Good morning to the mountains, the rivers, the volcanoes, and the people who bring them to life – a proud hello to our beloved Dominica!
My brothers, my sisters, the people of Dominica, for too long, we have been told to wait. Wait for change. Wait for opportunity. Wait for freedom. But I am here to tell you this: freedom does not come to those who wait. Freedom is not gifted. Freedom is claimed, and it is claimed by those brave enough to stand, to act, and to rise together.
They would like you to forget our history, our past experiences. They would like you to believe that the future belongs to you. But memory is power. Memory is resistance. When we remember who we are and what we have experienced, we reclaim the right to decide our own destiny.
We have been taught to fear, to hesitate, to divide ourselves while others profit from our chains. Division may be Roosevelt Skerrit’s weapon, but unity can be our shield. When we stand together, no system, no government, no oppressor will break us. Our strength is in our people and in our hands. We need to start building with our people. Spend our money on our people. Control your own economy. That is the true path to respect, to influence, to sovereignty.
Do not be fooled, oppression does not always roar. Sometimes it seeps in quietly over generations, disguising itself as routine, until we have forgotten that it was ever intentional. Oppression will arrest those who protest and defend their people, yet allows the oppressors to walk free. That is not justice. That is control.
But let me tell you this, oppression and power never yield without pressure. History only bends when those who are oppressed refuse to remain silent. We must organize, we must rise together, we must refuse to continue to accept the lies and delays. And then—only then—does the world begin to shift
We cannot sleep while our nation cries for freedom. We cannot whisper when our communities demand justice. Real revolution begins not in noise, but in discipline, in courage, and in the unbreakable determination to defend what is ours. We will not forgive those who used us, who laughed while we suffered, who betrayed us without shame. We honour ourselves by refusing to allow them back into our lives or our government. We honour ourselves by refusing to be complicit in our own oppression.
Education is the foundation of freedom. Knowledge is power in its purest form. People who wait to be told when they may live freely are already being controlled. History is shaped by those who prepare, organize, and move with purpose – not by those who wait in line for their turn. So I say to every man and woman who loves Dominica:
- Stand Up.
- Speak Up.
- Act Now!
Build our future with our own hands. Protect our people. Protect our homes. Defend our dignity. Because in Dominica, self-respect begins the moment we draw a line and refuse to be moved off it. The time has come to rise. The time has come to reclaim what is ours. The time has come to remind the world that Dominica is not a land of silence but a country of courage, unity, and unstoppable strength. Our freedom is not given. It is taken. And together, we will take it back.
