Stanley G. Grizzle fondly remembered by friends
By Neil Armstrong
The late Stanley G. Grizzle accomplished many things in his
life -- including being the first African Canadian to be employed by the
Ontario Ministry of Labour (in 1962) and the first African Canadian judge in
the Court of Canadian Citizenship (appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
in 1978) – but it is his wit, charm, mischief and playfulness that some who
knew him remember.
Grizzle, who was born in Toronto on November 18, 1918, died
on November 12 at Toronto East General Hospital, just days before his 98th
birthday.
His parents, Theodore C. Grizzle and Mary A. Sinclair
Grizzle, had come, separately, to Toronto from Jamaica in 1911 and met and
married here.
Grizzle, the oldest of seven children, attended King Edward
School and then went on to Harbord Collegiate.
He worked for the CPR as a sleeping car porter for twenty
years and was active in the organization of the union, Brotherhood of Sleeping
Car Porters, serving as president of the local chapter for 16 years.
His work in the labour and social justice movement included
being a delegate to the Toronto Labour Council, 1955-61; a member of the
Toronto Labour Committee for Human Rights, 1956-61; a founder of the Railway
Porter’s Trade Union Council, 1958; and he was also an officer of the Ontario
Labour Relations Board, 1961-78.
“Stan grew up to challenge the colour
barrier that prevented Black Canadians from enjoying equal rights. At age 19 he
co-founded the Young Men's Negro Association of Toronto. As a soldier in
Europe, Stan challenged the then-common practice of using soldiers of colour as
butlers for senior officers,” notes his obituary in the Toronto Star.
In 1942, he was conscripted into the
military for World War II and spent time in Scotland, England, France, Holland,
Belgium and Germany before returning to Canada and being discharged from the
military in February 1946.
He took a two-week leave of absence to
marry Kay in Hamilton, Ontario in September 1942.
“We crossed the English Channel to
France on a ship thirty days after D-Day, June 6, 1944. I still hated every
minute of being in the army and as therapy I took up jazz singing. Everywhere
we went, I sang in jazz bands. It was therapy to me,” writes Grizzle in his
memoir, in which he describes himself as a pacifist.
Track was also great therapy for him
since he hated army life, said Grizzle, who would jog up and down the hills of
Terrace, British Columbia, in preparation to being sent overseas during his
conscription.
In Canada, his multiple interests resulted in him being an
associate editor and columnist for Contrast, the groundbreaking Black community
newspaper; he ran as a candidate for the provincial CCF Party in 1959 – the
first Black Canadian to do so; was chairman of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Fund
of Toronto, 1966; and became the first trade unionist to be appointed a judge
in the citizenship court.
Grizzle was inducted into the Canadian Labour Hall of Fame
in 1994 and is the recipient of the Order of Canada from Governor General Romeo
Leblanc in 1995; the Order of Ontario from Lieutenant Governor Lincoln
Alexander in 1990; and the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica
in 1978.
In 1998, he, working with editor, John Cooper, documented
his life in the book, My Name’s Not
George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in Canada.
Personal Reminiscences of Stanley G. Grizzle.
“Dad has had many firsts in this
wonderful country of ours. While Rosa Parks was fighting for a seat on a bus in
the southern USA in 1958, Dad was fighting for a seat in the Ontario
Legislature under the banner of the CCF (now the NDP), the first person of colour
to fight for a seat in any province! This was when I first realized that Dad
was a fighter. He started fighting before I was born and the legacy he
leaves has benefited people of all colours and religions and will continue to
do so for my grandchildren and yours,” notes a posting from Stanley E. Grizzle,
his son, on the day that the nonagenarian was laid to rest.
Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist, says she will
miss Grizzle because he was “our daily patron” who would walk by the store up
until the age of 91.
He had a regular ritual to walk from his home nearby to the
bookstore.
“He takes his walks and he’d look in the window, and he’d be
looking for My Name’s Not George, knowing
full well that it’s probably out of print.
He wouldn’t see it and he’d walk in. He’d go to the shelf and he’ll
probably find the one copy that we have in circulation because we anticipate
this moment with him. And he’d pick it up and he’d put it in the window. And he
goes, ‘Have a nice life, dear.’”
Sadu said Grizzle would walk up the street and she would
have to take the book back out the window because if she sold it he wouldn’t
have anything to put in the window.
“We had this ongoing wonderful relationship and morning
banter with him and saw how particular he was about his health. I’m going to
miss that engagement.”
She remembers, about ten years ago, having the honour of
taking Grizzle and Don Carty to the museum in Collingwood to show them their
place in history.
They -- Itah and Miguel – decided to do this on August 29,
their wedding anniversary, alongside Carty’s wife, Doris.
