Black ? History ? Month?

Part I

The only time Belize seems to give any attention to blackness is when an eye- witness or a newscaster belches out the description of a suspect or when we breathe a transient sigh of relief as some nappy headed south-sider skips out of the pan of a CIB truck to play the “dodge the camera” game with court reporters. Truthfully, the last gasping for some intellectual and constructive branding of blackness in Belize was the marginal tokenism of the Belize Black Summit and even that is now lost under the clutter of distant memories of September 2003.

Yes. I dare say marginal because apart from the romantic novelties of that imported North American concept which temporarily pacified the conscience of accomplished people of color in Belize, it left no identifiable plan, relief, or impact on the quicksand of issues and common challenges swallowing its target population.  If it was a start, then its ending followed shortly thereafter.

Fast forward to the recent CABO ceremonies, which was snubbed by locals and again left no “lifeline” to answer the million dollar question of impending black demise.

Now, the current identifiable swat at the issues is a de facto one. Recently there has been the introduction of a traveling gypsy show headed by a Jamaican intellectual whose act was spawned in a country where  results are less important than the breathing space it gives to alarmists and devious politicians to claim that “we are trying something”. Stats and fancy talk are the cheapest ways to sedate the masses but where is the success story in Jamaica? Where is the proof that this miracle works?  Where is the bully beef, Doc?

I no fraid fi seh, it is a de facto exercise in taming out-of-control blackness because as I understand it the study being conducted is not directed at any specific race of males but for certain the  ‘whitelime’ tagging of  “Male Social Participation and Violence Study in Belize” is  nothing but a euphemism for black juvenile delinquency.  It is insulting to have the response of “well anything is better than just sitting around”. Crime is a fixture of social interaction; check Eve in the very first book of the Bible. No one is going to take me for a ride. My mom always taught me never to go shopping for groceries when hungry.

I would be kinder to this study if it were being done by an NGO or some human rights organization but this smells like a commercial venture to me. Crime is an industry. Policemen, reporters, bail bonds men and of course a pack of lawyers, feast on the fears and helplessness of a seized society. How much is Gayle collecting? We should know because black males need answers not statistics and manifestly obvious observations. Stop play, boss.

I am willing to bet my left “Zenaida” that nothing will come of this study.

Pessimism is not a bad thing especially in this case. What made me think “hmmmnn!?!??”- and to ‘barrow’ a strictly personal description – “bogus”, was when I heard the Doc say on national tv: “The gang members I have spoken to here, all of them have already killed a family member. We’re not even saying a few of them you know, all of them have already killed a family member.”

What, big man? We nuh fool. Either you interviewed a total of two males or your entire sample group is feeding you a pack-bread full sensational lies. And trust me, we saw the ‘made for TV” documentary that paid Ross Kemp for his painting of Belize as the Central American Rwanda.

Trust me, Belize has become no Garden of Eden but listen to the language of these people. Imagine – Kemp said, “In Belize City I met one gang who are incredibly violent, they’re all killers. I’m not talking about the odd hit, I’m talking about killing ten to 15 people, shooting children.” Now hold it down big man. When did this 15 hit murder happen? I am no mathematician, but look here, if that gang has more than 20 members (we all know they do) and each kills 15, even at different times the year statistics for murder would be, I don’t know, 300 murders. Chuups!!!!!!!! Stop it, unu wah give Jefferies wah Missa Davis heart attack.

These guys remind me of what happens in Belize when your house is burning down. People come out of nowhere and start to “help” take your belongings out of the house. But in all the confusion, and the trauma of the situation, you don’t even realize when “the owner” takes your stove and tv. Something stink, and da no kennel wata.

And yes. It is black history month. So what? Well in my opinion there are but a few things haunting black males, none of them excusable. But who can be surprised at the lack of identity and belonging that eats away at black- at- risk males when they do not know who they are, and no one teaches them who they are or  even what masculinity means.

It is not about the crime statistics or the fish pond game for nolle prosequi, it is a dangerously misguided, BET-hypnotized, and Mavado-indoctrinated group of boys that are isolated and unprepared. Whose fault is that? Hold up, we no get deh yet, boss.

I was despondent this month to notice that no one, not even one entity has launched any meaningful campaign for this month. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Black History month is a North American construct but black consciousness or absent mindedness is a challenge in Belize. In fact, it is the challenge in Belize.  No one has tried, not CABO, not the Garifuna Council, not the Creole Council, none of the private sector black organizations. No seminars, no workshops, no museum shows, no local documentaries. Nothing, boss! Nothing! Nope, none of the commercial or business groups have had any promotions or frilly decorations for black history month. Not even an ad in the newspapers. Probably they think that blacks get enough news time already as crime stats.

In ranting this week, I am reminded that we have a pluralistic society, a multicultural tapestry of stakeholders. Black History month is maybe even “artificial”. But the question is when do we stop to say to black youths “know your past” and it did not begin when Goal Lane housed shackles and not neck ties. Forget a Black History month. Maybe I am asking too much. When will there be a “History history” month?

What about the rich history of blacks? What about all the black inventors? When will the story of Alejo Beni, TV Ramos, Malcolm X, Madiba, Mr. Price, Mr. Goldson, Martin Luther King, Marcus Canul, Rosa Parks, the truth of the Haitian and Cuban Revolutions? When will Belize stop telling the fable told by white settlers of the Baymen? As the African proverb warns: ‘Until the lions produce their own historian, the story of the hunt will glorify the hunter.’

Our young males don’t know they are. Their rite of passage is how soon they can “breed a juvie”, how many “hydro” they can smoke, how many times they can go to the “piss house”, how many people they want to “merk” and how many “two dollars volume wine” they can slug down.

Now if you think this is a dismissible race thing and a commentary on how the Southside Chicken Little sky has fallen then you have not been watching the news or paying attention to the graffiti as you drive to Benque or Corozal. The trans-boarder influx of MS13 and other narrow nosed gangs are building momentum. The reality is that the only reason we have not given it a proper eyebrow raising is because it has not reached the endemic levels of Southside Belize City. The sad part is that we are losing a war and failing to capitalize on valuable lessons that we will be forced to apply to other non-south side black groups… (to be continued)

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