(Editor’s note: Shafia London, the writer of this opinion piece, first published on Facebook, is wife of Grenville Williams, who, in 2015, bowed out of the race to become the Unity Labour Party’s candidate for South Leeward when he endorsed Thomas as the candidate.
Williams did not shake Thomas’ hand after endorsing him and as party supporters congratulated Thomas. Asked if he was pressured to endorse Thomas, Williams told iWitness News: “That is a question I will not answer, but I believe I made a decision in the best interest of the party and the best interest of the country.”)
By Shafia London
(First published on Facebook)
Lovely day to get up on a soap box! … let’s talk about that opinion article by the Speaker dated Nov. 1, 2019.
Mr Speaker, it is sadly entertaining to see how politics and arrogant lust for power could make the ugly in people show itself proudly. I guess the liberation that comes along with a keyboard, freedom of speech and untamed ambitions give some people the right to throw public tantrums due to a screwed up sense of reality and facts.
Resign if you must, write if you must but don’t go dragging others in the most egomaniacal and contemptuous way into your public tirade, thinking there would be no rebuttal. My husband maintains a dignified silence for which he continues to earn respect day after day. Me on the other hand, my unfettered tongue is a consequence of both nature and nurture especially when hypocrisy stares one in the face. I am troubled by the notion that emotion or pendulous political belief would trump objective reality.
Let me say here and now, that I currently have no real or disguised political affiliations with any of the political parties in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I do not hold your political resignation against you. I don’t even care for it but based on the social media feedback you earned the respect of some, some deemed you quitting instead of finding solutions as a propensity, while others rejoiced and said good riddance. It is your most recent writing dated Nov. 1,found on iWitness News as to why you resigned that has provoked the depths of my genomic structure and compels me to respond. Your most recent writing exemplifies the ignorance that contributes to corrupting the minds of the noble people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Your account of your short-lived career in electoral politics is painted with blatant inaccuracies, distortions and insensitivities of grandeur proportions such as:
1. In an iWitness News opinion piece dated Nov. 1, 2019, you said you were invited to join the ULP in 2013. While in a Searchlight newspaper opinion piece dated Nov. 3, 2006, mention is made of a ULP membership #5280 since 2005. This first singular but critical obscuring and obfuscation of the facts bores holes in your writing and even leads to a reasonable conclusion that “truth” might perhaps be an absent concept for all other parts of the account provided. As a known advocate of rights, you will agree that facts and truth are the constant pursuits of an enlightened citizenry, unshakable pillars recognized as cornerstones of democracy.
2. As a trained attorney, where Latin terminology abounds you may also be familiar with the phrase De mortuis nil nisi bene [dicendum] (“Of the dead, [say] nothing but good”) in other words it is inappropriate to speak ill of the dead and to ask them to speak their side from the grave. May their souls rest in peace. Your utterings on the two gentlemen who have passed display a character void of compassion and respect. I beg of you to resist the selfish impulse that drives venomous, one-sided and unproductive discourse against the dead.
3. You continue to rely on a questionable poll to stroke your ego. The odds of an outcome by flipping a coin are much higher than the reliability and accuracy of the historical predictions of that entity across the region. Is there one iota of credible evidence that such a survey was even conducted? If there was a poll, what percentage of persons were surveyed? How can someone who prides himself as being learned and erudite take the results of that poll to boost confidence evades many to this day.
4. You claim there was a “jaundiced, venomous and scurrilous barrage” against you. The ultimate “truth” remains a mystery. What we do know is you willingly joined a party, ran on their ticket blindsided by what appears to be egotistical and unbridled opportunistic ambitions. It is reported that you even claimed South Leeward was the easiest of constituencies to win. Perhaps your selection as a candidate was a checkmate political manoeuvre but ultimately you fell for it. Even Stevie Wonder could have seen that your chances of winning that seat were nil to none. Even from a biased lens, it was clear you treaded in unfamiliar territory, your political canvassing was cold and emotionless at best, lacked authenticity and when asked about your developmental plans for the constituency you shared none of substance. Your argument of not having support is flawed. Have you considered that perhaps you had a significant part to play in your defeat?
5. This impoverished victim script from which you now read is certainly more entertaining than that call you made to my home one Sunday morning when you pompously declared, “I am the superior candidate”. Ah! Don’t get it twisted, Mr. Speaker, it is very much entertaining when fowls come home to roost especially those seemingly infected with a superiority complex.
