Instrumental giant and political activist killed in accident
This past Wednesday night, a traffic accident took the life of Ray Lightburn, a former street general for the opposition People’s United Party. He had a long trajectory in publishing, but it is his political work and unionism that Lightburn was well known for. Just recently a book was published on his colorful life. Jose Sanchez reports.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
This man wrapped in a sheet near the entrance of Los Lagos on the Northern Highway was knocked down and killed after seven last night. Inspector Calbert Flowers was at the scene after the accident occurred.
Inspector Calbert Flowers, O.C., Ladyville Police
“Police observed a white Toyota Hilux with extensive damage to the front portion. The bonnet and the front windshield and the bumper were extensively damaged. Also on the scene, police observed the apparent lifeless body of a Creole decent male person on the right hand side of the road heading towards Belize City. Initial investigations reveal that this Toyota Hilux was being driven at that time by one Nigel Tillett a resident of Sand Hill. He was heading from the direction of Sandhill towards Belize. When reaching this area, he apparently hit the victim, who was later identified as Mister Ray Lightburn.”
Ray Lightburn was well known in political circles. His brother, basketball legend Pulu, recounted some of his contributions to Belize.
Clifford “Pulu” Lightburn, Brother of Deceased
“It was the union that they used to overthrow the British or to turn the things around in Belize and Ray Lightburn was the president of the Christian Workers Union and I recall as a youth he put this whole country on strike. First, he went to the Port. The stevedores were making like thirty-something cents an hour. When he left from there they were making eighty-nine cents an hour. Then he went north down to Corozal and Orange Walk and he put the caneros on strike and when he left they owned the industry. And then I went with to gallon jug, where he went up against the lumber company and he put them on strike too so he really did a lot to turn this country around, to liberate Belize. He was a true revolutionary.”
In 1998, Ray ran unsuccessfully against Michael Finnegan in General Elections. Here’s Ray the day before the election.
Ray Lightburn, P.U.P., Mesopotamia (August 26, 1998)
“I’ve been in this for thirty-four years. Like Mr. Price, I’ve been around him since I was eighteen and I remember every night, election night, he goes to sleep and he says, it is in the hands of the people. I feel the same way. It is in the hands of the people and I am with the people. I think that with the party going to the people and involving them in the process, that it gives me a tremendous difference. It’s about collective leadership.”
Jose Sanchez
“The demons that he carried with him, that led him to the streets. What happened?”
Clifford “Pulu” Lightburn
“Well at the age of sixty-two, my mom used to tell us you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And at the age of sixty-two, he was suffering from alcoholic dementia. I went with Cuba with him twice and quit drinking, he didn’t drink anymore. But he met a young girl who had just got out of jail and who was on crack and that was at the age of sixty-two, that was about eight years ago and he started smoking and after that he was lost.”
Yasser Musa, Publisher, Factory Books
“Historically he is known for his unionism work. His work as a real soldier for the constructive revolution, so there’s a lot of things that I’m thinking about when I think of Ray. Yes he was a man addicted to drugs to the later part of his life, but he spent a lot of his life doing great things and doing things. I think now that he has passed its best to remember him for the good things that he represented.”
Yasser Musa was a child when he first met Ray, and he has recently published Ray’s book.
Yasser Musa
“I remember him as a magical figure, a guy who was very animated for his ability to speak, very poetic in his language, very dramatic in his gestures and his skill in telling a story. To me that’s one of the strongest memories.”
Ray Lightburn, Author, Nothing to Lose (July 16, 2009)
“I want especially the young people of Belize to know about the struggle and the sacrifice we made to get our independence against all odds. It’s not about his story, Ray Lightburn’s story, it is more about the country and what we did to achieve our independence and prosperity and freedom—about freedom and peace in a region that was full of wars, civil wars and turmoil.”
Yasser Musa
“The oral tradition, the culture of a society, came out in him. He was really a bridge between the leadership and the people. He was able to carry messages to the people and also bring back messages to the people. And so he was a great mediator. I guess he learned that well as a union man.”
Clifford “Pulu” Lightburn
“This was a man who was respected by people on both sides of the fence. And he knew how to play the game of politics. He was a master at that game. He used to say I just want to know the rules and I’m ready to play. He was the good the bad and the ugly.”
Ray was a light and his contribution to Belize burns. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
The P.U.P. today issued a statement recalling his contributions to the party’s political development. This afternoon, Nigel Tillett, the driver of the vehicle that hit Lightburn, was charged with Manslaughter by Negligence, Causing Death by Careless Conduct and Driving without Due Care and Attention. Ray Lightburn, dead at sixty-eight.
