Legendary Guyanese Hero Eusi Kwayana Passes
Haiti and the world have lost a great and principled friend, yon gwo mapou, Eusi Kwayana!!! Haiti Action Committee extends our deepest sympathies to the Kwayana family, relatives, friends, and the people of Guyana.
Eusi stood against the kidnapping/coup d’etat of February 2004 and never stopped working in solidarity with the people of Haiti. At the age of 99 years, Eusi joined the May 2024 Day of Solidarity with Haiti with a one-day hunger strike. The revered elder announced his act of solidarity with the following message: “In response to Haiti Action Committee’s call for a Day of Solidarity with Haiti on May 18, I have decided to observe a short symbolic hunger strike on liquids only from midnight on Friday 17th May to midnight on Saturday 18 May in solidarity with hungry children and their guardians in Haiti and Palestine. Please be free to use this information in any way you think to deepen the spirit of solidarity. From Eusi Kwayana”
Brother Eusi’s exemplary life of principled struggle, solidarity, and passion for justice will forever be in our hearts.
From the press release issued following his death:
Honouring the Life and Legacy of Eusi Kwayana
With deep gratitude and celebration of a life, we formally announce the passing of Brother Eusi Kwayana, beloved Guyanese elder, educator, writer, cultural producer, whose practice of Pan-Africanism entailed an equally unwavering commitment to solidarity across communities, cultures, and faiths. He was a lifelong advocate for equal rights and justice for African, East Indian,Indigenous, women and the young in Guyana, and vulnerable communities everywhere.
Brother Eusi’s commitment to anticolonial liberation, independence, cultural dignity and community solidarity have shaped generations in Guyana, the Caribbean and the world. His life offered apowerful example of principled struggle, humility and passion for justice in all possible forms and across all differences.
Gatherings to honour Brother Eusi’s life and legacy will take place from October 30 – November 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and from November 13-15 in Guyana. A detailed program forBrother Eusi’s homecoming in Guyana will follow.
These groundings, celebrating a life in the spirit of “don’t mourn, organise”, are being planned collectively and collaboratively by family, friends, comrades and community members within andoutside Guyana, in keeping with Brother Eusi’s life ethos of shared purpose and collective action.
For further information, and for interviews, please contact:
Iyabo Kwayana: ikwayana@gmail.com
Wazir Mohamed: wazirmoh@gmail.com; 1(765) 994-7148 (WhatsApp)
Alissa Trotz: datrotz@gmail.com
