“True knowledge can know no boundaries. Propaganda, by contrast, must be very selective with the facts. Blacks … must master the dominant bodies of knowledge even as they fight for the inclusion of worthy black knowledge.”
– pg. 23, introduction, THE END OF BLACKNESS, by Debra J. Dickerson, Random House, Inc. 2004.
Belizeans, you have to listen closely to stats right now, because we are at a very critical point in our history. You heard what Dr. Jim Cavanaugh, the geologist and petroleum expert, said to us last Wednesday night. Belize can become the nation with the highest standard of living in Central and South America. It’s not yours truly or anyone else from Partridge telling you that.
I give respect to Dr. Gilbert Canton, the chief executive of Belize Natural Energy (BNE), for standing up and facing a hostile audience at Bishop Sylvestre Center. While Dr. Canton, the former head of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and a nephew of the PUP’s Leader Emeritus, has very friendly relations with the Said Musa/Ralph Fonseca administration, it was not as if he was directly representing the Government of Belize.
The man who was supposed to represent GOB at the oil forum, the director of Geology and Petroleum, was a no-show. He was instructed not to appear by the relevant politician(s). No one can tell me otherwise.
On Partridge Street, we are used to this kind of disrespect from ruling politicians, so we were not shocked when Mr. Cho backed out the day before the forum. In fact, we were half-expecting Dr. Canton himself to make a last minute excuse. (The University of Belize’s Dr. Joe Iyo had excused himself earlier.)
But from the get go, we knew that Cavanaugh, white man or not, was our man. Alone, Dr. Cavanaugh would have been enough to make our day. We knew this because for months we had been reading his material in Trevor Vernon’s and Karla Heusner Vernon’s now defunct INDEPENDENT REFORMER.
In the beginning, Yaya had her reservations, because Kremandala is, after all, a black conscious institution. In fact, Dr. Cavanaugh told Yaya when she contacted him, he had been surprised when Amandala printed a couple of his articles on the Belizean oil industry.
Our understanding is that the Spanish Lookout community, which is almost all Mennonite, had hired Dr. Cavanaugh to represent their interests in discussions and negotiations with BNE and GOB. This was how his articles began appearing in the Vernons’ newspaper.
I told Yaya after the oil forum, that Wednesday night provided a perfect example of the limits of black nationalism. We black Belizeans know next to nothing about oil. The man who had the information and the knowledge was a white man whom we barely knew. In fact, the ruling PUP launched a late personal attack on Dr. Cavanaugh, seeking to undermine the credibility of his presentation. You can’t let race stand in your way when you are looking to educate yourself. Knowledge has no ethnicity. In fact, for the first time in the history of the Mennonites and of Kremandala, our interests coincided.
The subject of oil was hot, and it was controversial. People from the Association of Concerned Belizeans (ACB) warned Yaya that her presenters would begin to drop out. Apparently, this type of experience is what had discouraged ACB, an organization which had held several public forums on topical issues, but which has not been forum active for many months.
Belizeans have to begin seeking out any and all Belizeans abroad who have knowledge about geology and petroleum. We cannot depend on the politicians, because they, except for the late Philip, always sell us out for campaign donations.
The politicians here, from both major parties, have known for more than four decades that there is oil in Belize. You would have thought they would have gotten some Belizeans qualified in geology and petroleum engineering. No, all the studies financed by Belize governments have been about law and business and hospitality management. Those disciplines are not going to make us rich, Belizeans. Oil is.
This is a big, big issue. You heard what Dr. Cavanaugh said. GOB didn’t want you to hear that. During the time I was at the forum, I saw only one Opposition UDP standard bearer, Pickstock’s Wilfred Elrington. The morning after the oil forum I heard one of the UDP’s radio announcers say that everything that was said Wednesday night, WAVE had already revealed to Belizeans.
I wish the political media would understand something. The people who read your material and who listen to you, are your political partisans, in the main. Your audience is limited. That is because your perspectives are one-sided. Your perspectives are dictated by Mr. Musa and Mr. Barrow. You are political propagandists. There is nothing criminal about that. But when you are a person who sings for your supper, remember this. If you are too young to remember, then get the sense of it. Where you see we are on Partridge Street, used to be total mangrove swamp. It was the power of the Belizean people that built this s—t. Don’t be running off your mouths as if you are anything more than some politician’s echo. Respect is due Partridge.
Power to the people.