Tribute to Eusi Kwayana

My name was Patricia Henry when I first met Sidney King in 1951 - I was 9 years old. This was in what was then known as British Guiana.  We lived on Wellington Street and I attended Bedford Methodist school on Robb Street opposite Bourda Market in Georgetown. The easiest way to school was to turn right on Robb Street and walk about four blocks. For some reason one morning, I decided to walk straight ahead for one block and turn onto Regent Street. My father had mentioned that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had opened an office on Regent street, and I was curious to see what it looked like. 

It was a Monday morning around 7:30 am when my younger sister Cherry and I entered the office and were greeted by a tall distinguished man, who welcomed us and asked what we were doing there. We explained that we were interested in what the PPP was doing for children. He gave us a booklet and told us to read it and return tomorrow morning to talk some more. We realised we were going to be late for school if we did not leave immediately, so we left and ran to school. For the remainder of the school year, going by the PPP office to talk to him became a regular morning routine before school. 

In early 1953, I left primary school for high school, and we stopped going because I had to take a different route to school. In October of that year, British forces invaded, suspended the constitution, declared a state of emergency, and militarily occupied the country.  This was on the pretext that the then PPP government was a threat to Great Britain.  The British perceived the PPP to have a dangerous communist ideology, and did not want it to spread to other colonies. I learnt that Sidney King along with Martin Carter and many other members of the government were detained and jailed. 

I met Walter Rodney in Guiana in December 1960 when he came home for the Christmas holidays from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica. I left Guiana in 1961 to study nursing in England. Walter arrived in London in 1963 to attend the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and we got married in January 1965. During one of our visits home to see family in 1967, Walter first met Eusi.  Who would have known that Sidney King, the tall distinguished gentleman I would meet in the mornings for political breakfast on the way to school, was now Eusi Kwayana.

For the next decade, Walter, myself and the children lived in London, Jamaica, and Tanzania.  The kids and I returned to Guyana in June 1974.  Walter and I visited Eusi and Tchaiko soon after Walter arrived in Guyana in September.  Walter and Eusi were comrades and co-leaders of the WPA, but they also developed a close and enduring friendship over the next 6 years. 

Our relationship grew out of shared values, love of family, love of Guyana and our future hopes for the country, and understanding of the deep, and necessary, connection between Africa and the Diaspora. My own African awakening occurred when I was still at primary school. We spent summer holidays with my aunt and uncle in Friendship Village in Buxton and every August, a dignitary from Ghana would come to Buxton.  I came to learn that Eusi Kwayana, through his work with the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (ASCRIA), was also integral to the connection between Africa and the Diaspora.

Whenever we visited the Kwayana home in Buxton, Kofi was the first to welcome us, since he insisted on sitting on Walter's lap, and driving the car. On a few weekends, Kofi, and his two younger brothers, would come to our home to spend time with us. We participated in major events in their lives, including the indescribably sad burial of their young son, and the joyous birth and naming ceremony of their beautiful daughter Iyabo. Our three children Shaka, Kanini and Asha grew up calling them Uncle Eusi and Aunty Tchaiko.

After Walter was assassinated on June 13, 1980, the children and I relocated to Barbados. Eusi kept in touch with us through a good mutual friend and comrade, the late Ricky Singh. I kept Eusi updated on our lives when we moved to Canada in 1989, and then to the US in 1995. I visited Eusi and Tchaiko in San Diego, California, and later shared in their grief when the family lost their beloved matriarch Tchaiko in 2017. 

Eusi then moved to Atlanta in 2002, to reside with his son Kofi, and for a number of years lived within walking distance from my home. Eusi never failed to call me for a weekly check in, or on special occasions such as Mother’s day or International Women’s Day. He also supported the Wages for Housework movement of our comrade and friend Selma James. Selma lives in England, and traveled to the US to visit Eusi just over a year ago. It was a wonderful visit. Eusi would often call Asha with ideas about the Foundation’s work or other information on Walter.

Eusi testified at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Walter Rodney in May 2014 where he termed himself a “mind witness”, rather than an eye witness. He said, and I quote, “On hearing Rodney, more and more of the population chose his platform and his message as a point of reorganizing and redeveloping their best social values and aspirations.” Eusi was considered a sage, and a part of the political fabric and landscape in Guyana - his testimony was well received.

Eusi was a strong supporter of the Walter Rodney Foundation.  He was presented a lifetime award, penned a poem For Walter Rodney, wrote numerous articles, and even penned a song. We will miss his constant presence at the Annual Walter Rodney Symposium.

Many years ago, Eusi appointed my daughter Dr. Kanini Rodney Phillips as one of his Medical Advisors and Kofi had to ensure that she was consulted about every doctor’s visit, diagnosis or medication. Kanini noted how at peace and ready Uncle Eusi was to transition. He asked her to take care of Kofi and she in turn asked him to tell Walter that she, Shaka, Asha and I love him and miss him. My daughter Asha and I were privileged to recently visit with him—although we knew that his health was failing, we did not realize that would be the last time we would spend time with him. 

Eusi was a gentle man, a beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather, and a close family friend. His children grew up as cousins to mine and now the grandchildren hold that strong bond. We extend our sincerest condolences to The Kwayana family, who are part of our extended family.  They have continually honored Eusi with fitting celebrations during his lifetime, and now, in death. 

Eusi has served his country well. Like Rodney, Eusi loved the people of Guyana deeply. May he sojourn and rest peacefully as an ancestor in his birthland Guyana, and as Eusi always would say, “Walk Good”!

Ase

Patricia Rodney, PhD, is the CEO, Partner in Health, Education and Development (PHEAD) - an international development consultancy organization formed in January 2011. As an experienced public health professional, Dr. Rodney's career spans the disciplines of health, adult education and literacy, social work, and women, gender and development. She has over 15 years of academic public health, administration and teaching experience at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Atlanta, GA.  Dr. Rodney is the author of The Caribbean State, Health Care, and Women: An Analysis of Barbados and Grenada 1979-1983 (Africa World Press, 1998) and has published several articles.