By Felicia J. Persaud
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thursday. October 24, 2024: As the countdown to the Nov. 5 general election intensifies, many Guyanese American voters are voicing strong support for the Caribbean roots of US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. With approximately 74% of Guyanese immigrants in the US naturalized and eligible to vote, this community is poised to play a role in the election as part of the Black and Asian voting blocs.
The Guyana flag was raised in NYC to mark the country’s independence on May 26.
many News of America spoke to him are aboard the Harris train as the election clock ticks down. Guyanese Annan Boodram, coordinator of The Caribbean Voice, a volunteer-run NGO committed to mental health advocacy and activism in the Caribbean and diaspora, says he is confident Harris will defeat the convicted former US president. Donald Trump, when the votes are in. numbered.
“Kamala has a higher degree of support than the polls reflect in my view,” the New Yorker said. “And I believe that Kamala will win because of the differences, not only in personality, but also in the approach to the campaign; and because of Trump’s campaign to demonize, humiliate and label.”
Still, Boodram admitted he fears American politics will be forever transformed whether Harris loses or not, “and decency and truth and facts and evidence will come down instead of lies and disinformation and conspiracy theories and AI-generated videos. “
Guyanese Val Williams, also a US citizen and naturalized voter, is also optimistic of a Harris victory.
“America has never had a female president. If Kamala wins, it will affect women and girls around the world,” he said. “Margaret Thacher / Indira Ghandi / Margaret Thatcher / Benazir Bhutto and Gro Brutland would probably be quite impressed that America finally did the right thing. It’s time for a woman to strike leadership.”
However, not all voters are completely convinced. New Jersey voter and retiree Guyanese Allison Skeete admits she’s nervous and “holds my breath.”
Skeete said he finds it “incomprehensible” that in the 21st century, America is so easily seduced by someone who keeps showing who they are but is still in the running for the nation’s highest office.
Boodram blames Trump’s rise for awakening a “dormant segment of the American population that once hearkens back to the days of the wild west, when gunmen ruled the roost and colonialism, when the plantation owners ruled the roost.”
“A significant percentage of Trump’s support comes from people like them who have been empowered to display their racism, their misogyny of hatred, their beliefs that the white race is superior to everyone else,” Boodram said.
For this reason, Skeete is convinced that “if Harris wins, it won’t be an easy road for him.”
But she quickly added: “If Trump wins, it won’t be an easy road for the nation.”
Another Guyanese voter who is terrified of another Donald Trump term is author and youth activist Selwyn Collins.
“What terrifies me most about a second term is Project 2025, which I believe will become a reality,” said Collins. “Especially when you think about what they did to the Supreme Court, not to mention a lot of federal judges, most of whom are White. Who knows what amendment may be pushed to deny us immigrants our citizenship. I see what they did with the anti-Semitic law.
“These are terrible times and America cannot afford to elect someone who puts himself first above anyone, above any law; the constitution be damned. His rhetoric about his plans for the country could be seen as a threat to democracy and life as we know it in America,” he added, while predicting “the tea leaves say Kamala Harris, and I love tea.”
Florida Guyanese voter Yuri Basir admits he was leaning toward Trump when President Joe Biden was in the race. But he said that changed after Harris became the Democratic nominee.
“I was re-energized to be a part of history,” he said. “If we can elect the first woman president, it would be (important) because we consider her one of us as Caribbean and Indian.”
Guyanese-born, New York City-based writer and performer Ingrid Griffith, who has been performing and touring with her award-winning one-woman show, Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, for the past three years” , agrees with Basir that “This is an election of great consequence.”
“More than ever, we are aware of the consequences for generations to come if we don’t vote,” she added. “It’s hard to change minds, but I’m optimistic that Americans will vote for a nation that we want for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
“As Shirley Chisholm, the second African-American woman to run for President in 1972, said, ‘Men and women have the power to change things in this country. And once we believe we can and take action, positive change will come.'”
Charlene Mitchell was the first black woman to run for President of the United States as the Communist Party candidate in 1968 and later led the campaign to free Angela Davis. She died in 2022.
“Our legacy is on the ballot,” Griffith added. “The two presidential candidates seem to be talking about different realities. My reality is based on facts, science, my experiences, the dreams of my ancestors. It seems clearer than ever that a woman with such a diverse background as Kamala Harris is ready to lead this country in the direction that fulfills its promises. Kamala Harris has my vote.”
Guyanese entrepreneur and Muslim voter Ray Rafeek was undecided outside, but admitted he “is leaning towards Kamala because I can’t vote for that idiot Trump”.
“I’m not a fan of Kamala, but I have no choice,” he added. “It will be scary if Trump wins.”
Chuck Mohan, a New Yorker and Guyanese activist, says that while he sees a close election, he is confident that Harris has the momentum to pull off a victory on Nov. 5.th.
Still Mohan says he doesn’t think he will vote as he has vowed not to vote for Zionist supporters while the war in Gaza continues.
“I’m not going to vote for either,” he said, but admitted that “if Trump wins, we’re in trouble.”
“He’s a vindictive man and even though I see a lot of people now coming out against him, the ball is really in her court now,” he said of Harris, advising that if she stays away from name-calling and sticks to politics , “she can do it”.
As the election approaches, Guyanese Americans, like many voters across the country, are keenly aware of the stakes and potential impact of their votes.
