Justice Irving Andre releases The Mantle of Struggle: A Biography of Black Revolutionary Rosie Douglas

BY PAUL JUNOR

The official launch of the book, “The Mantle of Struggle: A Biography of Black Revolutionary Rosie Douglas” on Saturday, November 4^th, 2023, is a welcome addition to works exploring Black Caribbean leaders. It was written by Justice Dr. Irving Andre, and it was launched in Brampton, the hometown of Dr. Irvine. There were many invited guests, family members and community members in attendance to celebrate the launch of this historic and culturally important book.

Abigail Hamilton, Executive Director of RESQ, and four invited guests spoke about their friendship with Dr. Irvine: Mr. Sheridan Gregoire, CEO, Q95 Radio, Honourable Justice Kofi Barnes, Superior Court of Justice Honourable Justice Faizal Mirza, Superior Court of Justice and Dr. Merlin Charles, Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto.  Justice Irving was introduced by Anne Boyne, CEO and Executive Director of Knights. He describes his motivation in writing the biography: it is to correct inaccuracies about the life of this controversial and colourful Caribbean icon and presents facts about his life.

The book is divided into four sections. The first section traces his early childhood in Dominica from his birth in 1941 and the early influences he was exposed to. His father, Robert Bernard Douglas was a well-known businessman, wealthy landowner, and politician. The second section describes Douglas’ time in Canada during his studies at the Ontario Agricultural College and later at Sir George William University. Details are provided about the issues and the ensuing campus riots as well as his subsequent incarceration for eleven months and deportation to Dominica. The third section focuses on his political involvement in his home country as a freedom fighter on his path to independence. It ends with his party winning the January 2000 General election. The fourth section describes the process involved in the formation of the government, disputes within the party, and his premature death.

There are several endorsements by prominent African Canadian authors.

Dr. Afua Cooper, a prominent historian and Killam Research Chair in African Diaspora History at Dalhousie University writes, “This is a vital contribution to Black, Pan-African, Canadian, and Caribbean history and studies, this work is a tour de force, and I thank Irving Andre for it.”

Rinaldo Walcott, Professor at UTECH writes, “To fully understand Canada’s antagonism with blackness and Black people, this Biography of Rosie Douglas proves to be the necessary and important foundation. From student activist to Prime Minister of Dominica, Douglas’s life is an example of transnational Black activism and deep insight into the central place of the Caribbean and its intellectuals in shaping the modern world. Irving’s account of Douglas’s life is both instructive and heartbreaking.”

Kevin Edmonds, Assistant Professor of Community Engaged Learning and Caribbean Studies at the University of Toronto writes, “The complexity, movement, growth, and unwavering purpose of Rosie Douglas’s life is brilliantly captured here in-depth for the first time thanks to the richness of archival work and wide-ranging interviews. It is a treasure trove for those wishing to learn more about the radical history of the Caribbean and Canada. Douglas’s often central place in these struggles for genuine decolonization and freedom across both time and space.”

Journalist Adrian Harewood writes, “It’s an illuminating portrayal of a son of privilege who was also a man of the people, selfless in his commitment to uplifting the wretched of the earth. He was a political revolutionary and anti-imperialist champion of global resistance movements.” Kate Quinn notes, “Andre’s book captures the complexities of the man and the breath of his achievements, giving him his rightful place among the firmament of the greats who have struggled for Caribbean and Pan-African liberation.”

Author Wendell NII Laryea Adhetey notes it is “An intimate portrait of one of the most important but underappreciated Pan-Africanists of the post-war period whose intrepid activism linked African peoples throughout the Atlantic world.”