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The Belize of today isn’t without its problems, but it’s a multicultural and modern nation with influence over both the Caribbean and Central America and a conservationist approach to environmental diversity that leads the way for the region. But it’s unlikely Belize as we know it today would exist without the influence of Philip S. W. Goldson. While the country’s political, spiritual, and economic liberation from British colonialism only came about because of the united spirit of the disenfranchised and forgotten, it was Goldson who helped shape that yearning into a plan of action and a vision for a promising future. In many ways, his reputation as the Father of Belizean Democracy is literal. This is his story.

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Goldson’s Belize

When Philip S. Goldson entered this world on July 25, 1923, Belize was still called British Honduras and was a colony of the British Empire. The colony itself had been built on the backs of enslaved African people laboring first in the lumber and then the mahogany industries. When slavery was abolished, workers were replaced with indentured servants from India and China. It’s little surprise that the institutional systems of white supremacy and economic disenfranchisement were still in place by the turn of the twentieth century.

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The British empire largely exerted its control over the country’s income through the British Honduras Company. It’s an arrangement that placed power in control of a very small number of white English and Scottish landowners at the expense of marginalized groups like the Garifuna, principally located in fishing villages along the Caribbean coast and was long considered squatters by the British; the descendants of Chinese immigrants who represented a small part of the population but had managed to rise up in economic status as store owners; and the mixed-race Creole people who represented a majority of the total population. By the time of Goldson’s birth, economic fortunes had been flagging long enough to create strained tension between the classes; and Creole people were beginning to have established the wealth and reputation — both locally and in the United States — to begin to exert change.

Goldson’s Life

Philip S. W. Goldson’s early life was a reflection of the decrepit social systems afforded to the average person of color in British Honduras. His primary school education was cut short before high school, but he found the opportunity to further his learning thanks to resources from abroad. Thanks to a night school education, he earned his Cambridge University Overseas Junior Certificate at age 16 and his Senior School Certificate two years later. Shortly thereafter, Goldson would begin work in the British Honduras Civil Service and remain there for seven years. He was a prodigious academic during this period and published stories for the BBC, edited civil service industry newspapers, and eventually found himself involved in the rising Nationalist movement as a journalist.

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The Great Depression had hit Belize particularly hard, and the terrible conditions of local workers led him to a career among the trade unions. He would serve as both the national organizer and the general secretary for the General Workers Union. His persistent and tireless work in the trenches would help build momentum for the nationalist movement, and in 1950 he earned a spot on the bureaucratic body for Belize’s first political party: The People’s United Party. He was designated as its assistant secretary from its formation.

Unfortunately, the British government had little interest in independence reform, and Goldson and a compatriot were sentenced to one year of hard labor for allegedly seditious rhetoric in an article Goldson had written. He spent his year of punishment helping teach his fellow prisoners and returned to public life even more committed to changing the unjust cruelties of the system. He was shortly thereafter appointed a role in the British Honduras Legislative Assembly — a replacement ruling body that the British government had acquiesced to as an act of appeasement. Though it wasn’t the same as independence, Goldson would use his position to enact major policies that helped create social equity and promote stronger social services and civil rights.

As the political strength of the British Honduran people began to grow, the political climate became more chaotic. Goldson and some of his peers would eventually leave PUP to form a second political party — the National independence Party. Despite it temporarily diminishing his influence over Belizean politics, it was a decision that allowed a two-party system to flourish in lieu of a single-party hegemony. Later in life, he would eventually become a lawyer, form another prominent political party, and become an important local advocate for the disabled.

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Goldson’s Legacy

Whether his political fortunes were rising or falling, Goldson was always unwavering in his principles. And while he may have never ascended to the top leadership role in government, but he had an indelible role to play in the course of Belize’s modern history. Belize’s history books still talk about the important role Goldson played in independence, and the Belize City Airport was named in his honor. Though he sadly passed on October 3rd, 2001, Goldson’s legacy lives on.