Evan X Hyde
Encyclopedia
Evan Anthony Hyde (born April 30, 1947 in Belize City
, Belize
) is a writer
and journalist
. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, the Amandala
, as well as oversee its subsidiaries, KREM Radio (formed in 1989) and Krem Television
(formed in 2004). Between 1969 and 1974 he headed the United Black Association for Development (UBAD) which demanded better conditions for Belize's black people and emphasized unity. He earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College
.
in Belize City. Evan particularly excelled at creative writing. He was among the first students to attend the SJC Junior College in 1964 and 1965, before being granted a scholarship by the U.S. Embassy to study at Dartmouth in Hanover
, New Hampshire
. Evan enrolled in September 1966 and graduated in June 1968 among the top students in his class. He had settled on a writing career, but events which were to unfold over the next five years greatly altered that outlook.
movement in the United States, particularly Stokely Carmichael
and Malcolm X
(who had recently been assassinated).
These early seeds bore fruit when on January 1, 1969, Hyde participated in a protest at a local cinema against the Vietnam War
film "The Green Berets
", starring John Wayne
. The group he was a part of, the Ad Hoc Committee for the Truth About Vietnam, was the seed for the later United Black Association for Development and the People's Action Committee chaired by Assad Shoman.
Hyde formed UBAD in February and took over its presidency in March after leader Lionel Clarke faced charges of inappropriate conduct. For a further analysis of Hyde in UBAD, see United Black Association for Development.
Hyde left Technical to devote his time to the movement, in addition to courting Audrey Scott, whom he would later marry. With her he had four children: Tiffara, Eva, Rachel and Evan "Mose" Hyde (DJ and manager of Krem Television
). They later separated and Hyde had three more children with another woman, Claudette Coleman: Cordel (present Lake Independence representative and Minister of Government), as well as Vonetta (a lawyer currently residing in London) and Michael (manager of Krem Radio
). Hyde also had a daughter Jacinta (present business manager of Amandala
) with another woman. Hyde has several grandchildren.
In pursuit of his writing career, Hyde published Knocking Our Own Ting
, a satirical analysis of the Battle of St. George's Caye
, in 1969; North Amerikkkan Blues
in 1971, profiling his time at Dartmouth, and The Crowd Called UBAD
in 1972, a complete history of the organization to that point. He also briefly taught at Wesley College, a high school in Belize City.
Hyde also participated in politics. He was one of the nine candidates running in coalition with the National Independence Party
in 1971 City Council elections, in which the coalition lost badly. Hyde also failed in bids for the Collet Division in 1974 and another City Council run in 1977, with the People's United Party (PUP).
, on Monday nights (it is now on Tuesdays) at 7:30. Hyde's three earliest works returned to print along with other non-fiction pieces and past editorials of the Amandala to 1991 in "X-Communication", published by the Angelus Press in 1994. A few of Hyde's works (fiction this time) were reproduced in editions of the Belizean Writers Series
later in the decade.
Hyde today is chair of the UBAD Educational Foundation, successor to UBAD and owner of the Library of African and Indian Studies on Partridge Street. He is majority shareholder in the Kremandala media empire and a great influence on its workers.
Non-Fiction:
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
) is a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, the Amandala
Amandala
Amandala is a Belizean tabloid newspaper; published twice weekly, it is considered the "most widely circulated newspaper in Belize." It was established on August 13, 1969 as the chief spreadsheet for the United Black Association for Development...
, as well as oversee its subsidiaries, KREM Radio (formed in 1989) and Krem Television
Krem Television
Krem Television is a Belizean television station established in 2004 and serving Belize City.Its manager is KREM Radio alumnus Evan "Mose" Hyde and it is part of KREMANDALA Ltd.- Establishment :...
(formed in 2004). Between 1969 and 1974 he headed the United Black Association for Development (UBAD) which demanded better conditions for Belize's black people and emphasized unity. He earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
.
