Article: Andy Palacio, Who Saved Garifuna Music, Dies at 47
Author: Jon Parales
Date Published: January 21, 2008
Hyperlink: Click here to read this article
Author: Jon Parales
Date Published: January 21, 2008
Hyperlink: Click here to read this article
This article is about the death of a man who sustained a cultural music genre in Belize. Andy Palacio was a member of the Garifuna ethnic group in Belize, the descendants of West African slaves who crash landed in Belize. The article describes the efforts of Palacio to preserve his culture, a minority in Belize, and its distinct music style. The Garifuna music style is a large part of its culture, and due to his efforts to sustain it was regarded as a Garifuna cultural leader.
I find the death of Andy Palacio to be alarming. Since many people regarded as Palacio as a cultural leader, than his death leaves people of the Garifuna ethnic group without leadership. If other people of the Garifuna ethnic group do not take the place of Palacio as a leader of their culture, than the Garifuna culture may once again wane and its music style may once again fade into obscurity.
This article relates to culture in Belize because Garifuna is a minority ethnic group in Belize. Belize has many diverse ethnic and cultural groups, one of which being Garifuna. With the death of Andy Palacio, the Garifuna culture has lost both one of its leaders and its primary musician. The death of such a leader is an important for negative reasons as it means new leaders must step up to make sure Garifuna music and the culture in general survive being a minority in Belize.