The apparent murder/dismemberment of Akeem Augustine may be an example of how the powerful and revered Garifuna culture is losing control of its young males. For some years it appeared that Garifuna youth in Belize City had entered the city’s gang culture, and then some years ago gang violence, seemingly linked to the drug trade, broke out in Dangriga, the culture capital itself.

In the 1999/2000 semi-pro football season, there was a participant team called Grigamandala, managed by the legendary Garrincha Adderly and sponsored by Kremandala. From our standpoint, the purpose of sponsoring the team was to move some youth out of the Mayflower/Banak (and Third World) area where the gang culture had become practically dominant in the middle/late 1990s.

I was bold enough to think I could save the best of these youth (which included the late Anthony “Trigga” Adderly, Garrincha’s nephew) from the grip of the gangs and move them in the direction of semi-pro football. (Incidentally, the late Deon “Pussy” Flowers, who came from Third World, was one of these Belize City youth who went to Dangriga to train under Garrincha’s direction.)

A very serious rivalry quickly developed between Grigamandala and Andrew “Pawpa” Brown’s Kulture Yabra, a city-based team which featured the superstar Tiliman Nunez, and that rivalry reached the stage where there was a huge bet on the return match (Kulture had won the first game at the MCC Garden, 2-1) in Dangriga.

When Grigamandala scored first early in the game, there was a gang-type reaction from a Kulture group, which appeared to threaten violence. There were some Grigamandala fans who felt that Kremandala had brought violence to their peaceful Dangriga. Perhaps they were right to feel the way they did, but it is for sure that things have changed in the last two decades.

History is important in Belizean sports, because the power structure made certain to wipe out certain facts and events. The Mayflower/Banak area reached a level of deterioration some years ago where relatives and neighbours were warring with each other. The police had to set up a permanent presence in Mayflower.

But, the history of Mayflower/Banak is that this is the area which produced the fabulous Berger 404 football team, sponsored by Ernest Black, managed by Lester “Bailar” Smith, and coached by the great Christobal Mayen. Before Berger 404, Bailar, a butcher at the Central Market, had organized a senior team called “Lakers” in basically the same area. (I remember “Youth” Humes, who also played briefly for my Diamond A squad in 1974.) Bailar, also called “Experience,” and “Sundance,” then acquired Mr. Black’s sponsorship, and then Stobal and Charro Bennett came on board. The mediocre Lakers became the spectacular Berger 404, which won the senior football title in 1975 and 1976. At this time, football was king in Mayflower/Banak. (Lisa Love’s father, Dulce, was a right wing on Berger 404.)

Trouble began in the Berger camp when Bailar found greener pastures and took his superstar stepson, Harrison “Ileman” Flowers, along with him to a new franchise called Marine & Services.

The following year, Bailar found even greener pastures in Orange Walk in the form of the Chito Mai vegetable family. Thus was born Chito’s Rangers. The young Berger 404 superstars, Fabian Rivero and Ricky Gongora, who had grown up in Berger 404, moved over to Chito’s Rangers.

You see the point I am trying to make. Football was king in Mayflower/Banak in the 1970s. The gangs took over in the middle/late 1990s.

Politically, this was the Collet constituency, represented by the late Harry Courtenay in the 1970s. The constituency was split up in 1984. Mayflower/Banak remained Collet, and was represented by the late Frank Lizama (UDP) in 1984, Remijio Montejo (PUP) in 1989, and Faith Babb (UDP) in 1993.

Why did these politicians not ensure that Mayflower/Banak remain as it was in the 1970s and not become what it became in the 1990s? This is the question our intellectuals must ask themselves as they try to untangle the violent confusion that Mayflower/Banak, and indeed most of the Southside City, have become.

When UBAD was founded on February 9, 1969, it was not a political organization: it was a cultural and educational movement. Lionel Clarke was elected president, but Clarke quickly abandoned UBAD and migrated to the United States. Myself, as vice-president, was forced to take charge.

My main focus was on educating our people about our history on the African continent before our kidnapping and enslavement five hundred years ago. I was pushed into politics, which was a bad decision on my part, because the ruling PUP arrested me for seditious conspiracy and tried me in the Supreme Court.

As bad as my decision was in 1970 to go political, it was the support of you, my faithful minority of supporters, which has enabled me to survive as a writer and raise my children. Because of your support, minority Belizeans, I had some value for the major political parties, from time to time. That is why I have always said: power to the people. Without your support, I would have been “wasted.” I thank you sincerely.

At the same time, beloved, we have buried too many of our youth. It is in the nature of young males to compete against each other. It was partly because sporting programs were destroyed in Belize City, that we have the bloody situation we have now. There are some people here who are innocent in their appearance, but who are essentially pursuing a genocidal purpose.