News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Oct. 6, 2025: There are men who walk softly upon the earth, and there are men who stride as though the earth itself pauses to listen. The late Prime Minister of Dominica, Rosie Douglas, was unmistakably the latter. He spoke with the fire of prophets and the tenderness of poets. He believed that even the smallest island could send ripples across oceans and that a people once bound by colonization could rise to become the architects of their own destiny.
Born to privilege but baptized in struggle, Rosie Douglas lived at the intersection of comfort and conviction. Educated in Canada, he was imprisoned for his fearless stand against racism and injustice, only to be later vindicated by the same academic institution, Concordia University (formerly Sir George Williams University), for his role in the 1969 student revolt. History has indeed absolved him. In 2022, Concordia University issued a formal apology, acknowledging that it should have taken more seriously the allegations of racism made by Caribbean students against one of its professors.
When Rosie Douglas ascended to the office of Prime Minister in January 2000, he governed like a man set aflame by possibility. In a mere eight months, he reached across oceans and ideologies with bold imagination. He signed a three-hundred-million-dollar agreement with China to construct an international airport, engaged Europe’s social democrats, and rallied the Dominican diaspora and African Americans to invest in his homeland. For him, politics was not limited to performance but focused on purpose. Leadership, he believed, was guided more by the spirit of service than by the lure of power.
Today, as Dominica and the wider Caribbean once again stand at a crossroads, confronting climate anxiety, economic fragility, and a generation wrestling with displacement, Rosie’s voice still drifts upon the trade winds: Rise, my people. Rise higher than your fears. He reminds us that independence without imagination is hollow, leadership without love is barren, and progress without unity is fragile.
From his brief yet blazing journey, three timeless lessons continue to shine.
Dream large but work wisely. Build bridges wider than borders. Serve with love, not ego.
To dream large but work wisely is to transform climate anxiety into creativity, to harness the winds and waves of our islands as engines of renewal. To build bridges wider than borders is to see Caribbean youth using art, science, and digital innovation not to compete but to collaborate. And to serve with love, not ego, is to call our leaders to exchange vanity for vision, to root out corruption, and to elevate service as the highest form of citizenship.
Prime Minister Rosie Douglas’s body rests in the soil of Hampstead, Dominica, but his spirit still sings through the Caribbean wind. He stands as proof that one life, lived fiercely and faithfully, can light a thousand lamps. For every young Dominican who questions their significance in a vast and indifferent world, remember this: Rosie Douglas already proved that small nations can dream beyond their size and stand tall among giants. His dream of a prosperous Dominica did not die with him. It stirs anew, especially in the hearts of our youth.
A week before his passing, Prime Minister Douglas stood at Georgetown University and offered a vision that continues to stir the Caribbean soul:
“The region must plan its future through continuous dialogue, market-driven integration, and new alliances with the developed world.”
He reminded us that the Caribbean must think strategically, craft long-term solutions, and refuse to drift upon the tides of chance. Nations rise when vision outlives the visionary. His call remains clear and commanding: Think strategically. Act boldly. Build bridges wider than the waters that divide us.
The Caribbean was never meant merely to drift. It was destined to define, to imagine, and to reshape the world in the rhythm of its own soul.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is the co-author of Steps to Good Governance. A graduate of Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, he is a global leadership, change management, and policy adviser to distinguished leaders around the world.
British Caribbean News
