Amandala is a Belizean newspaper; published twice weekly, it is considered the "mostly widely circulated newspaper in Belize." It was established on August 13, 1969 as the chief spreadsheet for the United Black Association for Development (UBAD). Its offices are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Belize City, Belize is the largest city of the Central American nation Belize, and its former capital. ... Map of Central America Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... United Black Association for Development (UBAD) was a cultural and political party established in Belize in February 1969 and based on traditional Black Power tenets. ... Belize City, Belize is the largest city of the Central American nation Belize, and its former capital. ...

By August 2006, it had published over 2000 issues.

The name

Amandala was adapted from the Swahili word "amandla", which means "power." Editors felt that Belizeans might mispronounce the word, so they added an extra "a" after the "d". Amandala editors often like to say the word means "power to the people", although the correct term for that is "Amandla, Ngawethu." Various versions of the above occur throughout the newspaper, most often in the Editorial and in Publisher Evan X Hyde's column.

Current staff

• Publisher: Evan X Hyde
• Editor in Chief: Russell Vellos
• Assistant Editor: Adele Ramos-Daly
• Lithographer: Cassian Glenn, Shedrack Dominguez
• Layout/Design: Leroy Castillo, Randine Willoughby
• Business Manager: Jacinta Hyde
• Compositor: Odessa Robinson
• Office Secretary/Receptionist: Nathalie McKenzie
• Collation Manager: Jason Barrera
• Reporters: Roy Davis, Kimberly King, Anita Nembhard, Rowland A. Parks
• Contributors (partial listing): Dr. Isabel Tun, Arifah Lightburn, Frankie Rhys, Charles B. Hyde, Colin Hyde, Leroi Hyde (sports), Henry Gordon, Bernard Wagner (sports), Fitzgerald Joseph (sports), Melvin Torres (sports)

Evan X Hyde (born April 30, 1947 in Belize City, Belize) is a writer and journalist. ...

Pricing

• Midweek edition (published Tuesdays, dated Wednesdays): BZ $1.00
• Weekend edition (published Thurs./Fri., dated Sundays): BZ $1.35

Sections of newspaper

• Headlines
• Top national news stories
• Editorial, letters to editor
• featured articles
• international news stories
• classifieds
• social registry (birth, death and marriage announcements)
• sports

History

Establishment

Amandala began as a stenciled spreadsheet given out by members and supporters of UBAD in the streets of Belize City. After the third issue was published, it was decided to begin selling the paper for five cents a copy. The newspaper was published on Thursdays and dated and sold on Fridays. The first publisher and editor of the newspaper was Ismail Shabazz, a Muslim and member of UBAD; Hyde, the eventual publisher of the newspaper, acted as editor at the time. A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ...

Much of the newspaper's first issues were dedicated to promoting the affairs of its parent organization, advertising meetings, celebrations and protests, and containing articles on topics considered important to Belizeans as well as criticism of the ruling People's United Party and its leader, George Price. The Peoples United Party is the ruling Christian Democratic political party of Belize. ... George C. Price The Right Honourable George Cadle Price (born January 15, 1919) was the first Prime Minister of Belize and the architect of that countrys independence. ...

The RAM merger

In October 1969, UBAD merged forces with a similar movement, the People's Action Committee (PAC) chaired by Assad Shoman and Said Musa. Their newspaper, FIRE, joined Amandala to create "Amandala with FIRE", and this was the newspaper's byline for the rest of 1969 and into January 1970, when RAM dissolved. Thereafter, Amandala reverted to its original name. Said Wilbert Musa, PC, (born March 19, 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician, and has been Prime Minister of Belize since August 28, 1998. ...

"Games Old People Play"

In the Amandala of February 20, 1970, the newspaper ran an article poking fun at an election petition heard and dismissed in the Supreme Court after General Elections on December 5, 1969, won by the PUP. The full text of the article follows here: February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election in the United Kingdom. ... The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

"Games Old People Play"

Election Petition

Starring: Clifford De Lisle Innis

D.B. Courtenay

Edward Laing (International)

Theodore Warrior

Agapito Hassock, other famous lip professors and cast of yeri-so PUP and NIP fanatics.

See: The rats of Charley Cadle Price George Price may refer to: George Cadle Price (born 1919), former prime minister of Belize George Lawrence Price (1898 — 1918), the last Commonwealth soldier killed in combat during the First World War. ...

