Outstanding Afro-Guyanese to be honoured at gala dinner
AN AWARD ceremony to honour outstanding Afro-Guyanese, both deceased and alive, will be held next Monday at the Pegasus Hotel.The committee responsible for putting together the programme said the United Nations has designated 2015 to 2024 the “Decade for people of African Descent” and as such, the body will commemorate this decade by awarding outstanding Guyanese who have made significant contributions in different forms towards the development of Guyana, with emphasis on African-Guyanese community.
This committee comprises representatives of the Burnham Foundation, Cuffy 250 Committee, Pan African Organisation, Women’s Roundtable and Miss Emancipation Committee. The inaugural award ceremony would acknowledge African-Guyanese persons who have made significant contributions towards the development of Guyana and the African-Guyanese community over the past 50 years, the committee said. Thirteen posthumous nominees would be recognised during this historic occasion. These are: LFS Burnham, Mrs. Viola Burnham, Dr. Kenneth King, Dr. Faith Harding, Mr. Clarence Ellis, Mr. Winston Murray, Mrs. Deborah Backer, Dr. Gustav Jackson, Mr. Philip Moore, Dr. Herbert Nicholson, Mr. Ronald Waddell, Dr. Walter Rodney and Mr. Courtney Crum-Ewing. Relatives of these posthumous awardees, including Roxanne Burnham, Pat Harding and Steve Backer, would be in attendance to receive the awards in the honour of their loved ones.
For the following 8 years, the following awards would be presented: African Guyanese Business Awards 2017; Africa Guyanese Youths Awards 2018; African Guyanese Professionals 2019; African Guyanese Teachers 2020; African Guyanese promoting STEM 2021; African Guyanese in Media 2022; African Guyanese Village Awards 2023; African Guyanese of the Decade 2024.
Both local and diaspora awardees have already confirmed their attendance at the dinner and award ceremony, the committee asserted. Among the awardees are: Vincent Alexander, Pilot Beverley Drakes, Dr David Hinds, Dr. Karen Godette and Dr. Joycelynn Loncke. The Honourable Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs, one of the awardees, will be the keynote speaker. Tickets for the event can be uplifted at HBTV Channel 9 on Mandela Avenue.