‘Queen of the Road’ and ‘Deception’ Well-received by Audiences in Toronto

 Neil Armstrong

From left to right: Christopher Smith, Dana Seitler, Dwayne White Jr., Rayshawn Pierre-Kerr, Rhoma Spencer, Tracey Ramsubaugh-Mannette, Stacey Sobers, Kedisha Thomas and Shakeil Jones

 

Lovers of Caribbean culture in Toronto were in for a treat over the Father’s Day weekend as two seasoned thespians and directors presented performances on stage that had their rapt attention. 

 

“Queen of the Road—The Calypso Rose Musical” written and directed by Rhoma Spencer, the 2022-2023 artist-in-residence at the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto was presented as a free event at the 428-seat Hart House Theatre on June 17. On that same evening, Marcia Brown, founder and artistic director of Marcia Brown Productions premiered her dramedy, “Deception,” at the Jamaican Canadian Centre with two more shows the following day. Both events were well supported and the congratulations and comments continue to pour in about the shows.

 

On June 12, the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago held a reception for the members of the Tobago Performing Arts Company who were here rehearsing for the musical. This was where some of us who could not make it to the one-night only workshop production later that week got a sneak preview of it. The reviews from those who attended the Calypso Rose musical have been stellar.

 

“Collaboration with others is the key to success in any venture. Audiences will now stand in awe of the outstanding success and the deeply felt artistic fulfilment that we have crowned the musical, ‘Queen of the Road.’ This production represents a triumph for equity, inclusiveness, mutual solidarity, and mutual respect among all communities. “It is a refusal to accept discrimination and a refusal to wallow in the pains and the victimhood of being marginalized. In one phrase, they cyaan keep we down, they cyaan hold we back,” said Michael Lashley, project manager and chef de mission of the Canadian-Caribbean Arts Network (C-CAN).

 

The presentation of “Queen of the Road—The Calypso Rose Musical” concluded Spencer’s residency at the Queer and Trans Research Lab of the Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies where she developed the musical drama over the academic year.

 

Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis, known to the world as Calypso Rose, is the “Calypso Queen Mother of the World.” The 83-year-old, Black, queer Trinidadian vocalist and composer was born in the village of Bethel, Tobago and has well over 800 music compositions under her name. The lone female in the calypso arena for some time, Calypso Rose paved the way for other female calypsonians and broke down many barriers in a mainly patriarchal space. 

 

Spencer told those gathered at the consulate that she Calypso Rose musical was to have happened in 1996, a year after she did “Bassman—The Mighty Shadow Musical.” Her plan then was to call the production about Calypso Rose, “Fire Fire,” which is from Rose’s 1966 calypso “Fire in Me Wire.”

 

“Of course, it never happened and I wasn’t able to revisit the idea of doing it again until there was this kind of revival for Calypso Rose music and all things Calypso Rose in the last ten years when it seemed she was all over Europe singing. She was literally living out of a suitcase touring the world and that was the inspiration again to revisit the idea of doing this Calypso Rose musical. And then I saw “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” and that was like, Aha, yes, I really have to get on with the job of doing the Calypso Rose musical.” 

 

In 2017, when she won The Victoire de La Musique Award in Paris (known as the French Grammy) for her album Far from Home, it  was a result of the widespread revival of her music in Europe under the world music category. Later that year she became the eldest artist ever to headline the Coachella Music Festival in California. “

 

In 2019, Spencer flew to New York to visit Calypso Rose and interviewed her for two days to write a jukebox musical on her life using her discography.

 

When Spencer returned to Toronto, she started thinking about how she could secure funding to start the writing process to make the musical happen.

 

“The more I questioned myself is the more I was coming up with no, it was not sufficient enough a Canadian story to have public funders give me money to write the story that is basically a story of a Trinidad and Tobagonian icon.  Where is the Canadian content in this? It wasn’t sufficient that I was Canadian, a Trini-Canadian.”

 

All those questions resulted in her shelving her plans because she was not sure of the path to follow.  That, however, soon changed when in 2020 a friend, Nikoli Attai, encouraged her to apply for the residency at the Queer and Trans Research Lab.