Mr. Speaker, when principles and philosophies become matters that can be negotiated depending on what powers can be attained then we are a ship tossed by a mere zephyr of selfish ambitions. At least the world no longer has to hypothesize about this callous demonstration of an exploit of circumstances to gain immediate advantage rather than being guided by consistent principles. Did blind ambition trump discernment and allow the plain truth to be put on public display? In your mental recall, I beg of you — check your reality math. Democracy requires plain and honest talk; let’s get back there, Mr. Speaker.
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Wow sour grapes I must say, this piece is loaded with venom.
Where do we go from here? Dung hill?
‘IMPOVERISHED VICTIM SCRIPT’ OR VICIOUS VERBOSE ATTACK
Agreed JB.
Venomous and contemptuous rhetoric.
Know that this is a world in which some people are ‘…disguised political sycophants.’
Not sure this could even be considered ‘…Soap Boxing.’
The writer, however, calls it ‘…Impoverished Victim Script’ [Paragraph 5].
More entertaining? N-a-ah.
More like a ‘…Vicious Verbose Attack’ on ‘Jomo.’
Both are better advised to leave the ‘…Plain Talk discussions and ‘…Impoverished Script’ it right there.
Yes venom void of gratitude to a “son of the soil” who sat in the chair of the sacred halls of Parliament as a profound Vincentian.Instead of lifting up our own we denigrate and hate for personal reasons. It is a sad thing indeed.
True. Jomo was having a terrible 2 weeks until this article appears. Politically, this article hands a rope to Jomo to climb out of that deep hole he dug himself into.
Writer comes off as condescending, scornful and plain hateful. Never touch a keyboard whenever you are upset and not in a calm state of mind.
Whenever a person is having a bad week, let public opinion deals with that person. Madam, you did not have to say a word.
Which costume you call this? Trick or treat? Lol.
What you call this costume? Trick or Treat? Lol
Both of these pieces are obviously written by highly educated persons, twas entertaining to see the way in which shades were thrown but for the love of Christ I beg of these people to use more familiar words and terms that common people like myself can easily understand what we’re reading without having to reach for the dictionary every 4 seconds while reading..Please!!
Wow…I’m confused. Where did this come from?
Shafia London, E.G. Lynch was your father. Correct?
You are also related to Margaret London., Correct?
Your husband is Arthur Williams’ son. Correct?
Now, you have political connections in the NDP and the ULP. Correct?
Are you going to be the ULP candidate?
Is your husband going to be the ULP candidate?
Please tell the public what happened before you went to work at the brewery!
Is it true that you operated a business at Heritage Square?
Where there issues and or complains of noise?
Were your political connections, and not your qualifications the required factors that brought you to the brewery?
Did your political connections assist with the issues of noise at Heritage Square?
Please tell the public about Shafia London and who is Shafia London!
I do believe that Jomo is a hypocrite, also, but remember that when you turn up the heat on Jomo, you may just get some heat yourself. Remember, I am not DEFENDING Jomo.
I am of the view, that your opinions in the above are very strategic and calculated.
I am making a very important point to you.
I hope you can take the heat.
Should you not be willing to take the heat, then you should stay out of the kitchen.
I can take the heat. I have been in the kitchen a longtime. I am immune to the heat. The devil will not accept me in hell since there is no room for me, and I am also immune to the heat.
Hell accepts hypocrites with open arms.
I am very fearless and courageous.
Ricardo Francis, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Waiting and in the Making.
MRS Williams.I think your attitude towards Mr Thomas is very much misguided.If it is base on the letters that on I witness.Frist you sound very porsnal and I never read any thing by Mr Thomas that mentioned any thing about your family.Your husband was the most popular among the ULP supporters.But it was not Mr Thomas who deny him that opportunity to represent the people of S L .Did he ark your husband to step down? No ” That was the time for your husband to prove himself because he had the support of the people.So the big fat man who deny him that opportunity you should pick a figh with he and I will help you and you have plenty reason to pick a figh with him.Jomo is not responsible for your Father death and your husband not been a candidate.Jomo naver rape no bady Jomo name naver call up with AIDS. Jomo May represent buller man but he is not a buller man.But some athem when they use to go to school was fat girl.That the reason they can’t find the good use of a woman.
