Twavay

The publication Twavay (a Kwéyòl word meaning “Work”) served as the Movement for a New Dominica (MND) primary ideological organ and radical mouthpiece during the 1970s. Under the fearless editorship of Desmond Trotter (later known as Ras Kabinda), the paper transitioned from a simple community newsletter into a revolutionary document that challenged the post-colonial establishment, exposed government corruption, and articulated a vision of an Afrocentric, socialist society. Today, archival research into Twavay remains central to understanding how the printed word was used as a weapon against the Babylonian structures of the era.

The Ideological Engine of the Movement for a New Dominica

Twavay was established in 1972 as the MND began to coalesce from a group of radicalised students and youth leaders. The paper was designed to reach the “grassroots”, the rural farmers and urban unemployed, who felt excluded by the traditional politics of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP). Unlike the establishment press, which focused on legislative minutiae and colonial social events, Twavay was unashamedly partisan, advocating for the total liberation of the black man in the Caribbean.

The paper’s ideology was a potent blend of Black Power, Pan-Africanism, and Marxist-Leninist critiques of the plantation economy. Desmond Trotter used his editorial platform to argue that political independence from Britain was meaningless if the island’s productive forces, specifically the vast banana estates, remained in the hands of foreign capitalists and a local caretaker elite. Articles often focused on the necessity of land reform, the formation of agricultural cooperatives, and the rejection of the mental slavery inherent in the British education system. By centring the Kwéyòl language in its title and reporting, Twavay asserted a national identity rooted in the labouring class.

Content, Circulation, and the Manicou Legacy

The impact of Twavay was amplified by its connection to the Manicou Movement, a precursor to the MND that had successfully used underground pamphlets to expose governmental corruption in the late 1960s. Trotter, as the primary voice of this transition, ensured that Twavay maintained a focus on investigative journalism, often publishing details of land deals and administrative rip-offs that the mainstream media otherwise ignored.

• The Power of the Pamphlet: Because the MND lacked the resources of a daily broadsheet, Twavay was often distributed as a high-density pamphlet or a cyclostyled newsletter. It was sold for a few cents at the Botanical Gardens, the Roseau market, and during marches of consciousness, making it the most accessible radical text on the island.
• A Multi-Media Resistance: Twavay did not exist in a vacuum. It was the centrepiece of a wider radical media ecosystem that included publications like Black Cry and Manicou Movements. Together, these papers created a counter-public where young Dominicans could read about the struggles of the Black Panthers in the U.S., the independence movements in Africa, and the socialist experiments in Cuba and Guyana.
• Global Solidarity: The paper regularly featured guest editorials and reports from international solidarity groups. This ensured that the local struggle for land in the Grand Bay area was understood by its readers as part of a global anti-imperialist front.

State Suppression and the Judicial Weaponisation of Media

The radical success of Twavay eventually made it a primary target of the Patrick John administration. The government viewed the paper’s calls for land reform and its support for the emerging Dread subculture as a direct threat to national security and the tourism industry. This tension culminated in the 1974 frame-up of Desmond Trotter for the murder of American tourist John Albert Jirasek, a move that many historians believe was designed to silence the editor of Twavay and dismantle the MND’s communication network.

• Criminalising the Editor: During the trial of Trotter, the prosecution used his writings in Twavay as evidence of his violent disposition and anti-white sentiment. The paper was framed by the state as an incitement to terrorism, providing the legislative justification for the subsequent Dread Act of 1974.
• The Seizure of Printing Presses: Following the passage of the Prohibited and Unlawful Societies and Associations Act, the police SSU (Special Service Unit) targeted Twavay’s distribution points. Possession of the paper became a dangerous act of defiance, as anyone found with radical literature could be targeted as a sympathiser of the Dread insurgency.
• The Transition to Oral Tradition: As the physical printing of Twavay became impossible due to police raids and the imprisonment of its staff, the movement shifted its communication to the hills. The spirit of the paper survived through oral reasonings and the secret circulation of handwritten manifestos among the Nonm Te (Men of the Earth).

Twavay is honoured as a pioneer of the Caribbean alternative press. It proved that a small, underfunded publication could fundamentally alter the national discourse and challenge the foundations of a post-colonial state. The legacy of Desmond Trotter’s editorial work is seen today in the vibrant tradition of Dominican talk radio and social media activism, which continues to demand accountability and social justice in the same spirit as the radical youth of the 1970s.