Early life and education
Hyde was born to a large family led by father Charles B. Hyde, a public servant. He attended the Holy Redeemer Boys' School, prior to its amalgamation with a girls' school of the same name, and the all-male St. John's College High SchoolSt. John's College, Belize
St. John's College has four divisions of outstanding reputation, and a number of acclaimed central academic centres and activities. Through its four divisions, SJC offers a wide variety of subjects covered in any secondary and two-year postsecondary curricula, delivering huge flexibility and choice...
in Belize City. Evan particularly excelled at creative writing. He was among the first students to attend the SJC Junior College in 1964 and 1965, before being granted a scholarship by the U.S. Embassy to study at Dartmouth in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Evan enrolled in September 1966 and graduated in June 1968 among the top students in his class. He had settled on a writing career, but events which were to unfold over the next five years greatly altered that outlook.
UBAD and entry into politics
Upon Hyde's return to Belize in 1968 the nation he had left behind two years prior was in turmoil due to the latest rejected proposal to end the Guatemalan claim. Hyde took a job teaching at Belize Technical College and in the meantime attempted to link up with other young intellectuals to try to influence the course of Belizean development. Hyde had been exposed to the teachings of the early Black PowerBlack Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
movement in the United States, particularly Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael
Kwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
and Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
(who had recently been assassinated).
These early seeds bore fruit when on January 1, 1969, Hyde participated in a protest at a local cinema against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
film "The Green Berets
The Green Berets (film)
The Green Berets is a 1968 war film featuring John Wayne, George Takei, David Janssen, Jim Hutton and Aldo Ray, nominally based on the eponymous 1965 book by Robin Moore, though the screenplay has little relation to the book....
", starring John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
. The group he was a part of, the Ad Hoc Committee for the Truth About Vietnam, was the seed for the later United Black Association for Development and the People's Action Committee chaired by Assad Shoman.
Hyde formed UBAD in February and took over its presidency in March after leader Lionel Clarke faced charges of inappropriate conduct. For a further analysis of Hyde in UBAD, see United Black Association for Development.
Hyde left Technical to devote his time to the movement, in addition to courting Audrey Scott, whom he would later marry. With her he had four children: Tiffara, Eva, Rachel and Evan "Mose" Hyde (DJ and manager of Krem Television
Krem Television
Krem Television is a Belizean television station established in 2004 and serving Belize City.Its manager is KREM Radio alumnus Evan "Mose" Hyde and it is part of KREMANDALA Ltd.- Establishment :...
). They later separated and Hyde had three more children with another woman, Claudette Coleman: Cordel (present Lake Independence representative and Minister of Government), as well as Vonetta (a lawyer currently residing in London) and Michael (manager of Krem Radio
KREM FM
KREM Radio is a Belize City radio station operating on signals 96.5, 91.1 and 101.1 FM since November 17, 1989. Its headquarters are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City, also the home of the Amandala newspaper and Krem Television...
). Hyde also had a daughter Jacinta (present business manager of Amandala
Amandala
Amandala is a Belizean tabloid newspaper; published twice weekly, it is considered the "most widely circulated newspaper in Belize." It was established on August 13, 1969 as the chief spreadsheet for the United Black Association for Development...
) with another woman. Hyde has several grandchildren.
In pursuit of his writing career, Hyde published Knocking Our Own Ting
Knocking Our Own Ting
Knocking Our Own Ting is an article length satire written by Evan X Hyde discussing the Battle of St. George's Caye, a naval battle off the coast of Belize occurring in 1798. This battle has been celebrated since 1898 on September 10 as St. George's Caye Day...
, a satirical analysis of the Battle of St. George's Caye
Battle of St. George's Caye
The Battle of St. George's Caye was a short military engagement that lasted from 3 to 10 September 1798, off the coast of what is now Belize...
, in 1969; North Amerikkkan Blues
North Amerikkkan Blues
North Amerikkkan Blues is the first novel from Belizean Evan X Hyde, published in 1971. It is autobiographical and tells the story of Hyde's time at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S.A.. Hyde received a B.A. in English in 1968 from this college.- Plot summary...
in 1971, profiling his time at Dartmouth, and The Crowd Called UBAD
The Crowd Called UBAD
The Crowd Called UBAD: Story of A People's Movement is the second book from Belizean Evan X Hyde, first published in 1972 and discussing the history of the United Black Association for Development from 1969 to 1971....
in 1972, a complete history of the organization to that point. He also briefly taught at Wesley College, a high school in Belize City.
