Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Evan Anthony Hyde (Evan X Hyde), founder of the United Black Association for Development (UBAD) and publisher of Amandala , Belize's largest newspaper, was born in Belize City on April 30, 1947. He was educated at Holy Redeemer Primary School, by St. John's College (High School), and SJC Junior College. He received a scholarship to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in English. Influenced in the United States by the Black Power movement , Hyde joined other young blacks in Belize to form UBAD in February 1969. Hyde became the organization's secretary, eventually taking over the presidency in March when the first president resigned. This would be a position that Hyde retained throughout UBAD's existence. Hyde and his associates felt that Belize's two major political parties, the People's Unity Party (PUP) and the opposition National Independence Party (NIP), were too conservative. Thus, they created UBAD to fight for better conditions for Belize's poor black majority. Its constitution was patterned after the Belizean branch of Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which was founded in 1920 but quickly lost its original militancy. In August 1969, Hyde created a newspaper, Amandala , to promote the ideology of UBAD. In October the newly formed People's Action Committee (PAC), headed by Assad Shoman and Said ... log in or subscribe to read full text