J. R. Ralph Casimir

J. R. Ralph Casimir (28 September 1898 – 8 March 1996) was a Dominican poet, editor, journalist and bookseller. A pioneering Caribbean pan-Africanist, he was a founding member of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), organising its Dominica branch. Casimir also compiled Dominica's first poetry anthologies.

Biography Born into a lower-middle-class black family in St. Joseph, Dominica, in 1898, Joseph Raphael (Ralph) Casimir was educated at the St. Joseph Government School, serving as a pupil teacher in 1915–1916, before he and his family moved to Roseau, where he became a solicitor's clerk to Cecil Rawle. He acted as the Dominican agent for Negro World and for other black periodicals such as The Crisis (edited by W. E. B. Du Bois). Under the pseudonym "Civis Africanus", he contributed "dozens of Pan-Africanist-oriented poems" to the Negro World, and after the publication was officially banned in West Africa, sent copies to the editor of the Gold Coast Leader, J. E. Casely Hayford. Casimir was also an agent for Garvey's Black Star Line. – which was attended by representatives from Trinidad, Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Antigua, St. Kitts and Grenada, including such key figures as Captain Arthur Cipriani of Trinidad and T. Albert Marryshow of Grenada.

Alongside being the leading figure in the Dominica UNIA, Casimir was active at a local community level, elected to serve as a Roseau town councillor, and his working life additionally encompassed being a bookseller and bookbinder. featuring in his last book a series of poems about African civilization and the historical contributions of black pioneers.

Casimir was also an editor and anthologist, notably compiling four volumes of Dominican verse: Poesy, Book I (1943), Poesy, Book II (1944), Poesy, Book III (1946), and Poesy Book IV (1947). published by Papillote Press in 2022. According to Lennox Honychurch, "In Black Man Listen, Kathy MacLean has not only done her grandfather proud, but she has provided Caribbean people with a new window onto Marcus Garvey's work in the region and among the African diaspora around the world." In another review of the book, Gabriel Christian wrote: "MacLean masterfully juxtaposes historical accounts with present-day reflections, reinforcing the timelessness of Casimir's mission for dignity and unity. ... Overall, 'Listen Black Man' is a powerful tribute and an essential read for anyone interested in Caribbean history, Pan-Africanism, and the relentless pursuit of cultural and political identity. It's a compelling reminder of the remarkable impact one individual can have in shaping the course of history."