Sadu said she did this, all the time not knowing that these
are two men who never saw eye to eye.
She said one travelled with a valice, the other with a
suitcase for the day trip, just in case they were asked to speak.
One wanted to listen to jazz; the other classical music on
the journey but Sadu opted to resolve the matter, as the driver, by choosing
funk.
She said it was a beautiful day; both men saw an old friend,
saw themselves in history, had lunch, and on their way home they were very
quiet, very thoughtful.
“And Stanley says, ‘I’ve done a lot of things in my life and
the government has awarded me. I’ve got a lot of recognition. My family was
never able to enjoy that recognition, and my wife.’ Nobody says a word. Then
Don says, ‘All my brothers, we fought in the war…’ Nobody says a word.
“We get on the highway coming home, there is a little
squabble about who gets dropped off first but here are these two men now just
reflecting on their time in Canada, who they were, their names in history, what
was that responsibility but in that important moment thinking of when you’re
married to community, or when community gets married to you, and community is
your family then what is the role of your family in that space.”
Reflecting on that day, she said: “When history calls you,
it’s an incredible moment, and history called both those men.”
She describes Grizzle as the bookstore’s resident local
historian and living history.
“I don’t ever recall him repeating the same things twice
about his life, or the angle or the approach, and they would be the summation
of the things he did. It struck me once when a high school group came from
Calgary and he came to speak to them about the history of Bathurst Street and
Toronto. And then he talked about being a jazz musician and playing jazz. I
couldn’t recall him ever talking to or sharing that with the other students
that came around. He would come a good couple of times a year, any time that
groups came from Michigan, wherever in the world, we would call him up and say,
hey Stan, would you want to come over and welcome them to the city?”
The avid storyteller said every time he came she learned
something else about him.
She also said Grizzle had a mischievousness about him that
endeared him to her daughter, Sojourner, and other young people who loved him.
“And, I shook his hand because his hand held the steering
wheel of the car that drove Coretta Scott King to perform at Massey Hall,” Sadu
quipped.
The wife of the civil rights leader performed as a
soprano-narrator at her “Freedom” concert at Massey Hall in Toronto on May 14,
1966.
At the end of her performance, Grizzle, as chairman of the
Martin Luther King Fund of Toronto, presented her with a cheque for $5,000.
Rita Cox and Pamela Appelt followed in Grizzle footsteps
with appointments as Canadian Citizenship Court judges -- Appelt in 1987 (as
the first African Canadian woman appointed to that post) serving until 1998,
and Cox in 1995.
Cox said she didn’t know him well but followed him in the
Court of Canadian Citizenship and although he was by this time retired, he
returned to do ceremonies.
“And I knew just how much he was loved by all the staff at
Citizenship and Immigration. When he came back there was great excitement in
the office every time. He was much, much admired.”
The retired librarian said Grizzle was “one of the pioneers
who fought for so many of our rights.”
“He was unceasing and he wasn’t wishy-washy about it. He was
determined. He contributed a lot. He was a constant figure in our community for
progress. He was greatly admired. He was a good role model for us,” she said.
Appelt said Grizzle autographed a copy of his book for her
daughter, Melanie, in November 1997.
“Stan was one of the first individuals that reached out to
me after my appointment was announced. We had a great relationship prior to my
appointment. He did not mind taking the train to Oakville and visit with my
husband, David, and our family. They both enjoyed drinking Appleton rum. He was
also there for my family when David passed in 1992.”
Appelt said in 1997, Grizzle became a colleague, as he was
reappointed as a part time judge at the St. Clair citizenship court where she
worked.
“On a few occasions, I sat in on his court ceremony and
there was no doubt that he fully engaged all new Canadians. He was able to
welcome them to Canada in at least fifteen languages. The entire staff at the
St. Clair court had such respect for Stan. He ensured that the staff knew that
his name was pronounced ‘GRIZZEL’ and not ‘Grizzle’ so when the applicants came
for their hearing they were told before entering his chambers the correct
pronunciation of his name.”
She is thankful that Grizzle paved the way for her and so
many others who came from other countries.
Rosemary Sadlier, immediate past president of the Ontario
Black History Society (OBHS), describes him as a concerned son, husband and father.
“And, for most of us, was a
cultural warrior who addressed his efforts as a sleeping car porter, a labour
advocate, a community champion and later as a Citizenship Court judge, with
determination and gusto,” she noted.
Sadlier said it was Grizzle
who hosted the first ever Black History Month celebration in Toronto under the
auspices of the Canadian Negro Womens' Association at the BME Church on Shaw
Street in the 1950s before Black History Month was formalized with the efforts
of the OBHS through the City of Toronto some years later.
