Phillip Goldson has never been a tidy historical figure like the much exalted national hero George Price. Goldson's story is told in chops and spasms of adversity, resistance, and yes defeat and rejection but above all courage, determination and heroism, the uncommon valor of a man who lived by principle.
Now, as the PUP has given Goldson's memory a faux embrace, and the UDP is still unsure about how to honor its defining, but never exalted hero, a group of academics and community workers are taking the legend of Goldson away from the politicians and putting it into popular discourse, to let the community decide who Phillip Goldson was to us all.
The first step was taken last night at a forum held at the Bishop Sylvestre Memorial Center and Keith Swift was there.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Who is Phillip Goldson? Well we know he is our crowned national patriot and the namesake for the international airport but just who is the man behind the sprawling legend or is he even a legend. For Michael Finnegan the question shouldn't even be asked.
Hon. Michael Finnegan,
"Mr. Goldson in my view is more than a patriot; Mr. Goldson is why this country still exists as Belize as we know it. Thank God for him."
But Yasser Musa who attended last night's public meeting says we should ask the question because history is still struggling to define Goldson and his contributions to the Belizean society.
Yasser Musa,
"There is nobody that can discount the fact that he played a major role in a significant portion of our history and I think that the younger generation of Belizeans today, especially in the school system, don't really know who he is and I think that it is a great injustice to our democracy that they don't know who this man is."
It is a question nobody present at last night's meeting including his former political colleagues and family members knew the complete answer to and that is because all agreed his enormous legacy cannot be neatly packaged onto the pages of history. It sprawls 50 years filled with many struggles ranging from Guatemala to glaucoma and yes, he had just as many defeats. But he withstood it all and perhaps that is why Phillip Goldson still matters because while he lost those battles no one can dispute his victory in the ultimate war.
Emma Boiton, Goldson Confidante
"Every country needs it heroes; every country needs heroes and young people need heroes to look up to and to patter themselves."
Bert Tucker, Activist
"People need to become aware again of the tremendous service, sacrifice, and the contribution that he made in his 50 year career. That set of contributions included his work on the security of this country which he kept unbroken, and his work on the democracy of this country, his work on the prosperity to help people to begin to organize themselves and to live a decent life and also what he looked in this whole period was that the people of Belize should participate. And so this was a man who had a vision, who was very much at the beginning of the independence process and who went to jail for that, and who actually came out strengthened by that process and continued to pursue that personal vision over a 50 year period not withstanding all kinds of personal sacrificies."
Yasser Musa,
"Well I certainly don't consider him a loser; I think that is a very distorted and poor characterization of Mr. Goldson. I think that his legacy is not yet properly documented and told in terms of a peer understanding. i think there is a huge amnesia to his contribution and I think that even in my own education I don't understand enough to come to a proper understanding of him."
Emma Boiton,
"We need to have you the young people know and the old people to remember what it was Mr. Goldson stood up for. It is idolizing a man, it is recognizing what he did for the country and acknowledging that those ideals and those beliefs are the same ones that we have and knowing what he did gives us courage to continue."
And from the turnout last night of politicians both red and blue, the intelligencia, and even students maybe the importance of Philip Goldson's legacy doesn't need to be questioned.