daily duty of foot soldiers who speak for a Party and Ruling arm of Government that offers no disclaimers.
Foot soldiers are often fall guys. The combination of ignorance and exuberance makes them expendable.
As Guyanese of ‘One Guyana’, we will curiously see how this plays out.
Seems there are several options open to Governments concerned about their citizens incarcerated abroad…especially when their supposed crimes are not capital in nature.
The US and Guyanese Embassies in both countries can be approached for some leniency…which seems to be what is done by most countries.
We’re sure Guyana, as member of the United nations, is aware of what it can do on behalf of this citizen, in furtherance of slogan ‘One Guyana’ ..that ‘unifying concept‘.
We’re curious to see if they will.