She knew of Grizzle for
most of her life but was not actually in personal touch with him until he was
on the board of the OBHS.
“He was the type of person
who was very meticulous and when he offered a motion or other contribution, he
expected that each and every word he offered would be recorded.”
Sadlier said his efforts,
with others, to seek out changes in immigration laws making it easier for
people from the Caribbean, in particular, to enter Canada contribute the most
to his legacy.
Grizzle joined the Negro
Citizenship Association (NCA) in 1952, which was organized by Donald Moore and
Harry Gairey, Sr. and was involved in fighting Canada’s discriminatory
immigration policy.
“On April 26, 1954, the
NCA’s delegation traveled to Ottawa. This was the first time in history that
African Canadians had undertaken such a mission – to challenge the policies of
the federal government,” writes Grizzle in his book.
Bromley Armstrong, a member
of the delegation, notes in his memoir, Bromley:
Tireless Champion for Just Causes, written with Sheldon Taylor in 2000
that: “In supporting briefs, the contributions and statistical data of persons
of African descent in Canada were outlined by Stanley and Norman Grizzle.
Explaining the genesis of
the NCA in February 1951 in Don Moore’s house on Dundas Street, Gairey in his
book, A Black Man’s Toronto 1914-1980:
The Reminiscences of Harry Gairey, edited by Donna Hill, says the “chief
aim was to try and break up this immigration problem, because I knew that it
was discriminatory.”
“Working around Union
Station like I did, I saw all of the immigrants coming in, but no Blacks, not a
trickle. I saw a number of immigrants from the countries that we’d been
fighting, Italy, Germany, all over, the Europeans were coming in, no Black,’
writes Gairey.
Sadlier said Grizzle’s
contribution “means that we will be seeing the results of his actions for
decades to come.”
“One of his little joking
farewells was "Abyssinia" - an historic North African place
reflecting one of the last independent countries in Africa while also being the
'sound' of a common expression - I'll be seeing you. Perhaps it captures
his way of dealing with fervent desire for affirmation, independence and recognition
with a little humour thrown in,” she said.
Lorna Simms, a former editor of Contrast newspaper, said
Grizzle had lived and achieved a lot and was involved in all kinds
of civil rights issues, thus making Canada a better place.
“I was new to Canada when I was asked
to be editor of Contrast newspaper, the first Black newspaper. Judge Grizzle,
then retired, like many of the elders, every day walked to the office on
Bathurst Street and told me about what used to happen in Canada...full history,
piece by piece.”
Yolanda McClean, the president of the Coalition of Black
Trade Unionists (CBTU)-Ontario, Canada, says the CBTU will be sponsoring a
plaque in honour of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters at Roundhouse Park
under Heritage Toronto’s coordination and support.
The ceremony will be in July 2017 at
the park itself that is in the former Railway Lands in downtown Toronto.
“Stan Grizzle was a renowned labour and community leader and activist who
fought for equality and social and economic justice in Canada fearlessly. He
will be remembered proudly by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, along
with the labour movement, as a pivotal decision maker around workers' human
rights, in particular, the rights of black workers and workers of colour.”
This would be a fitting tribute to Grizzle and other former
sleeping car porters.
Grizzle spent much of his time organizing in that union and,
in fact, Union Station, is where he started working with the Canadian Pacific
Railway in 1940 at the age of 22, filling in when regular porters were on sick
leave.
In 2007, the City of Toronto named
Stanley G. Grizzle Park, in his honour, at Main and Danforth in Toronto and in
2010, the Black Business and Professional Association presented him with a
Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Harry Jerome Awards. It had presented
him with one of those awards in 1987 for community service.
He was presented with a Queen Elizabeth
II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Ontario government in 2013.
Grizzle is survived by his children – Dr. Patricia
Grizzle-Huling, Nerene Virgin, Pamela, Stanley Edwin, Sonya, Latanya and foster
son, Ricky Hurst --14 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.
A celebration of his life and legacy will
take place in February 2017.
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| Councillor Janet Davis of Ward 31 Beaches-East York, Stanley G. Grizzle and Mayor David Miller at the naming of Stanley G. Grizzle Park, across from Main Subway Station on November 1, 2007. Photo credit: Francine Buchner |
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| Stanley G. Grizzle is flanked by his son, Stanley E. Grizzle and Mayor David Miller at the naming of a park in his honour across from Main Subway Station on November 1, 2007. One of his grandsons, left, enjoys the moment. Photo credit: Francine Buchner |
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| Trade unionist and human rights leader and Canada's first Black Citizenship Court judge, Stanley G. Grizzle speaking about his life at the naming ceremony of a park unveiled in his name on Nov. 1, 2007. Photo credit: Francine Buchner |
