Veteran Black Artist Appointed to the Order of Canada

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed     Robert Small, executive director of LEGACY Enterprises, has been newly appointed a Member of the Order of Canada

A Toronto artist who has documented the lives of Black Canadians through posters for almost 30 years has been named to the Order of Canada.

 

Robert Small, artrepreneur of Legacy Enterprises, is the creator of the annual Black History Month Legacy posters. 

Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, announced today 135 appointments to the Order of Canada. The new appointees include 2 Companions (C.C.), 39 Officers (O.C.), 1 honorary Member and 93 Members (C.M.).

Appointments are made by the governor general on the recommendation of the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada.

Small has been appointed to the Order “for his long-standing commitment to highlighting the accomplishments and contributions of Black people in all sectors of Canadian society.”

“I am so honoured to be named to the Order of Canada. To be mentioned among such famous Canadians and join other notable Canadians of African descent is truly an honour and a historical achievement for myself and others to come,” says Small.

In 2019, Small told me that he was primarily buoyed by the community’s response to his Legacy posters noting that every year he is energized to do it again for the following year because of the reactions of people.

 

“For me, that’s always been an energy booster in that regard and knowing that my posters are having an impact in the school system.” 

 

Small also enjoys doing it knowing that his children “will grow up knowing that their father did something that very few have accomplished.” 

 

When he created the first poster in 1995, the artist just wanted to get his name out there where anywhere he showed his artwork people would mention the work of Ugandan-Canadian artist David Kibuuka.

 

He said people also alluded to the work of Jamaican-Canadian photographer, Michael Chambers, and so he thought about being in the middle ground between both of them.

 

Their work inspired him and today he considers both men his role models. 

 

Small also had a student loan to pay off for his studies at the University of Windsor so that was further motivation to get his name out in the community.

 

To create the annual poster, he takes recommendations from the community, chooses community stalwarts but also tries to have a balance of males and females, diverse fields that they represent, “as well as the diversity with respect to gender but also with respect to which part of the country they’re at.”

 

He usually features people based on their accomplishments from Ontario and Nova Scotia because his posters are very popular in those provinces.

 

A few years ago, he indicated that he would do some research on western Canada, the Maritimes and the Yukon Territory to find people whom he could feature on future posters.

 

Small acknowledged that his poster has withstood the years, noting that when he started there were several other posters promoting Black History that apparently are no longer around.

 

Initially, he called it ‘The Official Black History Month Poster’ but decided to change the name because of these competing posters, and when in 2007 the Bank of Montreal wanted to put his poster in every branch across Canada.

 

“I was having problems with the name itself because it was too long to say in an interview,” says Small, noting that it was too convoluted and he was having problems with the term ‘black.’ 

 

“Because if I asked ten people randomly what does black mean, ten black people will come up with ten different explanations. So I just felt that I was calling my book markers ‘Legacy’ at the time because ‘legacy’ can only fit on the book marker so I decided why don’t I call the poster ‘legacy’ and it will be fitting because I’m actually benefitting from the legacy of calling it The Official Black History Month Poster while I’m still alive.”

 

It also happened at about the time he became a father so he thought it was really a legacy to leave to his two daughters.

 

Over the years, several Black Canadians have been featured on Small’s posters including Denham Jolly, Fred Upshaw, Ekua Walcott, Beatrice Massop, Marci Ien, Ginelle Skerritt, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, Kike Ojo-Thompson, Jully Black, Michael Lee-Chin, Dudley Laws, Charles Roach, Sherona Hall, Afua Cooper, d’bi.young anitafrika, Trey Anthony, Pamela Appelt, Avis Glaze, Sandra Whiting, among many others.

 

Among the new appointees to the Order of Canada are other Black and/or Caribbean Canadians such as Neil Devindra Bissoondath of Québec “for his contributions to Canadian literature through his groundbreaking examinations of multiculturalism and diversity,” and Justice Hugh L. Fraser of Ottawa “for his transformative contributions to Canadian sport as an internationally recognized expert in sports law and as a former Olympian.”

Jackie Richardson of Thornhill, Ontario, received an honorary appointment “for her contributions as a Canadian jazz legend, and as a leader and mentor to young performers in her community” and Bruny Surin of Montréal, Quebec has been appointed “for his excellence in track and field, for supporting student-athletes and for promoting healthy lifestyles across the province.”

