Candle in the Wind
Editorial
Stabroek News
June 12, 2004
"Your candle burned out long before/Your legend ever will."
This song was first written in 1973 as a tribute to Norma Jean Mortenson, better known as Marilyn Monroe, the legendary actress who died in 1962. Bernie Taupin penned the lyrics and Elton John wrote the music and the song debuted on John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. In 1997, John and Taupin rewrote the lyrics and dedicated the song to Princess Diana, who had just died. John performed it at her funeral and within a month, it became the biggest-selling single ever.
On Monday night, another candle flickered out in the wind. Nineteen-year-old Kenisha Baird's light never burned as brightly as Norma Jean's or Diana's. She may have been well known in the area where she lived and where she was crowned queen in a one of the hundreds of beauty pageants that have sprung up in Guyana over the past few years. Not many more people would have heard of her before her brief life ended during a fight, reportedly the result of jealousy over her winning the Miss Mocha Arcadia title. But she will long be remembered because of the ignominious events that led to her death.
Scandalously, it was reported that people in the vicinity of where the incident occurred formed a circle and egged the fight on, not caring it seems, that Baird was outnumbered three to one; unconcerned that the people fighting were young ladies who purported to be ambassadors of that village. Was there not one adult who could have raised his/her voice in dissent? Why did no one seek to shame these girls, who should have undergone 'pageant training' that ought to include decorum? And who cared that such behaviour would show the village in a poor light?
Passions have been known to run high in beauty pageants. Clearly, delegates know they must applaud the winner and appear to lose graciously. But even in the national and professional pageants, while contestants claim sisterhood, the undercurrents are obvious. There have been a few ugly incidents in the past among delegates and more than a few among supporters, but nothing of the magnitude witnessed on Monday night.
And then there is letter writer Vidyaratha Kissoon who has mistakenly sought to link the events of Monday night with, to quote him, "Gwendolyn O'Neil's triumph in the boxing ring." The young people who brawled on the road in Mocha on Monday night live in this society and are a reflection of it, as are the ones who shamelessly egged them on. However, this disgraceful incident has nothing at all to do with Ms O'Neil's chosen career.
Boxing is a contact sport of fighting with fists, with the aim of knocking out the opposing boxer, or inflicting enough punishment to cause the other boxer to quit or be judged defeated. It requires training and discipline to be a boxer and a special skill to be a champion. Boxing is conducted under controlled conditions in special arenas (boxing rings) with three judges and a referee present, and there are strict rules which must be followed.
Mr Kissoon has disappointingly attempted to belittle Ms O'Neil's feat of winning a championship title for Guyana by comparing what she did/does with the events of Monday night. Mr Kissoon might find women in boxing or in any kind of contact sport distasteful - fair enough. He has a right to his opinion. But Mr Kissoon purports to champion women's rights. Is it not then a double standard to turn around and be scathing about a woman's right to participate in a legitimate, internationally accepted sport, and one she excels at? Or is it that women can only be championed, if they fall into the 'mould'?
What we should all be doing, instead of seeking to apportion blame, is trying to ensure that Kenisha Baird's light somehow lives on. Let us hope that with time, chagrin and regret there will be healing and that this will be the first and last such incident.