Samuel Alfred Haynes

Samuel Haynes
Born	Samuel Alfred Haynes 1899
Died	1971
Occupation	Civil rights activist
Known for	writing the Belizean national anthem

Samuel Haynes (1899 - 1971) was a Belizean soldier, activist and poet best known for writing the national anthem of Belize, Land of the Free.

Life and career

He was a leader of the 1919 riot by Belizean soldiers who had fought in the First World War and refused to accept racial discrimination back home.

In 1929, he composed the words of a poem named "Land of the Gods". In 1930 with the assistance of Selvyn Young, “Land of the Gods,” was composed into a musical arrangement, first used in 10th of September celebrations before becoming Belize's national anthem, "Land of the Free".[1][2]

Also, prominent in the Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association, Haynes was once the President of the Pittsburgh Division, editor/writer for the Negro World[3] and for a brief period the Official American Representative for the UNIA-ACL 1929 under the Honorable Marcus Garvey.[4]

References

1. Macpherson, Anne S. (2007). From Colony to Nation: Women Activists and the Gendering of Politics in Belize, 1912-1982. University of Nebraska Press. p. 84. ISBN 9780803232426. ISSN 1555-8401.
2. Thomas Streissguth (1 August 2009). Belize in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-57505-958-7. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
3. Winston James (1998). Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twentieth-century America. Verso. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-85984-140-2. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
4. Hill, Robert A., ed. (1983). The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers. Vol. VII. University of California Press. p. xxxvii. ISBN 9780520072084.

Sources

• "BELIZE : Belize National Anthem - Land of the Free"
• SilverTorch Belize Quiz