In July 2021, the question was posed in The Gleaner: Why is CARICOM Day not a national holiday throughout the Caribbean? Five years later, in July 2026, the issue arises again for consideration by our Caribbean policymakers.

On July 4, 1973, four visionary leaders - Errol Barrow of Barbados, Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Michael Manley of Jamaica, and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago - signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas, creating the Caribbean Community. In so doing, they laid the foundation for what remains the most ambitious experiment in regional integration undertaken by small developing states anywhere in the world.

That date is more than a historical footnote. It is the birthplace of the Caribbean Community and, therefore, the midwife of our claim to regionhood. And to our being one out of many.