Also included among those appointed are leading experts in the study of racism and anti-racism, educators and authors Carol M. Tator, a former president and executive director of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, and Frances Henry, professor emerita at York University, both of Toronto.

Tator is recognized “for her advocacy of social justice, and for her commitment to identifying and dismantling systemic racism in Canadian society” and Henry “for her groundbreaking contributions to the study of racism in contemporary democratic society.”

"Canada is defined by the people that make up this great country. These most recent nominees to the Order of Canada are shining examples of the commitment and outstanding contributions Canadians have made to the well-being of communities throughout this land, whether it be social, environmental, scientific, economic, cultural or related to mental and physical health. To all of the nominees, congratulations and thank you," says Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada.

The new appointees will be presented with their insignia at investiture ceremonies to be held on future dates.

“The Order of Canada is one of our highest honours. Created in 1967, it honours people whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations and whose compassion unites our communities.

“More than 7 500 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order of Canada. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and have taken to heart the motto of the Order: DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM ("They desire a better country"),” notes the website of The Governor General of Canada about the Order of Canada. 

 

Since its creation in 1967—Canada’s centennial year—more than 

Some New Books to Add to Your Reading List

By Neil Armstrong

Every year, there are new books written or edited by emerging or established Black authors in Canada. Some are self-published and have their genesis in the COVID-19 pandemic; others are from independent and major publishers.

Over the last couple years, independent Black-owned bookstores in the Greater Toronto Area have seen a tremendous amount of books by local Black authors.

Miguel San Vicente, co-owner of A Different Booklist, is so impressed with the ownership he sees coming out of these new works that he expects more Black writers to be getting awards and making an impact on the literary scene.

“You cannot have that amount of writing going on without it producing excellence. That is a very positive thing that I see happening.” 

To encourage it this year, the bookstore has a promotion on its website listing some local authors and “we’re encouraging people to buy local and we giving a 10% discount on these titles by local authors,” says San Vicente.

Alongside his wife, Itah Sadu, they have been the co-owners of A Different Booklist since 1999. The store was opened in 1995 by Wesley Crichlow, a professor at University of Ontario Institute of Technology who specializes in Black LGBTQ criminology, critical equity, and diversity studies. 

A Different Booklist showcases “the literature of the African and Caribbean diaspora, the Global South and all the major publishers and small presses.” 

In Brampton, Sean Liburd, founder and co-owner of Knowledge Bookstore, says there are tonnes of books coming from Black Canadians from 80+year-olds to 8-year-olds. 

“It’s been a little bit overwhelming at times because there are so many emails.”

Liburd says the only issue he has with some of them is that while it is easy to publish a book, there are people who don’t think about the small things, such as using staples in the middle of their children’s book.

“They’re not thinking about the liability in children hurting themselves with those staples,” he says, noting the importance of editing too.

His advice to new authors is to do their due diligence first by speaking to people that are in the business and try to understand it, but he noted that there are many writers who are very personal about their work and do not want any advice.

“It makes it difficult because then you have to say no. There are great concepts but when things are not done in a certain way then you absolutely have to say no,” says Liburd, noting that there is only so many authors he can take.

“We would love to take everyone but there is only so much shelf space.” Liburd is looking for books that fit into the store’s mandate and has a major focus on children.

Knowledge Bookstore, founded on December 18, 1997 will celebrate its 24^th anniversary this weekend. The bookstore started for him and his wife, Carolette, “as a dream realized and continues to awaken the minds of our customers with our large assortment of children, history, religious, Caribbean, African and Black Studies titles.” 

 

Since September this year, several writers have launched their books via Zoom, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or at in-person events. Their writings cover issues of racism, identity, culture, body image, self-actualization, Black masculinities, colonialism, and education. 

 

Here are some new books to consider adding to your holiday reading list. 

Ameliya Disappears by Angela “Punky” Stultz

Angela “Punky” Stultz, a Jamaican author and American best book non-fiction finalist based in Toronto, has written a new children’s book, Ameliya Disappears, which takes readers on a journey into Caribbean folklore through the adventures of little Ameliya.