 

Attai had seen a production that Spencer did outside her house during the pandemic when there was no Pride Toronto festival, but Buddies in Bad Times Theatre had put out a call for persons to celebrate Pride in their community — on the sidewalk, veranda, wherever. 

Spencer chose to do “Queerantine,” a physical theatre piece using a particular style of theatre called viewpoints in which there is no narrative; the story was told for thirty minutes by movement only. 

 

After deciding to apply for the residency, Spencer still had doubts concerning what she would apply with and more questions arose in her head such as would they see this story as enough, in terms of its Canadian content, to say we at the Centre would want to fund this development work with you through the residency? 

 

An Aha moment came again when Spencer realized that the album that Calypso Rose won the prestigious French music award with was produced in Toronto with two of the backup singers being Judith Charles and Michelle Walker, who attended the reception. That became Spencer’s Canadian spin and so she applied and was selected out of fifty applicants. 

 

Spencer started writing the musical in October of 2022. In her proposal, she had indicated that she would be bringing in the person to play Calypso Rose from Trinidad for the project. Her plan was only to bring one person but the number grew to five and Spencer thanked Elvis Radgman, CEO of TPAC, for his vision of seeing the need for more to come from Tobago. She also thanked the Tobago House of Assembly.

 

“I said to him I am telling a Tobagonian story, this is Tobago’s shero, a Tobagonian icon and I feel that in order for me to tell the story that the Tobago Performing Arts Company should be able to collaborate on this project. And he said, by all means but not one person, it should be at least two actors and then some observers. Anyhow I ended up with four of them which I am happy for because I didn’t see, I never saw it the way he saw it and I’m really happy that he positioned it in such as way that it is right. Even in rehearsal I am realizing how much it is so right.” 

 

She also thanked the Toronto Arts Council because QTRL only had a specific amount of money to produce the workshop. This meant that with five people coming from Trinidad and Tobago to be a part of the musical, Spencer had to secure money to pay them. She applied to the Black Arts Projects Program at the Toronto Arts Council and got the exact amount that she requested. The writer and director thanked the Queer and Trans Research Lab for choosing her, especially Dana Seitler, director of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, and Christopher Smith, research associate and QTRL program coordinator. 

Stacey Sobers, 2018 Calypso Queen, Trinidad and Tobago (in the middle) is flanked by members  of the Tobago Performing Arts Company, from left to right: Dwayne White Jr., Rayshawn Pierre-Kerr, Kedisha Thomas and Shakeil Jones

 

Rayshawn Pierre-Kerr, the artistic director of TPAC, thanked the acting consul general Tracey Ramsubagh-Mannette, and Spencer for what she calls “legacy work.”

 

 “We thank you for recognizing that Tobago needed to be part of the conversation and not just from a research premise, but you needed to have the voice, you needed to have the voices, and you needed to have the bodies and you needed to have the spirits inside of the space as we venerate a woman, a shero, an icon, a knowledge bearer, a forward thinker, a poet, a philosopher, in the person of Calypso Rose, who is still very much alive, who deserves all of her flowers, as much flowers as she can be given.” 

Pierre-Kerr noted that the Tobago Performing Arts Company is Tobago’s premier performing arts institution and her colleagues are tremendously grateful to be sharing in what will become a truly successful movement.

 

The workshop presentation featured Trinidad and Tobago 2018 Calypso Queen Stacey Sobers in the title role of Calypso Rose and members of the Tobago Performing Arts Company brought in specifically to further develop the work with Spencer. Joining the visiting cast were local artists, calypsonian King Cosmos and Michelle Walker, along with Trinidadian students at the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance at the U of T, Aria Sharma and Vandana Maharaj. Musical Direction was by Toronto’s Calypso Performer and Musician, Roger Gibbs.

 

The play 'Deception' by Marcia Brown Productions

Photo credit: @mediabizto(Danae Peart) The cast of 'Deception' left to right: Natalie Camille (Wingie), Marcia Brown (Imogene), Naggo Morris (Bredda), Kennisha "Zill" McKenzie (Dottie/Dotlyn), and Adria Smith (Madge)

Marcia Brown Productions is celebrating 20 years of producing Canadian theatre and keeping culture alive, something that is no small feat especially when independently producing theatre productions with high quality scripting and acting on a budget. Brown has done this over that time and has reached thousands of audiences and their families. This year really would have been the 23^rd anniversary but the pandemic prevented any productions from happening over the ensuing period.

