From The Publisher
Posted: 23/10/2007 - 12:33 PM
Author: Evan X Hyde
At the highest levels of the ruling People’s United Party, I am considered eccentric because I had opportunities to be part of their inner circle, and I chose not to use those opportunities.
The last opportunity I had began in November 1999 when I was elected chairman of the University College of Belize board, and became the first chairman of the new University of Belize in August of 2000. Because of the huge and valuable assets controlled by the national university, a chairman can make money for himself if he chooses to be corrupt.
I think, and you may well disagree, that perhaps a majority of adult Belizeans expect an individual to take care of himself or herself if he or she is fortunate enough to get into a position where one can “hustle.” There are also, needless to say, many, many Belizeans who dream of and desire total rectitude in their public officials. But I think the majority of citizens believe that hanky panky takes place, and they accept it as part of the political process if it is within reasonable bounds.
Inside the PUP, you are expected to become corrupt. Once you start taking care of yourself, the higher ups will find out immediately, and then they will have something over you, something to pressure you with when you give any kind of trouble.
I suppose it was a case of the PUP’s deciding in 1977 to “rehab” this “black revolutionary” when they decided to include me on their ticket for the December 1977 Belize City Council elections. A couple of their candidates, Leroy Taegar and Lois Young, thought much of me and wanted me on the ticket. Then the big leaders, Price and Rogers, began pressuring me.
Once I gave in to their pressure, however, almost the first thing they did was instruct me to delete the “X” from the middle of my name. This, in their opinion, would make me more palatable to voters and a greater asset to the PUP ticket.
I understood their reasoning, but I resented such an instruction. I had been Evan X Hyde from maybe April or May of 1969, when several of us in the UBAD leadership opted to use the “X”. None of us who did so at that specific time were members of the Nation of Islam. But the use of the “X” was a practice pioneered by the Hon. Elijah Muhammad for his Black Muslim followers. When you became a Muslim, you placed the “X” in front of your European, slavemaster surname in order to show the world that you were honouring those of your African ancestors whose names were obliterated during the enslavement process. Use of the “X” is an expression of black pride on the part of the “conscious” black man/woman.
After a certain period within the Nation of Islam, most believers take on names like Shabazz, Muhammad or Farrakhan. But I have never seen a Nation of Islam member take on a sub-Saharan African name like Kenyatta, Lumumba, or some such. This is something which is puzzling to me.
You would be surprised how people, especially white people, look at you differently when you have the “X” in your name. When you use the “X”, white people know that you are not a subservient, Uncle Tom type. By the same token, those bourgeois members of your own ethnicity, black people like yourself, also look at you differently. They consider you overly militant, one who causes “unnecessary” trouble. You can tell quite a lot about a person when he or she refuses to respect your “X”.
I suppose I could have walked away from the PUP ticket in 1977 when they insisted on putting my name on their posters and campaign material as “Evan Hyde” instead of “Evan X Hyde.” But there had been so much hassle already about my candidacy, I just wanted to get the whole thing over with. On the rostrum and on the radio, and, of course, in Amandala, I continued to use the “X”.
After the CitCo election, which the UDP won big, I did not toe the PUP party line. As editor of Amandala and columnist, I spoke my own mind. PUP leadership became angry at me, whereas before they had only been irritated. They threatened and intimidated, but stopped short of doing me anything physically, because it was felt they needed me for the 1979 general elections. For my part, this was a time when the UDP absolutely hated my guts. I had reasons to be an ally of the ruling PUP, but I knew from 1977 that I must always preserve my own options. As such, I would always be UBAD, regardless to who thought what.
The PUP is a corrupt party, but they began doing the things they are doing from the 1960’s, yet they continued winning general elections until 1984, then came right back to power in 1989, barely lost in 1993, then resumed office in 1998 and 2003. So their manifest corruption is obviously not an insurmountable barrier to electoral success.
The reason a corrupt party can win elections, and for real it happens all over the world, is because of what is called “the machine”. “The machine” is the mechanism by which you get out those voters who are your voters. Once you have a machine which ensures that almost all of your party voters cast their ballots on election day, you have a chance to win any election.
In 1977, I became convinced that I would always be an outsider where the PUP was concerned. I had a hostile record as UBAD president from 1969 to 1974, so I was viewed differently from other “converts.” I did not get involved with PUP hanky panky, because then the PUP leaders would have been able to point their fingers in my face, so to speak. I don’t like people pointing their fingers in my face. I am not a saint. But after a while, your past determines your present, and your future. That is if you are a man who believes in your own dignity.
Power to the people.
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