An important part of Belizean history died this morning in New York City with the passing of Leigh Richardson. He was a strong and brave man who stood up for his people in the early, revolutionary People’s United Party.
Along with the Philip Goldson (deceased), Mr. Richardson, who was the half-brother of UBAD’s own Edgar X Richardson (deceased), served nine months in prison in 1951 in British Honduras. He was convicted on a sedition charge created by the British colonial authorities.
When the PUP’s first Leader, Johnny Smith, went into voluntary exile in the United States, Richardson became the PUP’s second Leader, leading the party to its first great national political victory in 1954.
In 1956, Mr. Richardson was overthrown as PUP Leader in a putsch at Riverside Hall led by Mr. George Price, who thereupon became the PUP’s third and greatest Leader.
Along with Mr. Goldson, Mr. Richardson then formed the Honduran Independence Party (HIP) in 1957, but by the following year he went into his own exile in Trinidad, where he worked as a journalist for many years.
Leigh Richardson had been living in New York for some years, and had been ailing for some time.
During the September Celebrations this year, the UDP government honored Mr. Richardson (in absentia) at the ceremonies for Belizean patriots.
For his own reasons, Leigh Richardson never publicly discussed his years and his role in the early PUP, and, although he was a journalist, he never published any material about those historic years between 1950 and 1956. We wish, of course, that he had.
Between 1950 and 1956, Mr. Leigh Richardson was a genuine Belizean hero, and we therefore honor him at his passing. Amandala expresses deep sympathy to the family and friends of the late Leigh Richardson. May he rest in peace.