 

“Deception,” written, directed and produced by Brown follows three mature Christian women: Imogene (played by Marcia Brown), Dotlyn/Dottie (Kennisha “Zill” McKenzie) and Madge (Adria Smith) as they navigate singleness while also being active church members. Joining them on stage are actors, Bredda played by Naggo Morris and Natalie Camille as Wingie.

Imogene, Dotlyn and Madge realize that being in the church is impeding them from finding a male companion, “because let’s face it; there are no men in the church, and at their age, the chances of this becoming a reality is even more daunting — unless they are open to exploring other options such as on-line dating suggested by Madge. Imogene is not so thrilled at this idea as in her eyes it is not Christian-like to embark on the worldly path.” However, she is promptly reminded by Dotlyn and Madge that she should be more accepting of any option as she is illegal in Canada — where she has lived for 15 years — so really her only chance of ever getting a landed status is by marriage.

Unfortunately, Imogene is picked up by immigration and deported to Jamaica and must now trust her two friends to handle her affairs in Canada. This is when she learns that “friendship and trust don’t always go hand in hand.” While in Jamaica, she also has to contend with her brother, Bredda, who she left in the island to take care of her house but who, it turned out, was swindling money from her for years. He had moved into her house with the expectation that Imogene would not be returning to live in Jamaica because of her illegal status in Canada. The synopsis of the play ends with this line: “Imogene has really hit roc bottom BUT…wait for it…If God is for you WHO can be against you!!”

Brown cleverly crafts a narrative layered in various forms of deception that befall Imogene as she tries to eke out an existence — and thrive — in Canada and Jamaica. The deportation provides a pivotal moment for Imogene to quickly learn that sometimes friends and family will deceive you, even those who share the bond of walking the Christian path. The lyrics of Bob Marley’s song, “Who the Cap Fits,” come to mind — “Your worst enemy could be your best friend and your best friend your worst enemy.”  Ironically, the pace of the play gains momentum after all three women create profiles on a dating site that eventually becomes the site for catfishing and leads to the denouement.  Who gets hoodwinked is telling.

There is recovery for Imogene after hitting rock bottom and, clearly, the audience enjoyed the dialogue and unfolding of the story evidenced in the talkback throughout and thunderous applause at the end of the opening night. The play got a similar reception at both performances on June 18, Father’s Day.

Photo credit: @mediabizto(Danae Peart)  Dottie/Dotlyn, left, is confronted by Wingie and Imogene at Imogene's home in Jamaica shortly after arriving from Canada

What “Deception” reminded me of was the quote from Scottish historian Sir Walter Scott, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” The deceivers get their comeuppance — and there are several perpetrators — and the deceived wins in the end, with vindication and even forgiveness to boot. What the dramedy also highlights is the plight of those who live precariously in Canada — those who are labeled illegal aliens as they seek a better life — and how they build community and safe spaces for themselves. Imogene survives by working multiple jobs, is the banker in a church pardner, also known as pardna, a savings scheme that originated in the Caribbean, and puts away her life savings in a Milo can because she cannot officially open a bank account. It is also an examination of friendships and familial ties and what can easily present challenges in those relationships. The characters are hilarious, relatable, and fully embody their personas. Those who were wily got their day in ‘court,’ met their waterloo, and paid the penalty, and those who were aggrieved won our empathy, sympathy, and joy.   

The set and lighting were on point and the directing made optimum use of the entire stage with actors entering and leaving scenes through doors or curtains that placed them in different scenes or homes in Canada or Jamaica. The lighting at high points of the play adds to the suspense and expectation of the moments. The production team includes Evon Buchanan who did the set construction and design, stage manager Ingrid Richardson, production manager and technical director, Yvette Martin, and Danae Peart Communications for publicity and marketing.

Photo credit: @mediabizto(Danae Peart)   Wingie and Imogene meet each other for the first time

Marcia Brown has always been a lover of theatre and its power to emote and connect with audiences. Before migrating to Canada she had the opportunity to act alongside some of the greats in Jamaica and is proud of her experiences from being a Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) awardee to Little Theatre Movement (LTM) Pantomimes and later multiple film credits. 