Venom is by no doubt the ingredient to this arty piece, leaving nothing to the imagination. The political atmosphere has become too poisonous for resolution…..
I detect intentional malice in this response and the previous person JB correctly stated, it is loaded with venom to the extent that even the blind can see.
Ms London in the best interest of fairness, let the two cocks spar it out. In the end there will be a winner. A hen is an unwelcome party to the fight unless she changed her gender.
This article, just like the article from Mr Jomo Thomas, is of course an opinion told from the writer’s perspective. There seems to be very much that is accurate in both. It is true that Mr. Thomas is arrogant, as are so very many in politics, but it is also apparent that Jomo cares about SVG more than most all of the bigshots in the ULP. I have talked to Jomo Thomas on the street and I did not like his attitude at all, nor do I like much in his politics but he does seem to try to be fair and honest which is more than I can say about so many other politicians and people.
Politics is based on perception far more than on substance. That is why politics are so disgusting and generally reserved for deceptive, self-serving and disgusting people and not honorable or honest people. Jomo Thomas may be arrogant but he does not appear to be self-serving at all. Whatever anyone thinks of “leaders”, we need them to give us order in society. In the USA politics are far more corrupt than in SVG even though we are now being exposed to how tainted the selection process is in SVG, as it is in the USA. If you think it is bad in SVG I suggest you research how it is that “Crooked” Hillary won the Democratic Nomination over Bernie Sanders and see the recounts of the vote between Trump and Hillary. Then you will will realize our selection process is like church compared to the USA. The information I have mentioned in this comment should tell you that it is indeed rare that the best people become our “leaders”. In fact, the best normally always lose, and usually the longer any individual stays in “power” the worse it is for the country. There are things I really like and respect about Jomo even though there is much to dislike. He is hard-working, cares about the country and seeks to be honest. Best of all he has a strong sense of right and wrong and trys to do what is right; which makes him unsuitable for the corrupt world of politics and especially the ULP.
If you do not have the conscience to be able to “walk over corpses” you should not be in politics.
It is evident here that wifey left no stones unturned in getting back at Jomo. Jomo’s announcements have open up a can of snakes.
While the speaker is not real, the prime minister do the same thing to Jerrol Thompson who should have replaced him as P M.
They say that women can be particularly furious and emotional when angry and in this, JOMO appears to be on the receiving end of a most furious tirade. This young woman has gone some way in explaining why she is so profoundly angry with him, but is she justified?
It is further said that “Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn’d, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn’d.”! But WHAT SAYS poor JOMO to all this? Will he now come out with a broken Bat?
Is this young woman a left arm spinner, bowling Jomo this invective diatribe in a Chinaman spin or Is JOMO being bowled a surprising unexpected underhanded Googly, perhaps even a Yorker or is there more to this outburst than that which this most angry young woman was willing to disclose in her impassioned polemic rant?
Is SVG a real place? I am beginning to have doubts.The toxicity is palpable.
MRS Williams how are you doing. Blessings to you and your family.your husband have some thing that other ULP Man don’t have.A great and beautiful well educated and ambitious wife.And he him self is a well educated man . The ULP have treated he and Mr Thomas the same.So you all should do like Mr Thomas and quite the party.And live for God.let him get the better part of you all life.
Its all very well mounting your soap box, as long as it doesn’t turn around and mount you, as it seems to have done.
Dear Lady, if I may be permitted to call you that without bringing the wrath of hatred from your critics, bred from the truth about yourself.
You certainly do show yourself as being what is technically known as a dork. Your husband is in my reckoning, also a meathead. You most certainly deserve each other and have both been shafted at some time or other, in one way or another, into believing in the comrade being your faux bro, when, in fact, he is far from that.
Your father was a brilliant man of the airwaves but was hounded to death by your shaftor, and you, the shaftee, did nothing to assist your father in fighting against his aggressor. The aggression against your dad started long before the radio sessions ever started.
You and your husband have been betrayed by the ‘One Phat Pratt Shafter Extraordinaire.’ While your father has been shafted by you all and must roll in his grave every time he thinks of your relationship with the Shafter.