Stultz draws on her own experience as a child growing up in Jamaica and working in the Caribbean. Ameliya disappears into the world of “ghost story,” of women foretelling things to come -- all in the lilting dialect or patois of Jamaica. This imaginary tale touches on life issues –bullying and physical abuse, with messages that encourage prevention, overcoming and resilience. 

It is the story of a little girl, who lives with her grandmother and stumbles on her grandmother’s age-old secret, which allows Ameliya to tackle the issues of social injustice that she sees in her neighbourhood.  

Ameliya Disappers is independently published. On September 11, Stultz held a virtual international launch of this book and her non-fiction, Signs and Wonders: Sojourn in the inner city, published in 2019.

Half-Court Trap by Kevin heronJones

Brampton-raised author, Kevin heronJones, launched his new novel Half-Court Trap with an Instagram Live reading and interview with radio host Brother Kofi Sankofa on November 27. 

The issues of male body image and rivalry come together in Half-Court Trap, set in racially diverse Brampton, Ontario. Thirteen-year-old Nigel is teased and belittled at home because of his weight, so an opposing player’s trash talk enrages him and he vows revenge. When his enemy becomes a teammate, Nigel plots to make him look bad and get him off the team. As Nigel finds out more about his rival, he not only learns empathy but comes to a new perspective on himself and acceptance of his body shape. 

Kevin heronJones is a youth basketball coach, author, journalist, actor, lecturer, and award-winning performance poet. He has numerous spoken word recordings and his poetry book titles include Vision, I AM a Child of the SUN and Telephone Love. He lives in Milton, Ontario. 

 

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers

 

Aina-Nia Ayo'dele and Mosa McNeilly at the launch of Self: An Inner Journey to Re-Membering Your Power at The Diner's Corner restaurant in Toronto on October 17, 2021

SELF: An Inner Journey to Re-Membering Your Power by Aina-Nia Ayo’dele is the first of a tablet series of five.

 

“Self comes from my own journey to remembering my power and the wisdom I have shared with students and audiences across the globe,” writes Aina-Nia Ayo’dele in the author’s note.

 

“ The inner journey to oneself is filled with mystery, memories known and unknown and challenges that come with the unearthing of these five questions, which speaks to authentic living. Yet, such bliss is truly Re-Membering Your Power.

 

1.    Who Am I?

2.    How did I come to be who I am?

3.    Am I really who I think I am?

4.    What is my purpose on this planet at this time?

5.    Am I living my purpose?”

 

Aina-Nia Ayo’dele is an ancient wisdom teacher, leadership coach and spiritual liberation activist on a mission to influence individual and institutional change by inspiring everyone to Re-Member their Power. A well sought-after public speaker and spiritual teacher, Aina-Nia is an accomplished leader in the community, corporate and public sectors. 

The book launch was held on October 17 at The Diner’s Corner restaurant in downtown Toronto. www.aina-nia.com

 

High School Here I Come: Preparing for the Journey by Marcella Penny Kowalchuk

Do you remember your experience of high school? Wish you had some way to prepare for this experience? High School Here I Come: Preparing for the Journey, is an engaging, thoughtful book that parents, family and teachers can share with the students in their lives to help them get ready for this adventure. Topics include: family expectations, relationships with friends, learning to navigate the high school setting, social activities, well-being and safety, confidence, quiet strength, and faith.  Each section has activities and reflective questions to help students think about their values and beliefs and how they can address situations that arise as they advance through their high school years. With practical wisdom and insights from workshop participants, High School Here I Come: Preparing for the Journey is a must-have book that offers guidance on the choices and decisions that students will encounter in the days ahead. 

 

Marcella Penny Kowalchuk is a HR consultant and speaker.

 

Publisher: ‎ Live Life Happy Publishing. It was published in September.

 

Broken Kola-Nuts on Our Grandmother's Grave by Unblind Tibbin

 

Kheper’s inheritance cannot slip between his fingers. Grandma’s voice carries us through the family’s origins, retracing both the physical and spiritual realms. 

The Ikin (kola nuts) are ancient divining tools that connect the family to their ancestors. They enable the ancestors to live through the family. 

The art of storytelling, as perfected by Grandma, is alive and well. How can the broken kola nuts be put back together? 