In Canada, she independently produced plays, which always had a slice of real life, and messaging that could resonate with family audiences. They include award- winning productions such as “Common-Law”, “Rosetta”, “I Need to Know My Father” which had a multi-year run, “Blood Ticka Dan Watah” and many more. 

Brown credits the work of the late Aston Cooke for giving her well-written scripts to reimagine in the early years and is grateful for mentors like “Caribbean King of Comedy” Oliver Samuels and the late Leonie Forbes for supporting her work and nurturing her talents. 

In reflecting on these past 20 years, Marcia says: “Time does fly when you are having fun, I looked up and twenty years of touring and staging these productions have passed.”

She, however, does not want to understate the challenges, noting that, “Being an independent producer has meant many personal sacrifices as I came out of pocket to execute the vision with little to no corporate sponsorship, just my commitment to keeping culture alive.” This year, Marcia Brown Productions welcomed corporate sponsor JN Bank onboard.

These sacrifices have paid off in many ways. Brown reflected on being able to provide annual scholarships through the Jamaica Canadian Association scholarship awards and seeing multiple actors she introduced to audiences go on to have careers in film and television. 

Photo credit: bizmediato(Danae Peart)   The three friends and church sisters, left to right: Imogene, Madge, and Dottie/Dotlyn

With the arrival of summer, there are more upcoming events that celebrate Caribbean culture in Toronto: Blocko After Dark, June 24 and Blockorama, June 25 at Wellesley Stage during Pride Toronto Festival Weekend, Durham’s Caribbean Festival, June 24, Toronto Caribbean Carnival, July 11 to August 7, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Unity Picnic, July 15, Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride organized by Blackhurst Cultural Centre, July 31, Island Soul at the Harbourfront Centre, August 3-7, JAMBANA One World Festival at Gage Park, Brampton, August 7, Blockobana at Stackt Market, August 6, Jerkfest Toronto, August 10-13, Rastafest, August 17-20 in Little Jamaica, Grenada Day Festival, August 26, and CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, September 6-22. There are also upcoming events to mark Jamaica’s 61^st anniversary of independence, Emancipation Day, and other festivals.

 

 

Dr. Rita Cox Celebrated at School Named in Her Honour

 By Neil Armstrong

     The kindergarten choir at Dr. Rita Cox - Kina Minagok Public School in performance

 

A school in Toronto’s west end that has been in existence for 136 years now bears the name of Dr. Rita Cox, a retired veteran librarian, storyteller and icon of the Caribbean Canadian community, and “kina minagok,” an Indigenous phrase that translates to “all is growing well.”

 

On June 9, a renaming ceremony for the Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minagok Public School, formerly Queen Victoria Public School, was held at 100 Close Avenue in Parkdale. 

 

Cox began her journey with the Toronto Public Library in 1960 as a children’s librarian before becoming the head of the Parkdale Branch in 1974.

 

While working at the library, she was responsible for numerous programs and initiatives that promoted diversity and literacy in Toronto. In 1973, Dr. Cox created the Black Heritage and West Indian Resource Collection which was later renamed the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection in 2006. 

 

In expounding on the Indigenous phrase, the school notes that, “Each day brings a new opportunity to cherish those around us and learn from one another. Through language and understanding we celebrate out shared humanity and grow together, bringing us closer to one another.”

 

According to Henry Pitawanakwat, knowledge keeper and elder from Three Fires Confederacy, “The phrase stands as a metaphor for children as seeds growing in a well-tended garden. If you nurture the garden and you take care of your garden and you put your heart into it, you’re going to get a good crop.”

 

He and officials from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), students of the school, and members of the community at large, including Dr. Jean Augustine, celebrated the occasion that included performances and speeches.

 

In May 2022, the decision to rename the school as Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minagok Public School was made after the board of trustees voted in favour of it, and came after thorough community consultation and valuable recommendations put forth by the dedicated renaming committee. The committee was composed of students, staff, parents/guardians, members of the Black Student Success Committee, the Student Leadership Team, Queen Victoria school council members and Parkdale community members.