Gonsalves takes advantage of people’s weaknesses, and he saw a flaw in you and your husband and took advantage of that. You are both expendable and were not thrown under the bus by Jomo Thomas; you were thrown under the bus by Ralph Gonsalves, you were then driven over by the official Phatt Pratt car, which backed up several times to drive over you both several times more.
James H, I am not sure it’s the scorned woman syndrome; otherwise, the Phat Pratt would have had some of that as well. I think she may be one of those that thrive from morn until dawn on the scorn.
Goumba Smith, you change your first name, and we will tailor our words to accommodate your ignorance.
Well, Shafia the shafted, I am somewhat astounded by your support for Ralph Gonsalves, your father’s funeral certainly exposed you as a lame lapped daughter.
Are you still at the brewery, are they aware that you are writing such letters and bringing scorn on yourself which must certainly rub off onto your employers?
I am sure your father told you that your name means “The Healer” he even got that wrong about you, didn’t he?
By the way, Shaftia, Jomo Thomas, was chosen by Ralph because he needed to apply some control over him; and found he couldn’t have total control, so he dumped him again. But having said that, he was Ralphs superior choice between himself and Grenville Williams. Grenville would have lost the seat as well by greater numbers, but his personality would have never allowed him to be Speaker of the House as a secondary reward, Ralph would never have made that choice. Ralph E Gonsalves the master of political foolery.
Although I am not a fan of Jomo’s ideologies and rhetoric….Jomo challenging the party’s system of doing things have invoked all the impurities of the party….Jomo should now talk out all the secrets of the party and ruffle some more feathers…its time enough that people S.P.E.A.K U.P
I have known Shafia for quite a while. Remember years ago when she was featured speaker at our school graduation. I never knew she was capable of writing without saying much. This piece is EMPTY and far below what I expected at the outset. MRs Williams would have been so much better off maintaining a dignified silence.
Dignified Silence AGAIN! Your husband lost his tongue, why can he nit speak for himself? Shafia, who gives a shit how you feel. You, like Jomo and your husband are all opportunists. All of you want to get ahead, feathering your nests at the expense of Vincentians. Stop being a hypocrite.
I am thoroughly disappointed by the amount of hatred and yes venom that comes out of this article. Some of these matters are supposed to be of a personal nature and should have been treated as such, this unfortunately says more about the writer than it says about Jomo. Plus you claim to be unaffiliated to any political party yet your husband is clearly a “high up” in the ULP and you have rushed to destroy the gentleman who was his main competition for candidacy. Is this revenge?
Everything is relevent
https://www.iwnsvg.com/2014/03/24/the-blackest-pm-in-st-vincent/
https://www.iwnsvg.com/2014/07/20/gonsalves-booed-at-eg-lynchs-funeral-video/
so is this
https://www.iwnsvg.com/2016/10/16/jomo-thomas-beats-pm-gonsalves-over-the-head/
It is truly amazing to see someone start an article writing about themselves and their own political ambitions and then turn on someone else. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that […] Grenville could not stand up to Jomo Thomas. It is unfortunate that Jomo seems to be eating away at your very soul by simply existing, but Shafia you have far bigger issues to deal with than Jomo. The ULP knew your husband was a liability, you know it too. Sorry that your political aspirations and that of your husband was killed when you obviously thought you were so close to becoming a Minister’s wife. Do you or your husband plan to run in the upcoming elections or are you both begging to become Speaker of the House in the few months that remain. Get the bitterness out of your heart and commit to healing and ridding yourself of the blight in your life maybe then you might prove to be someone worthy of the political office you seem to desperately crave. Green is not a good colour for you, shake it off before you become the Grinch that stole your own life. Focus on liberating your self from the mess that you are in because many of us out here believe you could do so much better for yourself .
ShIfia you did not come to the rescue of your father when he needed you nost. This speaks volumes about you as a,daughter. The old adage that charity begina at home. Now tell us how you got the job at the brewery? When there were several candidates interviewed,
This writer is certainly not an english major. Throwing a lot of big words at a page is not writing. Ever heard of the phrase” efficient writing is effective writing?’ . What I read is marathon being run over a mountain range where a few footsteps could have been used to tell Jomo he is full of it.
While we are at it, go look up the meaning of “economy of words”.
My grade C-
LMAO ….SMH
Well its undisputed facts by now that no rebuttal is need by Jomo himself lol