He died in January, but today would have been Belizean icon Andy Palacio’s 48th birthday and to mark the occasion the Andy Palacio Foundation launched a new book this morning at the Image Factory. 7NEWS was there.
With Lloyd on the mic and Joshua on the drums this morning the Garifuna Collective celebrated Andy Palacio’s birthday through his music. But the celebration wasn’t just about Andy’s music – it was a celebration of his life – a timeline which is richly illustrated in the 90 pages of this book – simply titled “Andy Palacio” – a name which evokes an icon.
Yasser Musa, Editor and Publisher
“This book is a kind of compilation effort where we bring essays by Dr. Joseph Palacio, Michael Stone, Roy Cayetano, and also speeches that Andy wrote, the famous WOMEX Award speech he gave in Seville Spain, bringing that kind of a compilation together with photography; there are many great photographs. Musicians of course they travel around to concerts and things like that so we
have great pictures by Richard Holder. Also we’ve done a lot of research in gathering photographs from his childhood. The earliest one we could find was a shot when he was 8 or 9 in Barranco holding a child and I thank his daughter Kami for gathering those photos for us. So it is a combination of pictures, essays, speeches, and at the end a timeline of Andy Palacio’s life.”
There are more photographs than text and that is because according to President of the Andy Palacio Foundation E. Roy Cayetano, Andy’s story is in imagery.
E. Roy Cayetano, President - Andy Palacio Foundation
“You cannot downplay the importance of pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and that is true. There are people who may not have too much patience with words, written words, but there is something captivating about pictures and the pictures themselves tell a lot about Andy’s early
life and his journey through life really, right up to the very end.”
A story which takes a Barranco boy from a local artist to a global superstar. Yasser Musa who edited and published the book says the story must be told.
Yasser Musa,
“Whenever you talk to young people about Andy Palacio they become animated because I think with his music he has already gone inside of them, so his soul is inside of all of us. So something like this will make them feel
a special pride about knowing, because we all know him, we are the generation that knows him. There are many countries that have great heroes and figures that are from the distant past but this is a person that we know. So especially for young people it will have a great impact I believe.
The only way to make cultural products is through publications like these so that when teachers say to their students if they know who Andy Palacio is and so forth, they can have a reference and they can empower themselves with the story of Andy Palacio.”
E. Roy Cayetano,
“Anything that brings attention, calls attention to Andy Palacio and his work contributes to the work of the Foundation because the whole idea is we want people to be aware of the contribution that Andy has made, that the work that he has done is actually a work in progress, that that work needs to continue.”
Kami Palacio, Daughter of Andy Palacio
“With this special book launch today, it gives me another reason to realize that he is gone for real but the work that he has started will continue through the Andy Palacio Foundation. As we celebrate this book I must tell you daddy that we are proudly continuing what you have left behind so the children and the world will not forget you in time to come. Happy Birthday daddy.”
Proceeds from the sale will go to an education fund for Andy Palacio’s children.
The 90 page book retails for between $35 and $40 depending on where you get it. It is currently available at Brodies, the Image Factory, the Angelus Press in Belmopan, the George Price Center, and the Luba Garifuna Museum on Jasmine Street. Only one thousand copies were initially printed.