 

The suggestion to rename the school was brought forward to the board of trustees in May 2021 and the process was guided by TDSB policy and procedure, said Dr. Debbie Donsky, superintendent of education, in a letter to parents, guardians, staff and students last year. In December 2021, the School Naming Committee launched a call for submissions for potential new names to replace Queen Victoria Public School. There were more than 150 names submitted by the community for consideration and a shortlist was presented for feedback to the community during a town hall in February 2022. 

 

It was significant that a name was chosen that resonates with the values cherished by the school and the local community. “It’s a name that will capture who you are and reflect the school and the community shared commitment to education, growth, and inclusivity for all,” said Rachel Chernos Lin, Chair of the TDSB.

 

Describing Dr. Cox as a cherished community librarian and an advocate for children’s literacy and education who has left an unforgettable mark on the lives of countless students and staff, she said they were immensely proud to pay tribute to the community stalwart. 

 

Colleen Russell-Rawlins, director of the TDSB, said names have meanings and are not labels but symbols of hope and relationships. She said names have both meaning and power, and the name Dr. Rita Cox and everything that she symbolizes will provide an inspiration and a pathway for change in service to Black, racialized, and all communities and residents around the school.

 

In a message that was read in her absence, Bhutila Karpoche, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Parkdale – High Park said the “new name was chosen by the community for the community.”

 

Debbie King, TDSB trustee for Ward 7 Parkdale – High Park said the community had a vision of change in 2020 and notions of solidarity that came about through the consultation process. The TDSB unanimously approved the name change one year ago. 

 

“Each of these moments was a beginning, a seed so to speak, and that idea of the seed fits well with the nature of inspired stories that we heard through the consultation process with our Indigenous community members.”

     Dr. Rita Cox speaking at the renaming ceremony

 

Tania Daley of the Roots and Culture Gardening Club said Parkdale is usually underestimated but the community is a powerhouse with a lot of potential in the children. 

 

Among the performers was Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist, award-winning storyteller, and long-time friend of Dr. Cox, who spoke about the leadership of the veteran librarian at the Toronto Public Library whose work drew many people to events she organized there.

 

“We thank you for what I am now going to call the sunshine of inclusion that you brought from the great nation of Trinidad and Tobago.”

 

In her response, Dr. Cox said Parkale was a wonderful community and helped her to fight to build some of the services that were necessary.

 

“I am so grateful to have worked in this community and become part of it. It is my community; it’s where I spent the most of my adult life, my career. It’s where I was welcomed by the community and supported. It is where I found the place where I worship — my church — and their support, and I am still there. Almost every part of this community is supportive even when we’re mad at you.”

 

The Order of Canada recipient also thanked the Toronto Public Library and noted that it was her base and the administration encouraged, supported and fostered so many of the things that she was able to do at that time as head of the Parkdale library.

    Colleen Russell-Rawlins, TDSB director of education

 

She said when she was asked a couple years ago if she would give permission to have her name submitted for a school renaming she was overwhelmed, honoured, grateful, humbled, and a little bit afraid because this was something new.

 

When she was further asked if she would be willing to share the name of the school and realized what the phrase “kina minagok” meant, she gladly agreed as it was exactly what she has been doing all her life in the community.

Dr. Rita Cox with some of her friends who attended the renaming ceremony

 

Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha Stirs Audience to Respond Viscerally

By Neil Armstrong

 

The audience at the opening night of Scott Joplin’s opera, Treemonisha, at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on June 10 did not need any prompting — though it was encouraged in the printed programme — to embrace the music in any way they saw fit. 

 

“Cheer, talk back, applaud because this is an opera for everyone.” That was done enthusiastically and even after the standing ovation conversations continued at the afterparty about the visceral reactions to certain scenes — the heightened moments of pathos and joy. 

 

If you haven’t seen it yet, there are four performances left, from June 14 to 17, for you to attend “the first all-Black opera orchestra in Canadian history” and to see “the first Black woman opera conductor” weaving the different strands of the story into a whole through music.

 

Indeed, Treemonisha has been seven-years-in-the-making and was long awaited and well received. Produced by Volcano in association with The Canadian Opera Company, Soulpepper, and Moveable Beast, it is being co-presented by TO Live and Luminato Festival Toronto.

 

Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha is a reimaging of an opera composed by the Black American composer in the years leading up to 1911. “In his work on the original, Joplin faced a difficult path of exclusion and discrimination as a Black composer attempting to cross over from ragtime to opera,” notes the production’s team in the programme. 

