Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Whenever you see a picture of the Hon. Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson, or if you heard him speak in person or in recordings or on film, you are struck by how humble he seems. His voice, his demeanor, were very unassuming. He carried himself with a quiet grace, almost a shyness about him. Another person that was like that was Mahatma Ghandi, whose mild-mannered demeanor the British mistook for passivity, until they felt the wrath of his words and his followers! Mr. Goldson inspired that same vigor and patriotism in the hearts of his followers, in the hearts of most Belizeans, even those who weren’t in his political sphere. He did so much for Belize, gave his sight, his heart and his soul to Belize. And yet, like Rodney Dangerfield, he got no respect!
Sure, he has the national airport named after him, and a highway; but for the most part he was betrayed, abandoned and disrespected by those in his own party, who wanted to assume control of his mantle as Leader of the Opposition! He was jailed by the British on a flimsy sedition charge; he was marginalized by George Price and the PUP, of which he was a founding member! Later in midlife he received a law degree and came back home to a different Belize. He exposed Bethuel M. Webster and the 17 proposals for what they were, a ceding of territory (sovereignty) to Guatemala. These events are not in chronological order, but the important thing is the events, not what or who came first. He was a hero, a statesman, a journalist, and a patriot!
He was an inspiration to Belizeans of all ethnicities; they were his loyal followers while he railed against 5th columnists and traitors in our midst who were on the Guatemalan payroll! Through his newspaper he informed British Honduras of national and local events, faithfully and truthfully. No spin, just facts, like Amandala. For years he was the sole member of the loyal Opposition against a behemoth called the PUP, and held his own against them. To me he was as passionate in his fervor and love of country and in stature, as George Cadle Price was, if not more!
His fault, if we can call it a fault, was that he was not Machiavellian enough to survive the conspirators who dethroned him. Either he was caught flatfooted or was too tired to wage warfare against all the Brutuses who conspired to be rid of him. He became an antediluvian figure to his financial backers who wanted a more aggressive and robust business-oriented party to control! He was robbed! I knew him personally, spent time with him on trips down south during the 1974 elections. He even wrote a letter of introduction for me when I decided to go to university. At the time I didn’t realize his importance in the history of Belize, not enough, at least.
He would eventually become like a figure in a Shakespearean tragedy! All the fire in his belly gone, as the Young Turks remade and rebranded his NIP into the UDP, and the rest is history. His bust that no one wanted to pay for, lay by the wayside for days after an accident, with no interest in repairing and restoring it to the grandeur this symbol of a true patriot deserved! Still disrespected, still unhonored, still unsung, still blind!
“How does a city sit solitary, that was once so full of people! How like a widow, that was once so great!” — From Tisha B’Av, the destruction of the temple.
Glen