LAUNCHING PASSIONATE ADVOCATE
INTRODUCTION AND THANKS "MarkTwain WHAT LUCK. .when that fellow
speaks I always find myself standing."
• I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE DISCOVERED LORD ANTHONY,
GIFFORD HERE IN MY LIFETIME AND TO HAVE BECOME HIS FRIEND
o This WEEK MARKS MY 90TH YEAR UPON THIS EARTH AND IT IS
THE MEMORIES OF SUCH FRIENDSHIPS THAT SWEETENS LIFE
o WHEN FOLKS,CHIEFLY WOMEN ASK ME,"HOW DO YOU GROW
OLD SO GRACEFULLY? I USUALLY REPLY,"MY DEAR LADY, I
GIVE ALL MY TIME TO IT."
RAISED IN THE STATUS OF A PRIVELEGED CHILDHOOD ANTHONY GIFFORD
VERY EARLY DEVELOPED THE ATTITUDE OF QUESTIONING AUTHORITY
AND THE RULING ESTABLISHMENT. REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE
PRIVELEGES OF COMFORT IN A CONSERVATIVE SOCIETY HE FOLLOWED
NORMS OF HIS OWN AND PIONEERED PRACTICE THAT INVARIABLY FOUND
HIM CHAMPIONING THE CAUSE OF THE OPPRESSED AND THE OFT
FORGOTTEN MASSES OF HIS TIME.
• FOR MANY YEARS. I HAVE SEEN AND HEARD HIM WORKING ON
VARIOUS CONTINENTS.
• HE ADDRESSED MANY AT THE FIRST PANAFRICAN CONFERENCE ON
REPARATIONS IN LAGOS, NIGERIA IN 1991.1 HEARD HIM AT DURBAN
AT THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON RACISM„XENOPHOBIA
AND OTHER RELATED SUBJECTS. TONY RAISED THE ISSUE ON THE
LIABILITY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR SLAVERY IN THE HOUSE
OF LORDS,LONDON. HE HAS SPOKEN IN GHANA„THE U.S.A.,SOU TH
AMERICA AND ELSEWHERE .WE ALSO FOUND HIM IN COLONIAL
AFRICA ASSISTING THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN ANGOLA. WHERE
HE JOINED HANDS WITH THOSE WASHING AWAY THE COLONIAL
ORDER WITH BUCKETS OF BLOOD, WITNESSING THE AGONISING
BIRTH PAINS OF A GENUINELY POST COLONIAL DEMOCRATIC
ORDER. HE AGREES WITH THOSE OF US WHO ARE CONVINCED THAT
IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE IMPERIALISM AND RACISM
WILL BECOME EXTINCT... THIS CONVICTION LED HIM FROM SUCH
VENUES AS IN LONDON WHERE HE ESTABLISHED
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLONIAL STUDENTS ENABLING THEM TO
GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN THEIR PROFESSION.
• LORD GIFFORD ILLUSTRATES THAT THE ONLY CURE FOR
INJUSTICE IS JUSTICE. HE HAS CONSISTENTLY BATTLED AGAINST
INJUSTICE WITH A WARRIOR'S HEART AND EMERGED AS A CLEAR
SYMBOL AND FORCE OF THE ANTI-COLONIAL STRUGGLES AROUND
THE WORLD.
o BUT TO REVEAL AND ILLUSTRATE TO YOU THE REAL TONY
GIFFORD ,THE PERSISTENT ,COURAGEOUS AND PASSIONATE
ADVOCATE I WOULD LIKE TO QUOTE TO YOU A SHORT
EXCERPT FROM THE MAN HIMSELF.. HE WAS ADDRESSING HIS
KITH AND KIN IN THE VERY HEART OF THE WHITE
COMMUNITY AT BROWN'S UNIVERSITY IN RHODE ISLAND,
U.S.A.
"BOTH WHITE AND BLACK SOCIETIES ARE SICK FROM THE
CONSEQUENCES OF SLAVERY.
BLACK SOCIETIES AROUND THE WORLD ARE ECONOMICALLY SICK,
DEPRIVED OF LAND,PSYCHOLOGICALLY MADE TO FEEL INFERIOR.
WHITE SOCIETIES ARE SPIRITUALLY SICK, DEPRIVED OF SOUL.
PSYCHOLOGICALLY INFECTED WITH RACIAL PREJUDICE.
I ADVOCATE THE CAUSE OF REPARATION BECAUSE A JUST SOCIETY
WHICH FACES THE HORRORS OF THE PAST IS A HAPPIER SOCIETY FOR ME
AS WELL AS FOR YOU.-
THAT IS THE TONY GIFFORD THAT I HAVE KNOWN AND HAVE BEEN
PROUD TO WORK WITH.
IT IS INDEED MY PLEASURE TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE
YOU TO THIS PASSIONATE ADVOCATE.
BUT THERE IS MORE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO GIVE YOU A FULLER
PICTURE OF THE MAN AND HIS WORK..
IN HIS MANNERS, HIS WRITINGS, HIS LECTURES HIS EVERYDAY
CONVERSATION AND OBSERVATIONS HE DEMONSTRATES A CLEAR
UNDERSTANDING AND DEEP INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE AND CONDITION OF
TUE OPPRESSED,OF THE DEPRIVED,ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE FELT
THE HARSH HEEL OF IMPERIALISM IN ALL ITS FORMS. '
IT IS REMARKABLE AND FORTUNATE THAT DURING HIS EARLY
YEARS AS A LAWYER HE FELT THE URGE TO CHALLENGE AUTHORITY
AND TO CHAMPION THE CAUSES OF THE NEEDY AND OPPRESSED. .THAT
HE HAS COTINUED THIS DEDICATION THROUGH THE YEARS AND IN
VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD MARKS LORD GIFFORD OUT AS AN
EXCEPTIONAL MAN EVEN AMONG DISTINGUISHED MEN. .HE NEVER LOST
FAITH IN HIS ULTIMATE SUCCESS.
WE CAN CONSIDER OURSELVES FORTUNATE THAT HE DECIDED TO
LIVE IN JAMAICA AND TO BECOME A JAMAICAN. WITHOUT A DOUBT WE
CAN SAY THAT HE HAS BEEN AN ASSET TO OUR COUNTRY.EDUCATED IN
ENGLAND AND PRACTICED AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OVERSEAS LORD
GIFFORD BROUGHT SOMETHING TO THIS ISLAND. HE HAS MADE AND
CONTINUE TO MAKE A VALID AND PERMANENT CONTRIBUTION TO
MANKIND IN THIS CENTURY.
THIS BOOK THE PASSIONATE ADVOCATE WHICH IS A MUST,
COMPELLABLE READING FOR THOSE WHO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER YOUR
INDIVIDUAL PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD WILL REMOVE LORD ANTHONY
GIFFORD'S ADVOCACY FROM UNDER THE BUSHEL OF IGNORANCE INTO
THE LIGHT OF THOSE WHO STRIVE FOR A BETTER WORLD.
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