 

“This new production uses all of Joplin’s original songs, adding one melody from outside the opera and a traditional Maroon spiritual from his era. With the exception of the final song (which retains Joplin’s lyrics), all the words are new, as is the entire orchestration. The characters and setting are the same as the original, with the exception of a name change for Zodzerick, and the invention of the Nana character. Inspired by Joplin’s testament to Black female leadership, the creative team is led by Black women. These extraordinary artists have added more material for the women characters to sing and a story that resonates with the landscape of today, in the same way the original did with the America of 1911.”

 

Treemonisha is one of the few pieces set soon after the abolition of slavery that is written by a survivor of that era. 

 

“Fusing European classical music with the sounds of ragtime, folk, and gospel to creating a thrilling and distinct sound, and introducing a young woman protagonist chosen by her community to lead, Joplin’s nearly lost opera was far ahead of its time,” the notes underscore. 

 

The reimagined Treemonisha tells “a revolutionary story of a young Black woman who, in discovering the truth of her past, and overcoming enormous personal loss, discovers her power to unify a divided people, and lead her community towards a new future.” 

 

The juxtaposition of the Freedmen and the Maroons sets powerful moments of perceptions and conflict but also folk wisdom versus a contrived existence. In the end, it requires one person to bring both sides together; Neema Bickersteth is masterful in her performance as Treemonisha. So too are Cedric Berry as Zodzerick, a Maroon medicine man; SATE as Nana Buluku, leader of the Maroons, and Ashley Faatoalia, who plays Remus, Treemonisha’s fiancé.

 

In 2019, I interviewed playwright and broadcaster Leah-Simone Bowen, who reimagined the opera with a new story and libretto, about Treemonisha. She was excited then about this production that was bringing together musicians from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. On Saturday night, she beamed with a smile as she told me that they were all looking forward to that world premiere. The co-librettist is Emmy-nominated Cheryl L. Davis and it is arranged and orchestrated by Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth. 

 

Treemonisha is conducted by the first Black woman conductor in Canadian opera history, Panamanian-American Kalena Bovell, and directed by award-winning internationally acclaimed Canadian stage director Weyni Mengesha. The choreographer is Esie Mensah.

Governor General and Prime Minister Commend Veteran Photojournalist

 

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed       Photojournalist Eddie Grant

 

Egerton “Eddie” Grant is beaming with excitement when he calls to tell me that he was pleasantly surprised to receive birthday greetings from Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

 

The veteran photojournalist celebrated his 90^th birthday on Friday, May 5, 2023 — the actual day of his birth was a Friday in 1933 — and was feted over two days. On May 4, the Consulate General of Jamaica, where Grant is the resident photographer for passport photos, and the Jamaica Tourist Board held a surprise birthday celebration for the nonagenarian at their Eglinton Avenue East offices. The next day, some friends of the amiable community pillar held another birthday event at Xaymaca, a Jamaican restaurant in Brampton, Ontario.

 

There were many birthday wishes, some expressions of surprise at his age (they thought he was younger), suggestions that an exhibition of his trove of photographs be mounted, and all around a great feeling that he deserved all the warm sentiments coming his way.

 

Grant fell ill the day after his birthday and was hospitalized for more than a week so he did not see the birthday greetings from the governor general and prime minister until he was at home recuperating and eventually stopped by the consulate. He is already feeling much better and is back at work.

 

Simon congratulated Grant on his 90th birthday and noted that during his lifetime, “the country has undergone some amazing shifts: a transition from one century to the next, evolution of technology, society, community. Times of great challenges and of great joy. No matter what role you played in the last ninety years, you have been an essential part of our country and we are grateful for all your contributions.”

 

The governor general also said Grant’s experience was valuable and respected, “and we can all learn from the wisdom you have to share. In the language of Inuktitut from the South Qikiqtaaluk, nalliuniqsiutsiarit! In English, happy birthday!

 

“It is a great pleasure to send you best wishes and warmest congratulations on the occasion of your ninetieth birthday,” says Trudeau on a certificate bearing his signature and the seal of his office.