This tale brings forth the first step of this great and wonderful journey.

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

The book will be launched at Nile Valley Books on Saturday, December 18, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at 1921 Gerrard St. East and will feature Afikan drumming, dance, spoken word and storytelling by some of Toronto’s most spiritually in tuned artists. There will also be a Q&A with the author.

Nohsakhre Ibrahim, who, in 1986, started selling books as a mobile carrier, opened Nile Valley Books in February 1999.  It specializes in “diverse Afrocentric & multicultural literature, resources, & culturally theme products and gifts.” 

 

How Sneakers Saved My Life: My Entrepreneurial Journey and How Sneakers Ruined My Life: The Entrepreneurial Journey That Shifted My Mental State, an autobiography by Trent

 

In his double-book autobiography, Trent, the owner, founder and CEO of Exclucity, one of the biggest premium sneaker boutiques in Canada, documents the trials and triumphs that he has experienced thus far in his path to success. 

 

“Despite the many obstacles he faced he was not discouraged from working toward and achieving his ambitions. As a young Black man growing up in Montreal, he was met with many roadblocks, from lack of educational support to varying vocations and being nearly homeless. Through these challenges, street culture and urban streetwear remained consistent. The balance for Exclucity was established,” writes Elo Igor, a social worker, about How Sneakers Saved My Life.

 

How Sneakers Ruined My Life is a story about struggle and pain but also about grit, grind and refusing to give up, even in the face of certain defeat – a lesson we all can learn from.

 

Published by Exclucity

 

 

Appealing Because He Is Appalling 

Black Masculinities, Colonialism, and Erotic Racism, edited by Tamari Kitossa

Transnational perspectives on Black men as objects of sexual desire, fear, and loathing. 

This collection invites us to think about how African-descended men are seen as both appealing and appalling, and exposed to eroticized hatred and violence and how some resist, accommodate, and capitalize on their eroticization. Drawing on James Baldwin and Frantz Fanon, the contributors examine the contradictions, paradoxes, and politico- psychosexual implications of Black men as objects of sexual desire, fear, and loathing. Kitossa and the contributing authors use Baldwin’s and Fanon’s cultural and psychoanalytic interpretations of Black masculinities to demonstrate their neglected contributions to thinking about and beyond colonialist and Western gender and masculinity studies. This innovative and sophisticated work will be of interest to scholars and students of cultural and media studies, gender and masculinities studies, sociology, political science, history, and critical race and racialization. 

Contributors: Katerina Deliovsky, Delroy Hall, Dennis O. Howard, Elishma Khokhar, Tamari Kitossa, Kemar McIntosh, Leroy F. Moore Jr., Watufani M. Poe, Satwinder Rehal, John G. Russell, Mohan Siddi 

Among the chapters are these two:

• Chapter 6 by Kemar McIntosh titled “Carrying Corporeal Narratives: Weighing the Burden of Antiqueer Representations in Jamaica”

• Chapter 8 by Dennis O. Howard “‘7 Eleven’: Dialectics of Jamaican Popular Music Culture and Hegemonic Masculinity”

 

Photo contributed       Tamari Kitossa, Associate Professor of Sociology, Brock University

Tamari Kitossa is Associate Professor of Sociology at Brock University. He studies the convergences of race, racism, and criminalization. He is a contributor to and co-editor of African Canadian Leadership. 

Publisher: University of Alberta Press

 

Andrew B. Campbell will release Book 2 of his Teachable Moments with DR. ABC series in January 2022. Look out for it.

 

 

I am looking forward to seeing a high school friend’s book about our alma mater whenever he decides to publish it. I edited the manuscript and it brought back so many memories.

 

There is another book on the horizon that I was involved in editing but that will be revealed in 2022 when it is released.

 

This holiday season, please support these independent, Black-owned  bookstores: A Different Booklist, 777-779 Bathurst St., Toronto; Knowledge Bookstore, 177 Queen St. West in Brampton; and Nile Valley Books, 1921 Gerrard St. East, Toronto. 

 

 

* Thank you to Itah Sadu for her wonderful help in making my editing of some of these books possible.

