Today, Monday, January 19, 2009, marks the first anniversary of the passing of Garifuna musician, educator and cultural ambassador Andy Palacio, 47.
Palacio’s death last January after multiple strokes touched a nation and elevated him to the status of a near-national hero – which he is already to his people, the Garinagu of Stann Creek and Toledo.
This past Saturday, January 17, the foundation established in his name held a memorial mass of celebration at the St. Martin De Porres Roman Catholic Church at the corner of Vernon and Partridge Streets in Belize City.
Not even the threat of rain, or an unusually cool Saturday afternoon for this time of year, could keep away the crowd.
The mass was celebrated by Fathers Callistus Cayetano, Oliver Smalls and Larry Nicasio and attended by a packed house of Palacio admirers, some Garifuna, some of other ethnicities, but united, as Fr. Cayetano noted in his homily, by Palacio’s gift of music, dance and his ability to unite the nation.
The mass was sung primarily in Garifuna, with rich Garifuna renditions of English Christian rites performed by the Garifuna Choir, members of the Garifuna Collective Band Palacio led before his death, and special guests, the Pantempters Steel Band, led by Carlos Perrote.
Beginning at 5:00 p.m., after the end of the mass, Gwen Nunez Gonzalez hosted a one-hour memorial of Andy Palacio in the same venue. Featured performers included Pantempters, Adrian “The Doc” Martinez, Evani Neal (nephew of broadcaster William Neal) whose stunning rendition of Andy’s hit “Watina” (the title track of his final CD) brought the crowd to its feet; and Andy’s son Kamau performing “Amunegu”.
Raphael Martinez, a Palacio family friend, introduced some of his relatives who attended the ceremony, including his sons and daughter Kami, and various nieces and nephews (his mother Cleofa is ailing in Barranco, Toledo District).
Among those giving tributes were Raphael Martinez, president of the National Garifuna Council, Ernest Castro, and the Radisson Hotel’s Jim Scott.
The Foundation is sponsoring a beluria, or “nine nights” celebration in Palacio’s hometown of Barranco concluding next Saturday, January 24, with all-night drumming and dancing. The celebration, according to Garifuna elder Sebastian Cayetano, is intended to intercede with Andy Palacio’s spiritual ancestors to guide him safely to paradise.
Saturday’s mass was co-sponsored by the National Institute for Culture and History (NICH), the Blissfulsage Foundation, and the Image Factory.