Dr. Irving André launches his latest book today, Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021.
Dominica’s fifth Prime Minister, Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas, who died on October 1, 2000 after a mere eight months in office, marched boldly and purposefully through the corridors of history, leaving an indelible imprint on the landscape of Canada, Ireland, Africa, the Caribbean and Dominica. Rosie’s daring, charisma, self-deprecating humour, generosity and humility transported him to heights which someone, even with his privileged background, could not have envisioned.
The signposts of his life are well known; departure to Canada in 1961 to study agriculture at what became the University of Guelph, attendance at McGill University, the incident at Sir George Williams University in February 1969, his subsequent conviction, incarceration, deportation and in many respects, his “political resurrection” in Libya and then Dominica.
This biography delves beneath these signposts to reveal the quintessential Rosie and the extraordinary qualities and activities that collectively made him the most important Pan Africanist leader of his generation.
In the video below, Dr. André talks about the book.
As a very small child, the first demonstration I ever went to with my mother in Toronto was to stop the deportation of Rosie Douglas. We chanted “Hands off Rosie Douglas!” I did not even know who Rosie was until many years later. I am proud that my mother was one of those who stood in solidarity with Rosie, and very sorry he died without being able to enact his dreams of equality and improvements for the Dominican people.
In 2001 I was asked by the Dominican Embassy in London if I would consider making a sculptor to commemorate Prime Minister Rosie Douglas. At that time my studio was located in the North of England and my work had recently won the UK award for public sculpture.
The maquette, for what would have been a life-size sculpture in bronze, showed Rosie with two of the island’s school children. I made three casts of the maquette; one for the Douglas family, one for the government and the third for reference in my studio. All the preliminary work was done free of charge and I offered to waiver my artist’s for the final version of the sculpture.
Prime Minister Pierre Charles gave the project his blessing, and moreover, invited me to relocate my studio to Dominica so that the island’s school children could follow the work in progress. To this end I established my present studio at Antrim but alas the project died a death with the death of Pierre Charles.
Brother Burnett
Thanks for your leadership, sincere concern for Dominica and Dominicans – most of all your willingness to share your knowledge. Rosie would have been proud of your unselfish humanitarian service. Please keep on publishing your informative articles. We appreciate you and what you tried to do.
God bless
Irving Andre Gabriel Christian Thank you for an excellent presentation of Rosie Douglas life and achievements
Here is part of the mythic Dominica Hero; long departed into oblivion!
After growing frustrated with the bureaucratic delays in obtaining his visa to enter Canada, he made a phone call to then Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker. Mr. Diefenbaker was able to assist Douglas, aged 18 at the time, and sent local MP Bruce Robinson to collect him at the airport.
Douglas became involved in politics as a member of the young Conservative Party of Canada, under the guidance of the right honourable John Diefenbaker. Upon completing his studies in Agriculture, he moved to Mont..
Douglas studied agriculture at Ontario Agricultural College, and political science and economy at Sir George Williams University, Montreal.
Then, in 1969, by then a McGill University post-graduate, he led an anti-racism sit-in at Sir George Williams which led to the occ:
Irvin if you term Rosie ” led an anti-racism sit-in fighting, or fought for something ( I doh know); what you would term what Gandhi; Martin Luther King Jr., and others on the continent of Africa did to free their people from colonialism and became independent.
Where would you fit Nelson Mandela?
Where would you fit a relative of mine into history?
Research Vessy Denmark Telemaque Insurrection; his history is taught in Universities in the United States, he is in their history curriculum.
Irvin,Tim Hector, partners in crime with Rosie Douglas, when asked the people he would chose men of the 20th century before he died; he did not see it fit to include Rosie Douglas; he made no mention of Rosie. In case you don’t know, when Gaddafi stop talking to your hero Rosie, when Gaddafi refuse to deal with Rosie, he appointed Tim Hector to be his lieutenant in the Caribbean!
Did you know that?