 

Pillar of Volunteer Community Invested into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Government of Saskatchewan       Mavis Ashbourne-Palmer and Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty with the medal of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit

 

Mavis Ashbourne-Palmer likes volunteering steadily in the background but was recently thrust in the limelight when she was invested into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the province’s highest honour.

She is the second Jamaican and the first Jamaican woman to be so recognized. In 1998, the Montego Bay-born Dr. Constantine Campbell, the internationally known agrologist who worked for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a soil scientist in Swift Current, was invested into the Order.

The veteran volunteer was among sixteen recipients – ten for 2020 and six for 2021 – honoured at a ceremony on November 17 where they received the medal of the Order from Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty for having “significantly impacted the well-being of Saskatchewan people.” 

 

“I am very humbled about it. It was not something that I had in my vocabulary that I would ever get such a high recognition. But I am very grateful, and most of all, I am thankful to the creator above because the way I was brought up in church, I feel anything that happen to you the good Lord has a hand in it,” says Ashbourne-Palmer who is from Broadgate, St. Mary.

 

The citation before the presentation notes that although Ashbourne-Palmer celebrates 50 years in the province this year, she still retains proud ties to her home country of Jamaica. 

 

“She grew up not unlike many in her adopted province on the family’s mixed farm and hers was a happy childhood with a faith-based approach that has held her in good stead through her life. Now, Mavis is a spitfire. Her energy as she enters her eighth decade exceeds those half her age and when she came to Saskatchewan in 1971, she recognized immediately that the friendly spirit of the province was something that she identified with.” 

 

She was lionized for helping to welcome thousands of people into the province while maintaining a strong connection to her culture. 

 

Ashbourne-Palmer is a founding member of the Regina Open Door Society as well as the Saskatchewan Caribbean-Canadian Association and the Saskatchewan Jamaican Association. Her efforts helped establish the celebrations of Black History Month in the province recognizing late nineteenth century pioneers. 

 

In 2018, she was recognized as one of 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women. 

 

“Her manifold accomplishments defy the counting but suffice it to say if there is a need for volunteer efforts in Regina, it’s likely that Mavis is involved somehow. For Mavis, Saskatchewan is the conscience of Canada and her work as a community leader is the quintessence of our provincial motto – From Many Peoples Strength.”

 

The Saskatchewanian was described as “a prominent pillar of our volunteer community whose half century of service is an example to us all.”

 

Ashbourne-Palmer immigrated to Saskatchewan from Jamaica when she was 25 years old and began working at a long-term care facility in Regina. At the time, many young Jamaicans, including many of her friends, were moving overseas. 

 

She became an advocate for Jamaican women working in Canada as domestics and opened her home to anyone in need of shelter. The Regina Open Door Society, which she helped found, was a welcome centre for immigrants

 

Since 1985, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit has recognized citizens who demonstrate exemplary contributions to the province in areas such as the arts, business and industry, agriculture, community leadership and volunteer service. 

The individuals invested this year will join 242 other citizens who have previously been invested into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. 

 

 

Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention Honours Trailblazers with Lifetime Advocacy Award

 

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed     Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP MPP for Toronto-St. Paul's

The Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BlackCAP), Canada’s largest Black-focused AIDS service organization, will honour three community trailblazers with a Lifetime Advocacy Award for their sterling contribution.

 

At its Harvest Moon Supper Fundraiser on February 5, 2022, Black CAP will present the award to Ontario NDP MPP for Toronto-St. Paul’s Dr. Jill Andrew, Aina-Nia Ayo’dele Grant, Director, Community Resources, City of Toronto, and Al Ramsay, Associate Vice President, LGBTQ2+ & Black Customer Segments, TD Bank Group.

 

The inaugural Black CAP Lifetime Advocacy Award is given to individuals who have focused their efforts on the betterment of the community. Their dedication to advocating for the important and necessary work of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention has not gone unnoticed. The organization appreciates their steadfast support and thanks them for all that they have done and continue to do for African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities.

 

 Dr. Jill Andrew, PhD serves as the Ontario NDP Culture and Heritage Critic and Women's Issues Critic for the Official Opposition. She is also a member of the Ontario NDP Black Caucus, a first of its kind in Ontario legislative history and she also sits on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

 

Andrew is the first Black queer person to be elected to the Ontario Legislature and reportedly in Canada. Since then, she has been a leading voice on issues of gender, race and social justice, the housing crisis, healthcare inequities, education and the immeasurable benefit of arts and culture to our communities but also to our physical, mental, and social health.