See: The bald white dome of S. Hulse

Thrill to the Dramatic Ending:

Dismissal of the Case.

UBADRAM advice to the cast of children: After this, let's play Mommy and Daddy: Hee, Hee.

A none too pleased PUP administration charged UBAD president Hyde and publisher Shabazz with sedition for the text of the article, which they claimed "meant that the administration of justice was a farce and that ... (those) who participated in it were participants in a childish game of amusements." (Shoman, 13 Chapters)

The case went to trial in June 1970, with former colleagues Shoman and Musa representing Hyde and Shabazz. For the next month, the fate of Amandala and UBAD hung in the balance as Attorney General V.H. Courtenay tried to prove that the Amandala had in fact committed sedition by lampooning the event and the defendants tried to exonerate themselves and improve the credibility of the fledgling newspaper. Shoman, perhaps showing some partiality, calls it the "most exciting trial in Belizean history," right down to the verdict, delivered on July 7, 1970 and clearing both Hyde and Shabazz. Amandala had survived its first broadside, but there were many, many more to come. July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

The 1970s: rockbottom and revival

A relieved Amandala staff began making moves to develop the newspaper's technology. First, in 1971, Amandala purchased a Chandler and Price letter press to replace the Gestetner stencils used on the paper to that point. This technology lasted, with many trials and errors, to 1977, when it was shelved in favor of modern offset technology being favoured by competitors such as The Reporter and The Belize Times. Despite ravages from Hurricane Greta, Amandala became the nation's leading newspaper by 1981 by using offset printing. The Gestetner, named for its inventor David Gestetner, is a duplicating machine. ... In computer science, an offset within an array or other data structure object is an integer indicating the distance (displacement) from the beginning of the object up until a given element or point, presumably within the same object. ... The Reporter is one of the chief newspapers of Belize. ... The Belize Times is a Belizean newspaper and the official organ of the Peoples United Party. ... The name Greta has been used for three tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. ...

As euphoric as Hyde and Shabazz must have felt at their acquittal, they had no way of knowing that soon the Association would crumble around them as faithful members went their own way: some to the U.S., some to England, some to the newly formed UDP and some to who knows where. It remained for UBAD to be permanently dissolved, and the occasion came after Evan X Hyde's loss at the polls in elections of October 30, 1974. In the Amandala of November 8, 1974, Hyde formally closed down UBAD, quoting Frank Sinatra and explaining why the time had come for the Association to be shut down. But Amandala, he said, would move in the direction of being a "community newspaper" rather than a political one. A legislative election was held in Belize on October 30, 1974. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and Academy Award-winning actor, often cited as the finest male American popular song vocalist of the 20th century. ...

For the remainder of the 1970s, Amandala tried to avoid controversy. Indeed, publisher Hyde ran unsuccessfully for the PUP in City Council elections of 1977, and the paper generally toed the line with government policy, although reserving its usual candor for certain situations. Joining the paper in this period was the "Ros'lin" serial about Belizean adolescents, a special "Jumble" word puzzle, columns by the publisher's father Charles B. Hyde and "The Old Man", a forerunner of today's "Smokey Joe" column.

The 1980s: becoming the best

As Amandala entered the 1980s, it had improved its technology, expanded its scope of writing and was reaching more people. The often impassioned editorials of the UBAD days gave way to more refined writing and greater discussion.

In 1981, Belize exploded into internal turmoil with the Heads of Agreement uprisings in March, and Amandala offered full coverage of events as they unfolded, making its name well-known throughout the nation. Toward the end of 1981, it published an article linking Prime Minister Price and Minister Louis Sylvester to a report from Mexico about drugs in Belize. For the second time in its publishing life, Amandala went to court on the wrong end of a lawsuit for libel, and was hit with separate judgements for BZ $10,000 and BZ $7,500 in 1982 and 1983. These debts crippled the newspaper but Amandala fought on. Relief arrived briefly with the ascension of the UDP to power in 1984, but the UDP and Amandala soon found themselves at loggerheads and Amandala kept to itself thereafter. In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...

Popular columns during this period included "Far and Near" (before it moved to rival The Belize Times), "Bill Williamson" (before it moved to The Reporter as "Roving Eye") and "Smokey Joe" (the first appearance). The Belize Times is a Belizean newspaper and the official organ of the Peoples United Party. ... The Reporter is one of the chief newspapers of Belize. ...