Hyde also participated in politics. He was one of the nine candidates running in coalition with the National Independence Party
National Independence Party (Belize)
The National Independence Party of Belize was a merger of two Belizean political parties that effectively served as the chief opposition party in Belize for practically all of its existence. It was formed in July 1958 and dissolved as part of the formation of the new United Democratic Party in...
in 1971 City Council elections, in which the coalition lost badly. Hyde also failed in bids for the Collet Division in 1974 and another City Council run in 1977, with the People's United Party (PUP).
Post-UBAD
After the dissolution of UBAD in 1974, Hyde turned full-time to journalism, while publishing two other works: Feelings in 1975, consisting mainly of fiction pieces; and Poems of Passion, Patriotism and Protest, a poetry collaboration with Rowland Parks and Richard "Dickie" Bradley in 1981. But increasingly Hyde found himself devoted to the Amandala as editor and then publisher. His "From the Publisher" columns found a wide audience in discussion of current topics in Belize and African and Mayan history. In 1989, Hyde presided over the creation of KREM Radio and hosted one of its original shows, the Kremandala ShowThe Kremandala Show
The Kremandala Show is a Belizean political commentary talk show airing on Krem Radio and Krem Television. It premiered in 1994 on radio and 2005 on television and was hosted by KREM founder Evan X Hyde.- Format :...
, on Monday nights (it is now on Tuesdays) at 7:30. Hyde's three earliest works returned to print along with other non-fiction pieces and past editorials of the Amandala to 1991 in "X-Communication", published by the Angelus Press in 1994. A few of Hyde's works (fiction this time) were reproduced in editions of the Belizean Writers Series
Belizean Writers Series
The Belizean Writers Series, published by local media house Cubola Productions, preserves some of the best of Belizean arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.The General Editor of the series is Michael D...
later in the decade.
Hyde today is chair of the UBAD Educational Foundation, successor to UBAD and owner of the Library of African and Indian Studies on Partridge Street. He is majority shareholder in the Kremandala media empire and a great influence on its workers.
Publishing history
Fiction:- FeelingsFeelings (anthology)Feelings is an anthology of short fiction and non-fiction pieces written and edited by Evan X Hyde and published by the Angelus Press in Belize in 1975...
, 1975 - Poems of Passion, Patriotism and Protest (with Rowland Parks and Dickie Bradley), 1981
- Snapshots of BelizeBelizean Writers SeriesThe Belizean Writers Series, published by local media house Cubola Productions, preserves some of the best of Belizean arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.The General Editor of the series is Michael D...
(story "A Conscience for Christmas"; Belizean Writers Series) - Ping Wing Juk MeBelizean Writers SeriesThe Belizean Writers Series, published by local media house Cubola Productions, preserves some of the best of Belizean arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.The General Editor of the series is Michael D...
(play "Haad Time"; Belizean Writers Series) - Of PoemsBelizean Writers SeriesThe Belizean Writers Series, published by local media house Cubola Productions, preserves some of the best of Belizean arts and letters, mainly poetry and short stories. The series began in 1995 and is ongoing.The General Editor of the series is Michael D...
(several poems; Belizean Writers Series)
Non-Fiction:
- Knocking Our Own TingKnocking Our Own TingKnocking Our Own Ting is an article length satire written by Evan X Hyde discussing the Battle of St. George's Caye, a naval battle off the coast of Belize occurring in 1798. This battle has been celebrated since 1898 on September 10 as St. George's Caye Day...
(historical satire), 1969 - North Amerikkkan BluesNorth Amerikkkan BluesNorth Amerikkkan Blues is the first novel from Belizean Evan X Hyde, published in 1971. It is autobiographical and tells the story of Hyde's time at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire, U.S.A.. Hyde received a B.A. in English in 1968 from this college.- Plot summary...
(autobiography), 1971 - The Crowd Called UBADThe Crowd Called UBADThe Crowd Called UBAD: Story of A People's Movement is the second book from Belizean Evan X Hyde, first published in 1972 and discussing the history of the United Black Association for Development from 1969 to 1971....
: Story of A People's Movement (history), 1972 - Sports, Sin and SubversionSports, Sin and SubversionSports, Sin and Subversion is the new book from Belizean author Evan X Hyde, published in July 2008. It is Hyde's first new work in over three decades - Plot :...
(sports, history), 2008