Andrew holds a Child & Youth Worker diploma from Humber College, a Bachelor of Education (BEd) from York University among her other undergraduate degrees, a Master’s degree in women and gender studies from the University of Toronto New College and her PhD from York University’s Faculty of Education.  

She is a community co-owner of Glad Day Bookshop – the world’s oldest LGBT bookstore and has been an avid volunteer and donor supporting organizations across the GTA that prioritize Black and racialized communities, youth, women, the arts, LGBTQ2+ communities and chronic health advocacy among others. 

Photo contributed     Aina-Nia Ayo'dele Grant, Director, Community Resources, City of Toronto

As a Leadership Coach, Ancient Wisdom Teacher and Spiritual Liberation Activist, Aina-Nia Ayo’dele Grant has been supporting individuals to live their highest vision and experience their life desired and deserved with peace, purpose and power. This is her mission, and she is living her vision. 

 

Over a decade ago, she created Sacred Women International and the life transformational process, Sacred Leadership Training (SLT). She has also created other personal & professional development programs. She is an ordained metaphysical minister as well as a Reiki Master Teacher who has studied extensively under the tutelage of various spiritual master teachers, including the world-renowned Iyanla Vanzant.

 

In 2016, she accepted the request to become the lead consultant for the City of Toronto initiative to address anti-Black racism. Grant became integral to the creation of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism and in 2018 established North America’s first government sanctioned strategy and permanent office to address anti-Black racism. 

 

In October 2021, she launched the first of her 5-book series, which she calls tablets --- Self: An Inner Journey to Re-Membering Your Power.

Photo contributed   Al Ramsay, Associate Vice President, LGBTQ2+ & Black Customer Segments, TD Bank Group

As Associate Vice President, LGBTQ2+ & Black Customer Segments, TD Bank Group, Ramsay spearheads TD's LGBTQ2+ and Black Customer Segments designing and executing innovative strategies, which are considered leading edge within the financial industry across North America.

 

Originally from Jamaica, Ramsay and his family moved to Canada in 1994 to start a new life and complete his education. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University. Over the past 20 years in the financial industry, Ramsay has held increasingly senior positions supporting TD’s diversity and inclusion mandate spearheading customer, employee and community initiatives. He is instrumental in helping TD to become a leader in the LGBTQ2+ communities.

 

Ramsay has a passion for advancing inclusiveness in the workplace and in his community. He spearheaded the launch of several of TD's Employee Resource Groups, including its LGBTQ2+ and Black Employee Networks that have now expanded to include thousands of employees across North America.

 

He has served on numerous work committees and boards championing equity, diversity and inclusion. He currently sits on the board of Rainbow Railroad and the Dean's Advisory Council at the Ted Rogers School of Business Management. He is a trusted advisor to the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and ExeQutive group.

 

Every year, Black CAP holds an annual event to raise much-needed funds and to acknowledge those who have contributed selflessly to its important work. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundraiser was rescheduled to February 5, 2022, and will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at Small Arms Inspection Building located at 1352 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga, Ontario. Tickets are on a sliding scale of $75 to $125 and limited afterparty tickets $50 and can be obtained Link: https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/AlCICEDySo446fNpFlR?domain=harvest-moon2021.eventbrite.ca  

 

Funds raised will support the Newcomer Settlement Program that assists ACB individuals who are living with HIV and/or LGBTQ identified who are newcomers to Canada. The program helps them to successfully navigate the immigration process and connect with housing and employment support.  

 

The evening will be one of celebration complemented by the live performances, a fashion show, and the tantalizing tastes of freshly Jerk drum pan cooked Caribbean food.

