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- Roger worked as a photographer
- Insurance salesman
- Journalist
- Novelist
- Playwright
- Poet
- Roger Mais began his literary career in 1939, as a journalist, writing Public Opinions in the weekly newspaper columns. These entries associated him with the Peoples National Party (PNP), contributing to his political involvement. Mr. Mais also wrote for The Daily Gleaner, highlighting topics of social injustice, inequality and discrimination affecting poor black Jamaicans.
- Roger Mais was an activist, advocating for the recognition of national identity, and the preservation and promotion of black culture in the attempts to diminish colonial influences in Jamaica.
- Roger Mais wrote several plays such as; The Naked Truth, General Joshua, The Cloak and The White Oxen.
- Mr Mais also wrote stories like The Little Cobbler, Lady About a Dog and The Talking Tree. He also wrote short stories for Edna Manley’s cultural journal.
- Roger Mais's stories emphasize themes of anti-colonial rhetoric on underprivileged citizens and social issues emerging from segregation. His plays also showcase historic events within Jamaican culture. I.e.; the 1940’s play George William Gordon, a dramatized portrayal of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. Roger Mais was acknowledged for this work which contributed to the rehabilitation of National Hero George William Gordon’s image. Before his declaration as a National Hero, in conventional colonial history, Gordon was described as a rebel and traitor. However, Roger Mais’s play George William Gordon re-invented Jamaican history, highlighting the hero’s contributions to a path that led to Jamaican democracy.
