3 out of 4 stars
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Belize is a country I knew nothing about aside from its name before picking up Ray Scippa's Belize Da Speak. Interestingly enough, the book even delivered on a very possible reason - American news producers have (or at least had in the early 1980s) a blackout on news from Belize to punish them for pirating American television. The book's full title is Belize Da Speak: An Oral History of Independence, which is fitting as Belize became independent in the early 1980s between Ray's two trips to Belize where he ended up interviewing over 50 people.
The book begins with an introduction that explains a bit about Belize, setting the stage for the interviews that follow. Belize is a Central American country just south of Mexico and northeast of Guatemala. The major concern with independence, in fact, was that Guatemala would simply swoop in and take over. Aside from a military concern, the country was also dealing with sugar price drops (cane sugar being one of the major crops grown) and the search for their own, unique identity. Belize is made up of numerous different cultures, from Spanish to Maya Indian to Garifuna, and between them they speak numerous languages and primarily eat different foods.
The interviews themselves are the majority of the book, and they're done with all sorts of Belizeans. What's interesting to learn from reading them all is that not only do Belizeans face their own unique challenges like building homes strong enough to resist hurricanes or figuring out how to sell their sugar, they face some of the same issues we do as well. Television, for example, had recently come to Belize and parents are seeing their kids being absorbed into it, paying less attention to their school work. Each interview is preceded by italicized text that explains who is being interviewed and a bit of their background, giving insight into their thoughts and opinions in the interview itself.
While the book is edited very well, I did have a couple issues with it. For one, the introduction to the book isn't entirely in chronological order, it jumps around it a bit. Also, immediately following the introduction is the first set of interviews which deal with different workers - a cook, a farmer and a hotel owner to name a few. While all of the interview text is written as the interviewee spoke it, including their accent, this group of interviews was the hardest for me to follow. While I enjoyed the fact that the text was written the way it was (it made it feel more much real and genuine) and interviews regarding work are a solid foundation for the book, the combination of the introduction and these interviews were a bit to overcome back-to-back.
An entire section of the interviews is dedicated to Creole, and it was interesting to learn about a language that was seemingly formed from an amalgamation of Belizean speak. The title of the book - Belize Da Speak - is Creole. Dr. Colville Young, an English teacher, explains the rules and use of the language a bit and it's really fascinating! Other topics include musicians, family (mothers/daughters especially) and even leaving for greener pastures, and the book has a very helpful glossary along with some maps in the back.
Overall, the book does a fantastic job covering different parts of Belizean life from numerous points of view. It's rarely dry and even funny at times. Aside from the issues I mentioned earlier, I really wish the afterword was longer. It's been over 30 years since all of the interviews, yet we're given less than a page to cover what's happened since then. While it states "many questions remain to be answered", I feel that way as well, still wondering many things myself. Even though this is a book of interviews, not a history book, it would've been an excellent addition, but it won't stop me from giving the book 3 out of 4 stars. To close, I'd love to share my favorite Creole saying from the book: "pikney da po' pipple riches" ("children are the poor peoples' riches").
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Belize Da Speak
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