 

About the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention

 

Since 1989, the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) has worked to respond to the threat of HIV and AIDS in Toronto’s African, Caribbean and Black communities. Our work is guided by our motto, ‘Because All Black People’s Lives Are Important’, which serves as a reminder of our commitment to the human rights and dignity of all Black people who are vulnerable to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 

 

Art Gallery of Ontario Exhibition Showcases the Caribbean and Its Complex History

By Neil Armstrong

Ebony G. Patterson. ...three kings weep..., 2018. three-channel digital colour video 

projection with sound, Running Time: 8 Minutes, 34 Seconds. Purchase, with funds 

from the Photography Curatorial Committee, 2020. © Ebony G. Patterson, courtesy Monique 

Meloche Gallery, Chicago. 2019/2469 

 

 

In 2019, when the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) acquired the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs (1840-1940), I visited the museum to see some of these images of Caribbean life and history.

 

There was a promise of an exhibition in the future in which these photographs would be in dialogue with later works. That was fulfilled in September 2021 when Fragments of Epic Memory opened. It is curated by Julie Crooks, Curator of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, formerly the AGO’s Associate Curator of Photography. This is the first exhibition of the new Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora that was established in 2020.

 

On entering the AGO, one does not have to search for the exhibition as it declares itself with “Moko Jumbie,” a newly commissioned work by the British-Trinidadian visual artist, Zak Ové. The18-foot-high mixed media sculpture greets you in Walker Court, the AGO’s atrium.

 

Ové depicts a stilt-walking figure central to carnival celebrations in Trinidad and other Caribbean islands. “A guardian who travelled to the region to protect enslaved peoples from from evil, Moko Jumbie blends African diasporic mythologies in Central Africa, “Moko” refers to a healer, while “Jumbie” is a Caribbean term for spirits,” notes the description of the installation. 

 

In this work, Ové sees “a joyous freedom, hope for a better life, and the physical representation of walking tall toward a brighter future.”

 

This introduction is a big and warm welcome to the main exhibition on the fifth floor showcasing the Caribbean and its diaspora. 

 

Showcasing selections from the Art Gallery of Ontario’s recently acquired Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs, Fragments of Epic Memory presents works that trace the region’s history from the immediate post-emancipation period into the twentieth century.

 

“As photographic technology became more available during the late 1800s, the camera was quickly taken up as a primary tool of the colonial gaze. While these photographs offer a rare opportunity to bear witness to the conditions of Caribbean life in the colonial environment, they also present gaps, silences, and erasures.

 

“Works by modern and contemporary artists of Caribbean descent as well as studio and family photographs are displayed in dialogue with the colonial-era objects, often serving as a necessary counterpoint. This presentation reveals how historical narratives, representation, and notions of freedom are constantly revisited, reimagined, and reclaimed in different periods, underscoring the nuances that shape the work of artists from the Caribbean and its diaspora.”

 

Although these more than 30 artists of Caribbean descent are separated by time, geography, and language, “their works respond to conventional historical representations by presenting new perspectives on and from the region – its geography, its people, its culture, and its histories.”

 

Fragments of Epic Memory blends historical and contemporary narratives, presenting more than 200 photographs from the AGO's Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs alongside paintings, sculpture, and video works by modern and contemporary Caribbean artists that show how the region’s histories are constantly revisited and reimagined through artistic production over time.

“The story of the Caribbean, the diaspora and its artists aren’t one story, but a range of histories, media, voices and lived experiences, best understood through the interplay of them all,” says Crooks. “Toronto is also home to one of the world’s largest Caribbean communities, and the work of local artists like Sandra Brewster, Natalie Wood and Vancouver’s Charles Campbell is a significant part of the transnational story we’re telling.”

 

In “Sweet Sugarcane (Female Figure) and “Sweet Sugarcane (Male Figure), Leasho Johnson, a Jamaican visual artist, “blurs the boundaries of the taboo and the “traditional,” challenging conventions around self-expression in the contemporary Caribbean. His playful anime-styled figures engage with ideas around gender, sexuality, colonial violence, Jamaican dancehall culture, and consumerism in Jamaican society.”

 

“In the series, “Sweet Sugarcane,” the male and female figures use a cane stalk as a pole as they deploy titillating dancehall moves. These irreverent, provocative gestures establish the cane field as a place of pleasure and liberation and enable these figures to rupture their ties to slavery,” notes the description of the art.

 

“The Afflicted Yard” by the late Peter Dean Rickards, a self-described “media terrorist,” is included in a space where one can sit, watch and be captivated by the dance moves of the young men outdoors with big speakers in the foreground.

