211 years after the Battle of St. George’s Caye was won, the battle over the Battle seems finally to have been put to rest. The tenth of September has been officially named St. George’s Caye Day and St. George’s Caye itself has been proclaimed a historical site. Academics are finally bringing together historical documents and evidence surrounding the event, artists are interpreting the information in novel ways and the media is finding ways to bring all this to the general public. More importantly, a sense of patriotism pervades Belize that goes far beyond the patriotic songs and colourful decorations. The spirit of Simon Lamb lives on.
The battle over the Battle was a curious sidetrack on the route to nationhood, imagined and developed by one man as he sought to promote a view of the history of Belize that began and ended with the PUP and himself. That the relentless crushing of the celebration of the Battle of St. George’s Caye for a whole generation did not succeed is a fitting tribute to the dedication of those who kept the story alive. PUP revisionism held sway for over thirty years as patriotic songs were banned from the only radio station; many media personalities who failed to toe the PUP Party line were forced to emigrate; text books were revised so that the only mention of the Battle was to call it a myth; the traditional festivities were rebranded with PUP symbols; the day itself and the parade were renamed as “National” Day and Parade. In an Orwellian twist even the colours of our flag were renamed to underscore the prevailing political correctness. Many young adults today can recall that if their answer about the colour of our flag was “red, white and blue” it was marked wrong. Only an answer of “blue, white and red” could pass muster with the PUP censors and their fellow travellers. And yet a stubborn core of Belizeans continued to celebrate in the spirit of Simon Lamb.
Mocked and deprived of any official funding, the Loyal and Patriotic Order of the Baymen and its descendant the St. George’s Caye Day Committee battled on. Even in the desolate years of PUP hegemony the traditional red, white and blue St. George’s Caye Day Parade continued in defiance of the well funded official blue and white National Day Parade. Public servants would lose their jobs if they dared to defy Big Father; businessmen were threatened with loss of contracts but still there were always at least a handful of brave souls who had the courage to march. When the political powers, through a mixture of bribery and threats, ensured that no band could be found to play in the St. George’s Caye Day Parade, the marchers snapped spoons, blew on comb and paper and banged drums as they sang out their defiance. Later, ingenious minds substituted taped music from boom boxes carried on amplified trucks to great effect and the spirit of Simon Lamb marched on.
With Independence came an even greater effort to destroy the Tenth, but that too failed. Division and partisan politics divided Belize on the very days when nationalism and patriotism should have held sway. With the power of the PUP finally demolished, this divisiveness has come to an end. Every Belizean, regardless of political persuasion, can now celebrate our glorious history and rejoice in the reality of an independent Belize. The spirit of Simon Lamb truly lives on in Belize.
