The name William Dawson is not a household name nationally, but in the mean and often violent streets of Belize City, he is known almost as a priest of peace, an interventionist in gang beefs that moved between rival gangs with the craft of a diplomat and the compassion of a counselor.
And this morning he died unexpectedly at the age of 43 after he had been ailing for a short period with kidney disease. His death created an instant vacuum at the Leadership Intervention Unit - and across a wide section of the city.
Cherisse Halsall looked at his legacy:
When the annals of gang warfare in Belize are written into the history books, Willam Dawson's life and work may seem just a fleeting moment in time. But for those who have survived life on Belize's streets in his particular moment in time, he was nothing less than a saviour.
His message, was one of peace as he strived every day to change the mindsets of Belizean society. He told as much just two months ago when he appeared on UNCUT.
William Dawson, Chairman - LIU
"When we talk about restoring citizen security it's about citizens taking ownership of their livelihoods, not the next way around. So, we cannot allow people within the community to destroy the community, to instil fear in the community. And so when we sit with these boys on many occasions, people think we're having this conversation where we're powdering them. We're letting them understand that as leaders, you so-called leaders have responsibility. Your neighbourhood isn't supposed to be afraid of you."
And this morning when Dawson passed the reaction among his friends was one of shock but also fear because they knew like no one else how valuable he was.
Raymond "Footy" Gongora, Friend of William Dawson
"Mein, actually I heard his sisters they screamed out beside me and it was around 4:00 in the morning and I asked them what happened and they said Mr. Dawson is dead, and I said no mean my reaction was like No because that guy, that man was the man that held down a lot of violence in this country because of the realness of that person. He isn't a person that would tell them boy come in I need to see you and talk to you and have the policeman pick you up, no he won't do that he is a real man to his word, he will fight the police tooth and nail and say when I am dealing with those guys please give me a break and after that you do your job. But he was so real to what he was doing that he is one of the only men I've ever seen bring Belize under such tranquillity and peace."
And it seems there was hardly a life that William Dawson hadn't touched.
Mary Beth Wade, Former girlfriend of Gang Figure
"That man there helps save me, that man is one of the reason's I'm alive right now, that man helped me to conquer so many of my demons, that man was a mentor, that man was like my therapist. Mr Dawson impacted James's life and hale of Belize's life, young people, you understand, he put himself out here for all of us to give us a second chance in life."
Brandon Smith, Street-Figure
"Well, he saved me in a type of way because he made me start to think about life and my family and I met Mr William Dawson from I was bout 7,8,9 so because he is from right around the lane there, you understand me, he got into the Colby foundation thing and he started helping out people, and started talking to people and mentoring them and putting them on a straight path."
"Well, we will have to see what the future will bring but then we are into peace, that is what he was into. So, we just want to continue the thing. Peace peace, peace and peace you just hold it down and live your lives, you have a family to live for, you understand because when the rain falls it touches everybody's house stop."
And Dawson it seems had kept that violence at bay. This afternoon his friend Jermaine "Horse" Garnett reflected on what Belize city might have been had it not been for William Dawson.
Jermaine Garnett, Participant, C.Y.D.P Youth Program
"It would be a bloodier place, it would be a easier place because right now the youths that t are coming up in these young times I think their a bit different and things and then the bigger guys they are just really are trying not to let the youth just try and kill them off so it would have been a lot more chaos in this place right now to say why you no try get the team together and try to make everybody have a little thing together because really and truly the little stipends that everyone is trying to do and work for, those things slowed down things a lot from really happening in a sense because then remember it's just eat everybody wants to eat, if you an work to eat, you will work to eat and get it and it will be the outcome of it anf that is what they're doing for us as the youth in the streets that everyone is really fighting down and they are the people that we have to look up to because the other people bring us down. So, we will always feel a way towards when these people here go down who always push to make things happen for us that they know are in the slum that nothing is happening for, you check."
And if you have any doubt about William Dawson's impact, it's instantly refuted by this scene, street figures from various factions coming together in Dawson's style of peace to remember the man who meant so much to them all.
Brandon Baptist, Calls Dawson Father Figure
"That man just came like an angel for real you know, that man came and just showed us a different way, you dig, a different way of life. That man came and tried to show us the way but we will continue it for the man like what I said, we will continue it. He's a person where we don't know who will be the person to fill the gap right now because that is the gap that we are already stressing on because we know how things are set but we'll try our best to continue on the thing and do what we are doing and try to see if we can make somebody else be in his place and keep his spot."
Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa says Dawson was one of a kind and this morning called the effect of his life's work immeasurable.
posted (February 17, 2022)
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"It has taken him many many years to build the type of reputation and credibility that he had on the streets of Belize City. In particular, the kind of trust that people have in him and that is truly owing to the fact that he was real and genuine and unlike anyone I had ever met. We all know the type of work that he did and like he said it is truly incalculable to say how much we are going to miss him."
And tonight every corner of Belize City is mourning William Dawson, a man who rose above the culture of violence and fought for the futures of many of young men and women now charged with keeping the peace that meant so much to him.
William Dawson was the father of two children.