 

Rickards worked in various disciplines and, in the dial-up internet era, helped launch Kingston Signals, a radio show that broadcast live events featuring top dancehall artists. But Rickards’s most notorious accomplishment was “The Afflicted Yard,” an online gallery where he used his own provocative photographs and videos as a counterpoint to stereotypical touristic perceptions of Jamaica. 

 

 

Sandra Brewster’s “Feeding Trafalgar Square” was commissioned for the exhibition. It uses the lens of personal biography to expand the artist’s ongoing investigations into the period of the 1960s and 1970s. “This large-scale photo transfer features Brewster’s mother in the 1970s during a solo trip to London, England, capturing her utter joy in the performance of a universal tourist activity: feeding pigeons.”

 

Born in Toronto to Guyanese parents, Brewster makes multimedia artworks that explore migration and the global movements of Caribbean people. She often focuses on the Black presence in Canada, with a particular interest in the 1960s and 1970s, when the number of people arriving in the country from the Caribbean region more than doubled. 

Paul Anthony Smith.  Untitled, 7 Women, 2019. Unique picotage on inkjet print, colored pencil, spray paint on museum board, 101.6 × 127 cm. The Hott Collection, New York. © Paul Anthony Smith, Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery,          New York 

 

In “Midnight Blue,” Paul Anthony Smith depicts a female Blue Devil, an iconic character in Trinidadian carnival masquerade. 

 

“In the colonial Caribbean, such Black performance traditions were also a tool of cultural resistance that undermined the colonial authorities. While exploring dual identities and his own biography, Smith uses his work to highlight the retention of carnival traditions in the diaspora, boldly underscoring its subversive history while emphasizing the joy and celebration of the performance.” A further exploration of these themes can be seen in Smith’s “Untitled, 7 Women,” which is also in the exhibition.  

 

Using “picotage,” his signature technique, Smith meticulously picks up the emulsion of his pigment prints, obscuring his subjects with textural patterns and limiting the access of those looking from the outside in. 

 

 

Ebony G. Patterson’s “…three kings weep..,” is a multi-channel video installation featuring three tearful subjects in regal dress, and poses important questions about the lack of dignity and humanity with which Black men are so often viewed in our society.

 

Guyanese-born Sir Frank Bowling’s monumental painting Middle Passage, on loan from the National Gallery of Canada, situates faint map drawings of Africa and the Americas atop an abstract sea of yellow and red paint, reminiscent of the Guyanese flag. It has a commanding presence in the gallery.

 

“Maroonscape 1: Cockpit Archipelago,” by Jamaica-born, Victoria-based multidisciplinary artist Charles Campbell, a three-dimensional topographic map inspired by Jamaica’s Cockpit Country, is also included in the exhibition.

 

The exhibition is inspired by the writing of post-war Caribbean writers and poets such as Derek Walcott – who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992 and whose Nobel Lecture was titled The Antilles: Fragments of Epic Memory -- Kamau Braithwaite, and others.

 

The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs includes studio portraits, landscapes, scenes of bustling markets, labour, industry and tourist views. A small part of the Collection’s 3,500 images, these photographs highlight the work of a range of mainly European and American photographers who were drawn to the region. Shedding light on the monumental changes taking place in the region during the latter part of the 19^th century, these photographs are a visual archive of the colonial legacies inherited by modern and contemporary artists and their descendants. 

The Collection was in part donated by Patrick Montgomery, and in part purchased by the AGO with the generous support from 27 donors, many of whom are members of the Black and Caribbean communities.

 

Fragments of Epic Memory is designed to be immersive and invites visitors to experience the multiple ways of encountering the Caribbean and its diaspora, from the period following emancipation through to today. 

 

The exhibition, which opened on September 1, 2021, runs until February 22, 2022. 

 

It’s a good space to invite family and friends, and to have a conversation about the wonderful creations experienced.

 

 

 Paul Anthony Smith.

Untitled, 7 Women

, 2019.Unique picotage on inkjet print, colored pencil,

spray paint on museum board, 101.6 × 127 cm.

The Hott Collection, New

York. © Paul

Anthony

Smith, Image courtesy of the artist and Jack

Shainman Gallery

, New York

Kelly Sinnapah Mary

,

Notebook