Belize City, the largest city and former capital, is a key site in Belize’s Black history. Once known as Belize Town, it was the main port where enslaved Africans arrived in the 1700s to labor in the British logging industry. This laid the foundation for the Creole population and made the city a center of Black life. The city became a center for Black resistance (1919 Riots), labor organizing, and nationalist movements. Today, it remains a hub of political, cultural, and historical activity where Black identity in Belize has been formed and contested.
Located at the mouth of the Belize River along the Caribbean coast, Belize City sits on land once inhabited by the Maya, who referred to the area as Holzuz and engaged in small-scale trade and settlement. In 1638, British logwood cutters established Belize Town on this site, gradually transforming it into a key colonial outpost. The 1763 Treaty of Paris granted Britain formal rights to extract timber in the region, reinforcing its foothold despite continued Spanish and Indigenous resistance. By the 18th century, enslaved Africans, many of them from the Igbo ethnic group, were brought to labor in mahogany camps, forming communities like Eboe Town in swampy parts of the city. In 1862, the area became the administrative and commercial center of British Honduras and was officially declared a Crown Colony in 1871. Colonial laws (Crown Lands Ordinances, Land Settlement Acts, and Apprenticeship laws) regulating land, labor, and movement marginalized both Indigenous and Black (Creole) populations, deepening racial and economic inequalities.
Black resistance and survival in Belize City have deep roots, beginning in the 18th century when enslaved Africans, many of Igbo descent, were brought to the colony to work in the timber industry. In neighborhoods like Eboe Town, they built communities that preserved African traditions, languages, and spiritual practices, laying the foundation for Afro-Belizean Creole identities. Though Eboe Town was destroyed by fire in 1819, its legacy lives on through cultural memory and the annual Eboe Town/Emancipation Day festival. From 1745 to 1816, enslaved Africans made up over 70 percent of the population, creating both the numerical strength and communal networks necessary for collective resistance. Harsh labor conditions, displacement from kinship structures, and the brutality of slavery led to widespread rebellions in 1745, 1765, 1786, 1773, and 1820. In 1919, Black World War I veterans led an uprising in Belize Town, demanding land, wages, and justice after facing racism during and after the war. In 1920, Vivian Seay established the Belize Black Cross Nurses, the women’s auxiliary of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and African Communities League, to combat racial disparities in health and uplift Black women’s leadership. The momentum carried into the late 1960s with the rise of the United Black Association for Development (UBAD), founded by Lionel Clarke and later led by Evan X Hyde, along with a collective of young Black Belizean intellectuals. Formed in response to deepening racial inequality, especially after the devastation of Hurricane Hattie, and inspired by the global Black Power Movement, UBAD used education and cultural programming to challenge colonial structures, promote Black consciousness, and empower Black poor and working-class communities in Belize.
With deep roots in Black resistance and community-building, Belize City has nurtured some of Belize’s most impactful leaders, from political revolutionaries to cultural icons, including:
● Vivian Seay — Nurse, organizer, and founder of the Belize Black Cross Nurses; an advocate for Black women’s health and civil engagement.
● Cleopatra White — A Public health pioneer who expanded rural healthcare and helped lead the Black Cross Nurses in advancing social services.
● Evan X Hyde — Writer, political activist, and editor of Amandala; led the United Black Association for Development (UBAD), bringing Black Power and pride to Belize.
● Philip Goldson — Nationalist leader, journalist, and advocate for workers’ rights and Belizean independence.
● Samuel Haynes — Soldier, leader of the 1919 Riots, Garveyite, and poet who authored the national anthem "Land of the Free".
● Wilfred Peters — Legendary Brukdown musician and cultural ambassador who helped preserve Creole music and storytelling traditions.
● National Kriol Council — Founded to promote and preserve the Kriol language and culture, the Council advocates for cultural recognition, language rights, and educational inclusion for Belize’s Creole population.
● Museum of Belize — Located in a former colonial prison, the museum holds exhibits on slavery, colonial rule, and African/Creole history, serving as a vital public archive of Afro-Belizean resilience and identity formation.
● Bliss Institute for Performing Arts — Theatre, museum, and National Arts Council dedicated to nurturing creative expression, supporting the development of artists, and promoting Belize’s diverse cultures.
● Imagination Factri — A contemporary art institution dedicated to the promotion, exhibition, and documentation of Belizean cultural life.
BCA is a platform dedicated to amplifying Black Central American history, culture, and scholarship. Through curated content, innovative programming, and collaborative initiatives, we explore the collective memory, cultural and political organizing, and creative place-making practices of Black Central American communities across the isthmus and its diasporas.
