Dear Editor,
Over the past hours, I had time and moments to reflect on how influencing, critical and sharp of a woman Mae Thomas has become over the years of struggle, discrimination, and polarisation.
She is sound, meticulous and focused on the goal at hand – building a better life for all Guyanese by offering her public service, years of experience and indisputable know-how to the mix.
Miss Thomas is a mother of a 14-year-old son who she loves and adores. She is also the breadwinner of her family within which she pools her resources to ascertain a higher life for all. Mae is of mixed descent and her physical appearance would confirm this! She is a quiet soul, for the most part, only speaking when there is need for change and transformation.
So, it doesn’t surprise me that she would be a fit for the job as Permanent Secretary of Home Affairs. Apart from her tenure of 13 years at the office of the President which ended with her as an Assistant Accountant, she holds a diploma and several certificates from the University of Guyana and other institutions. She is aptly qualified, having the requisite mix of being youthful, educated and a desire to see policing and security thrive in Guyana. She wants what’s best for the domestic and foreign interests for the country.
So, when “the boy over there” wants to criticise her appointment and worth as a woman, it is both baffling and telling. It is not the first occasion and not the last defence I will be offering for people who have to prove themselves daily to the world because they are “women” and simply put by some men, aren’t deserving of a seat at the table of power and influence. At least, not yet.
This must be condemned in the strongest possible terms! This thought that you could equate worth on the basis of your degree or how many institutions you attended is both misleading and wrong. We have seen this in our own works when women rise up to break the traditional barriers that threaten to hold them back – in labour, social, education, health and the economy just to name a few. They are proving that a woman that is determined and has the know-how can get the job done even in troubling times. I thought that you could have learned from examples of this case from both the PNC/AFC.
But this isn’t the first time that “the boy over there” has gotten it wrong in his very short political career if you can call it that. Just look at Parliament and his contributions to have a good laugh.
He has the same mentality of a white supremacist when it comes to women moving along in power today. I stand up tall for equality, equal rights in politics, and young professionals who are desperate to make a positive change. “Not today Satan!” in the words said by a woman.
You are not going to diminish her role by spreading fears and lies about her willingness to get the job done or any of the PPP-appointed PSs for that matter. The next time you write, you must tell us about the multi-million-dollar fraud at Chronicle or how you single-handedly attempted to change community policing for the worst during your tenure. You should be ashamed. Go back in the background seats and wait for the teacher to call your name. Until then, class is dismissed! #IAmWithHer
Yours truly,
M Younge