Boy, to you Rosie was a hero, but we who knew him; dealt with him in the flesh,…
Pal in case you are a new guy on the scene, it’s called jwyodb (translation – just write your own d*mm book). You can critique something but be a man, quit crying .. well he took your recess, owed u $5 when you both were 12, he wasn’t an angel bla bla bla. That’s disjointed abuse of someone’s blog if u ask me.
My former wife violet, mother and the late Tim Hector mother were “sisters” hence Tim indoctrinate us into Leninism communists ideology.
I sat in Tim mother home on New Gate Street in Antigua and have dinner with Rosie many times; the last time we dine was when Rosie went up and down the Caribbean seeking support for his bad deeds in Canada.
That is when I learn the reason for his anger which led to the burning of the University Computer Center he claimed the professors were failing black students while the whites were succeeding within four years.
Rosie was not capable of succeeding; that is his history!
He wanted to be prime minister of Dominica; he did not become prime minister based on the will of the people; if there was a majority winner, let’s say the UWP won out right; Rosie would have never become prime minister.
It is one thing for mention one name to promote a book, nevertheless; the truth must be told!
Rosie was no hero, he fought nothing!
“after a mere eight months in office, marched boldly and purposefully through the corridors of history,”(Irvin Andre).
Irvin, that is according to you, but you must always remember that there are some of us who knew Rosie Douglas, and perhaps even better than you knew him; the way you portray him, the way you are trying to place him on a a pedestal, many of us will to the day die will remember him for his failure to graduate university, which led to indeed his frustration which caused him to set the Sir George former Sir George Williams University on fire, whether instigate it by using his own hands!Most of us will remember him by his own words, where said before becoming prime minister, the nearest he came to holding a real job was when he ran five terrorist camp in Libya.
I can tell you about that, because I was in the same communists thing with him and the late Tim Hector.
Will continue:
My name is Questions and Answers and as a close friend of Rosie Douglas I continue to ask questions about his death:
1. What killed Rosie
2. What was the real cause of Rosie death
3. Did Rosie die or he was killed
4. If the later, then who killed him?
As we celebrate Easter weekend, let’s all remember that although Judas Iscariot did not literally murder Jesus, it is clear that he planned his death. Did someone we know and love play the role of Judas iscariot in the burial of our brother Rosie?
If brother Rosie were to write a death note before his death would it be something similar to what we see in Psalms 41:9 “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me”????
You were no friend of Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas!
If you were his friend, you would know that Rosie had one of the worst form of hypertension (high blood pressure); and let me be clear on that, his hypertension was untreated!
As a result the pressure on his internal organs, caused even his Esophagus to rupture; the nonsense you are talking is irrelevant to the person; the man I knew.
You all like to place people especially politicians on pedestals make them invincible, super humans, and when they suffer what was in their destiny, people like you come spewing nonsense!
When Rosie died your kind said they kill Rosie; it is a bloodless murder!
What the hell bloodless murder; when Rosie returned from England with the hypertension medication in his pocket; if he took it rather than worrying about fear of getting poisoned he might be alive this day.
Remember there was a Cuban trained quack with Rosie before he died, if that quack had only do a VT he might have saved…
Thinking about Rosie Douglas during the holy week makes his untimely burial even more real and sad. I don’t know but all now I can feel the blood of Rosie Douglas weeping over Dominica. Like David would say in Psalms 55:12
“This isn’t the neighborhood bully mocking me—I could take that. This isn’t a foreign devil spitting invective—I could tune that out. It’s you! We grew up together! You! My best friend! Those long hours of leisure as we walked arm in arm…” Psams 55:12.
As Tony Astaphan would say Is not UWP that did it . They backstabbed him. ..
That’s why Dominica cannot prosper one bit under this Roosevelt Skerrit Labor party.
Can they prosper under you.? Didn’t Rosie burn down the Canadian flag and was escorted back home so much so he never finished his University education in Canada. How about that?
There is much more to Rosies untimely death than meets the eye. One day Dominicans will find out and ask themselves who they could be so blind for so long…