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A true cultural ambassador
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Boston Globe, A true cultural ambassador >>
-by Sarah Rodman
By tracing musical roots, singer Andy Palacio raises awareness of his people.
" Have you heard about Belize? Have you heard about these people called Garifuna ? "
Those are the questions that Belizean singer-songwriter Andy Palacio hopes people will start asking their friends once they've finished listening to his latest album, the enchanting "Watina."
"Many people still don't know about the Garifuna presence in the region of Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua and a lot of people still don't know the name Belize," says Palacio of the people and country he represents with his lilting confection of Caribbean and Afro-Latin rhythms.
Palacio has made it his business to spread the word about the Garifuna, a group descended from West African slaves who survived the sinking of their vessels off the coast of St. Vincent and mingled with the native Carib population in the early 17th century. (Hard numbers are scarce because descendants fanned out to Central America and the United States -- including populations in Boston and Los Angeles -- after being driven from St. Vincent in 1796.) In 2004, in addition to his music, he took the position of cultural ambassador for Belize's National Institute of Culture and History .
Luckily, he says with a chuckle, "the institute has given me time off to tour." And tour he will, traveling to Europe, Asia, and the United States , then back to Belize in the next few months. Palacio and the Garifuna Collective play the Museum of Fine Arts on Aug. 1. 05/20/07 >> go there
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