Photo of Guyana-born regional journalist Rickey Singh via Wesley Gibbings and courtesy of his daughter, Donna Ramsammy, used with permission.

Guyana-born Rickey Singh, a well-known, fearless and sometimes controversial voice in regional media, died on Saturday, July 5, at his home in Barbados. He was 89 years old.

Singh was an extraordinary figure in regional journalism, during often turbulent times at home and abroad. His career spanned over five decades, during which he reported on several momentous events. Although slight in stature, his incisive reports, interviews and columns packed a strong punch.

The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, describing Singh’s “journalistic journey” as being “marked by courage, tenacity, and a flair for uncovering the untold,” recounted some of Singh’s dramatic personal experiences while on the job, including “narrowly escaping a lynching while on assignment in Buxton, [surviving] an encounter with a notorious ‘Death Squad’ in Georgetown’s Botanical Gardens, and even a near-fatal poisoning incident at work”:

Yet, perhaps most memorable were his bold and unflinching exchanges with some of the Caribbean’s most formidable political figures — encounters that not only defined his career but also helped shape regional discourse.

Born in Guyana in 1935, Singh lost both his parents at an early age; according to this report, he remembered running through the village, at age eight or nine years old, shouting the news of his young mother’s passing. He was brought up by his sister Betia, who got married at age 15, and then by his older brother Richard, who became his mentor.

Singh left Central High School in Georgetown at the age of 17, and went to work at the Guiana Graphic, where he wrote his first story in 1957. He trained at the University of Indiana, and in 1974, he spent a few months in the United Kingdom. He soon returned, however, to continue his work in the Caribbean, where he was becoming well known for his sharp commentary and enthusiastic reporting.

He contributed stories to a number of wire services, including the Guyana Chronicle, Barbados Nation, Jamaica Gleaner, and Trinidad Guardian. He was also heard on the BBC Caribbean Report and the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) — now the Caribbean Media Corporation — as well as other outlets in North America and the United Kingdom.

Singh was not afraid to confront local politicians on their own ground. He challenged the policies of Guyana’s first executive president, Forbes Burnham, after which he moved to Trinidad and Tobago, where he edited the acclaimed “Caribbean Contact,” and then to Barbados. Both countries withdrew his work permit because of his sharp criticism of their leading politicians; in the case of Barbados, things came to a head when he criticised their administration’s stance on the U.S. invasion of Grenada. Eventually, however, he was able to stay on the island with his wife and six children.

Singh was known for his insightful interviews with powerful Caribbean leaders, including Cuban President Fidel Castro and Eric Williams, Trinidad and Tobago’s “Father of the Nation.”

The recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies, Singh cultivated close friendships with a number of influential writers and opinion makers across the region, including Martin Carter, George Lamming, Wilson Harris, Derek Walcott, Edgar Mittelholzer, V.S. Naipaul, and more. Another friend, journalist Hubert Williams, wrote about Singh in 2019:

I would say just about everybody admired the person and professional journalist he is — certainly not a conservative, but far too disciplined and religious to be communist. […] Young intellectuals and political initiates found value in his company when they were going through the critical and exciting stages of their upper teens. Many have maintained a steadfast friendship over the years, with their locations extending from Cuba, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, T&T, Barbados, Guyana and Suriname.

Via WhatsApp, veteran Jamaican journalist and podcaster Franklin McKnight told Global Voices that Singh was a “man with a big heart…talented…a true Caribbean man,” while fellow regional journalist Wesley Gibbings, who was friends with Singh for over 40 years and considered him a mentor, said:

Rickey’s accomplishments as a journalist exceed excellence in the art of truthtelling. His commitment to the Caribbean cause was driven by a love not easily replicated or even reciprocated. I remember his great skill, but even more than this I recall his overflowing care and love for the space we inhabit.

A devoted member of the Pentecostal Church, and with a ready sense of humour despite the serious nature of his work, Singh was devastated by the 1980 assassination of his good friend Walter Rodney in Georgetown. Singh wrote about the controversies surrounding the enquiry into Rodney's death.

Guyana’s Minister for Public Affairs, Kwame McKoy, hailed Singh as a journalist who devoted his life to his work, adding:

I fondly recall in my days as a youth looking forward to reading Rickey Singh’s work in the Guyana Chronicle. So fond, that I would leave the Chronicle newspaper for last in my reading lineup as it stood out as the best which must be saved for last.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley also paid tribute to Singh, describing him as a role model for younger journalists and stressing his passion for Caribbean unity:

As we prepare to reflect on our future as a region and the need for solidarity as we navigate the potentially treacherous waters ahead of us, Rickey’s commitment to regionalism over insularity ought to be top of mind for all of us.

Mottley added in a note on Instagram:

I could not help but recognise that his departure truly confirms that we are witnessing the end of an era in Caribbean journalism that produced a cadre of veterans who epitomised a spirit of regional cooperation and togetherness even when political leaders still struggled with the concept.

Whether or not Rickey Singh was one of a dying generation of Caribbean journalists whose dedication to the craft has been difficult for younger practitioners to emulate, he was one of a kind, and his influence in the region, undeniable.