The 1990s: maintaining dominance

The 1990s for Amandala really began on November 17, 1989, with the establishment of Belize's first commercial radio station, KREM FM, on the compound at Partridge Street. Amandala dedicated much of the next three years to weaning the young radio station and protecting it from its rivals, the now defunct Radio Belize and LOVE FM. UBAD celebrated what would have been its twenty-second anniversary in 1991, and Amandala publisher and former UBAD president Hyde wrote a reminisce of the UBAD glory days in the "From the Publisher" column of February 8, 1991. In addition, Amandala became the chief sponsor for local semi-professional team "The Raiders", which would win five national titles in the 1990s out of a total of seven. Through KREM and the Raiders, Amandala's name remained well-known. However, it did not escape criticisms of partisanship from rivals including the defunct People's Pulse, which derided all things Amandala for much of the 1990s until its closure in 1998, its sponsor the UDP being in power for much of that period. Amandala eventually admitted to a partnership with the then Opposition PUP established in 1994 and dissolved ten years later. There was also a claim of sensationalism, bias and overhyping of events ascribed to the newspaper. Things got so bad there was an attempt by foreign nationals to buy out the newspaper that was only turned down at the last minute, and KREM Radio even briefly shut down. Despite Amandala's troubles, Belizeans faithfully bought the paper, which by this time dated its weekend issue for Sunday instead of Friday. 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... KREM FM is a Belize City radio station operating on signals 96. ... The Broadcasting Corporation of Belize, otherwise known as Radio Belize, was a radio station in Belize that shut down in November of 1998. ... LOVE FM is a Belize City-based radio station operating since February 14, 1993. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guardian is a Belizean newspaper and the official print organ of the Opposition Political Party United Democratic Party. ...

Popular columns included Cordel Hyde's sports columns in the mid and late nineties (prior to his joining the House of Representatives); brother Evan "Mose" Hyde's entertainment column "Chat Bout", educator and activist Silvana Woods "Weh A Gat Fi Seh" (What I Have to Say), Belize's first column written entirely in Belize Creole (prior to its moving to The Reporter), and Los Angeles-based Pam Reyes' "Caribbean Pulse", in addition to Glenn Tillett's "Between the Lines" and Russell Vellos' "Viewpoint". Evan Anniko Mose Hyde is a Belizean television executive and talk show host. ... Belizean Creole, also called Belizean Kriol, Kriol or Belizean, is closely related to Miskito Coastal Creole, Colón Creole, and San Andrés and Providencia Creole. ... The Reporter is one of the chief newspapers of Belize. ...

Amandala today

The newspaper today remains an entertaining mix of candor, firebrand commentary, serious journalism and energetic communication. Its popular columns include the following:

• Adele Ramos-Daly's "Focus" (series) and Personality of the Week (ongoing), which detail respectively important topics of interest to Belizeans and interesting personalities in Belize.
• Arifah Lightburn's entertainment columns, generally written from a femicentric perspective and detailing the lifestyles of Belizean men and women (as of 2007 she is on hiatus while pursuing a doctorate);
• Charles Hyde's "Ideas and Opinions", under the name Janus, taking a scholarly look at Belize today;
• Novelist Colin Hyde's "Sixes and Sevens", short takes on current topics with humorous dialogue;
• Frankie Rhys' lightning-rod discussion columns, written weekly;
• "Smokey Joe" Selvin Wade's musings on the development of Belize as a nation and people.
• In Search of Truth, by Henry Gordon, combining discussion of current events with sermons from the Bible (Gordon is a pastor)

Recent developments

There has been discussion about a possible Spanish-language version of the paper; however, this has yet to be detailed. Amandala moved closer to endorsing a Spanish-language version of its newspaper in a recent editorial which explained what a Spanish-language Amandala would have to overcome in order to achieve success.^[1]

In the issue for October 22, 2006, Colin Hyde appeared to be closing his column "Sixes and Sevens", saying he would move on to other projects, including new novels, but that he would continue contributing to the Amandala. Hyde has since written numerous letters and occasional short columns dedicated to sport and politics.

New additions to Amandala include "The Tip of the Iceberg" by veteran Arthur Belisle, discussing veterans' affairs in Belize and halted after complaints from fellow veterans; frequent correspondence from Denzil Jenkins of Dangriga and Clinton Uh Luna of Corozal; and frequent excerpts from books detailing black and indigenous history, which had taken a break to the issues pressing Belize.

References

External link

• Amandala archive and website