“Whatever might be is simply not there: only murmurs, ripples, in the dark, in the night.”
This is how the beginning of the universe is described by the sacred book of our grandparents, the Popul Vuh. This story of creation tells us that to be able to create this world our great grandparents joined their minds, thoughts and spirits. Their story teaches us that the power to create and transform the world lie in coming together in all our diversity and engaging in collective action.
We believe that now is the time to join our minds, thoughts and spirits to be able to transform Belize. We know that we can make Belize and the world more caring, more just, and more respectful. We cannot pretend that all is fine, or that we cannot do anything about the current state of affairs. Our children and our children’s children deserve better. We owe them a better Belize; a better world.
Sisters and Brothers of Belize, now that our milpas have been planted, we take this opportunity to talk to you about the need to transform Belize. We express our solidarity with your everyday struggles. We have always believed that our struggle, the fight for a dignified life, is no different from the struggles of too many Belizeans. It is in this spirit that we write. We want to let everyone know, especially our leaders, that we, as Maya Belizeans and Children of the Creator, are not simply fighting for special rights. Belizeans are not simply fighting for decent jobs, or simply for a caring and responsible healthcare system, the right to plant food, or the freedom to walk our streets without fear of being gunned down. What we are all really fighting for is a dignified life, one full of respect, and flooded by justice and truth. Our collective struggle is to construct a more democratic and more inclusive Belize.
On September 21, 1981, Belize celebrated the end of tyranny and slavery and rejoiced in its freedom, equality, justice and independence—or so we thought. Our Constitution affirmed this nation was to be founded on principles which acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity of every human person, faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms, the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions, the dignity of the human person and the equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the human family are endowed by their Creator.
Almost 33 years later, we still have much of that promise to make real and deliver to the children of our children’s children. In 2014 women and men choose to suffer pain and anguish rather than visit our public hospitals since they fear their prescription will mean certain death. Our young black men in the poorer sides of town die in cold blood. Citizens who demand good behavior from their elected leaders are frustrated by the very justice system itself. Black men who want to become farmers are denied those rights. People who have lived and farmed in peace are evicted off their lands by private companies with the approval of the Government. Caretakers of key services in the public sectors are overlooked. Our resources are being handed out to those with the splashiest projects, or to the companies that are willing to trample on Belizeans, all in the name of development. Meanwhile, our children go to bed with little in their stomachs. And where their efforts become graduations, they find themselves unemployed.
We must realize that when we have a dignified life we can achieve more for ourselves, for our country and the world. When we have a dignified life we can stop fighting over the crumbs of development. When we have a dignified life we can stop worrying for our bare survival and dedicate our lives to growing food, to service, to the arts, to community, to thought, to entrepreneurship, to faith, to democracy, to justice, and to freedom. This is the Belize we fight for; a fight for a dignified life for every Belizean. Wherever there is injustice, it becomes a threat to the dignified life we seek and cherish. We cannot pretend that everything is fine. More importantly, we cannot become conformists or defeatists and believe that we can do nothing to change the current state of affairs. It is in joining our minds, thoughts and spirit in all our diversity that we can create and achieve what simply is not there in 2014.
As Maya people our struggle is the same as many Belizeans. We simply want a dignified life. Central to the dignified life is the right to remain on our lands which we have inherited from our great grandparents, something we will never give up. We want to maintain ownership of our culture and our resources. We want timely, appropriate and high quality services which respect our people and culture. We want to be respected, consulted, and asked for permission to come onto our lands. We want our traditional leaders – our Alcaldes – to be respected and consulted on issues that affect us as a people. We want to be the owners and producers of our history; not a history produced by the government and experts who fragment it. And whosoever is interested in a relationship with us needs to treat us as equals. The above is not asking much. Every Belizean has a right to these basic demands. Every Belizean can and should demand and assert these rights.
As Maya people, we continue to work hard and do our part to develop Belize and the world. Our way of life as Mayas continues to contribute to the development and uniqueness of Belize. We do dream of a better Belize and want to be part of that dream. We aspire to have our children become the farmers, doctors, attorneys, artists, nurses, soldiers, policemen, thinkers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and all other professions that Belize needs. We do this as Maya people with the dignity and freedom endowed to us by our Creator and enshrined in the Belize Constitution and international law. However, when our dreams, the security of our homes, our lands, and our resources are threatened by our government’s failure to recognize our inherent rights as a people, we are obligated to stand firm to demand justice and protect dignity. Not only does it threaten our wellbeing and our capacity to contribute to the development of Belize, but it threatens the very foundation of our dear country.
We, the Maya people, are committed to building a more inclusive, democratic, just, free and dignified Belize as promised by the Constitution. Our struggle is a central part of that commitment. It is part of the struggle that will make tangible the Independence celebrated in 1981. Though the dream of making Belize and the world more caring, just and respectful, can be a lifetime project, if we all did practical and simple acts we can harvest its fruits earlier, rather than later. We can all teach our children, family, and neighbours, the value of respect for all human beings, respect for our ancestors, and respect for Mother Earth. We can also teach them the value of principles such as honesty, integrity, empathy, solidarity, and all that can improve our quality of life in community.
These simple acts, Sisters and Brothers, can transform Belize and the world and can go far in providing us all a dignified life.
This struggle is not only ours; it’s yours! This commitment is not only ours; it’s yours! From the cold streets of south-side Belize City, to the quiet plains of the North, to the hushed mountains of the West and to the deepest jungle of the Sarstoon-Temash we must rise up, join hands and walk Belize on the path of a caring, just, respectful and dignified tomorrow.
As the Maya creation story teaches us, it is in joining our minds, thoughts, and spirit that we can create what is not there today.
In solidarity, we stand: the Maya People of Southern Belize.