 

When Grant was discharged from the hospital, he wrote a thank you message to everyone who celebrated his milestone and posted it to his Facebook page.

 

“I have always felt that members of my community love me and appreciate the selfless support I have given to many individuals for more than three decades. However, the recent birthday celebrations demonstrated that truth — all of that love came gushing down like the rushing water of Niagara Falls or Dunn’s River Falls. For that and more, thank you.

 

“I meant to write this several days ago, but as most of you already know I was hospitalized for almost two weeks. I was admitted to the Etobicoke General Hospital on May 6, two days after an illustrious surprise birthday celebration hosted by Lincoln Downer, Jamaica’s Consul General at Toronto, and his staff, in collaboration with Angella Bennett, Regional Director Canada, and staff of the Jamaica Tourist Board. I entered the hospital one day after my actual birthday (Friday, May 5) after another birthday celebration that was held in Brampton and hosted by freelance writer and editor Neil Armstrong and attended by some of my dear longtime friends.”

 

Grant said he appreciated that some of his friends and well-wishers travelled from as far as the Niagara Region, City of Hamilton, Flamborough, Oakville, Toronto, Mississauga, and from their homes in Brampton to attend. 

 

“While I was in the hospital, I received more than 100 telephone calls from friends and relatives across North America. Unfortunately, I was unable to reply to them but I can do so now that I am at home recuperating. A thousand thank yous for all your fervent prayers, God’s richest blessings, and your good wishes while I am on the road to recovery,” wrote Grant during the Victoria Day long weekend.

Photo contributed    Eddie Grant's siblings from left to right: Hyacinth, Joyce, Edith, Noel, Joseph and Winston

Photo contributed    Eddie Grant's sister, Gloria, and brother, Joseph

Grant was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica, and was the second of eight children: Gloria (now deceased), Hyacinth, Joyce, Edith, Noel (now deceased), Joseph and Winston. He migrated to Canada in 1977 after living in England for twenty years. It was in London that he first studied photography at Clapham and Balham Institute and he subsequently pursued journalism studies at Seneca College in Toronto.

 

The veteran photojournalist has chronicled the lives of Caribbean people, particularly Jamaicans, in Canada. The reach of his work goes beyond Canada as Grant was the correspondent for the domestic and overseas editions of The Gleaner before the paper set up an office in Toronto. For many years, he was a freelance writer and journalist with the newspaper, which he served for almost fifty years until 2018.

 

Grant has also contributed to publications in the United States and the Caribbean as the Caribbean correspondent for Caribbean Lifestyle and Reggae Roots International based in Miami, Florida. 

 

His photographs and stories have appeared in publications such as the Islander, Contrast, Dawn (all now defunct) and Share. To mark Jamaica’s 2st anniversary of independence in 1983, Grant single-handedly put together a souvenir magazine called Jamaica 21. 

 

For many years, he operated a thriving photography business which included his still shots of events such as weddings, fashion shows and entertainers, home portraits and public relations assignments for a long list of clients, including the Jamaican government, the Jamaica Tourist Board, Air Jamaica, and Sandals Resorts Caribbean 5-Star All-inclusive hotels which saw him travelling to the various locations to do his photography.

 

Over the years, Grant has received many awards for his work; in 1983, the Jamaican Canadian Association honoured him for his “dedication and outstanding service.” Two years later, he received a Canadian Reggae Music Award for his coverage of the entertainment industry, and the following year he was awarded by the Bob Marley Celebration Committee for his work in the community.

 

In 1992, the photojournalist was presented with a plaque for his 25 years of “dedicated service” to the Gleaner Company. The Pearl of St. Jago Lodge No. 12 presented him an award for his display of excellent qualities within the community. In 1995, he was presented with a plaque at a dinner hosted in his honour at a local club, which was organized by Merritone DJ Winston Blake, now deceased, and a Toronto committee.

 

Some of Grant’s photographs were included in a groundbreaking photography exhibition in 2020 featuring 41 important works by renowned Black Canadian photojournalists. “Ears, Eyes, Voice: Black Canadian Photojournalists 1970s-1990s” was presented by TO Live and Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue (BAND) at Meridian Arts Centre in Toronto. The exhibition was presented three years earlier at BAND’s Art Gallery.

 

Grant published a second book of his photographs featuring scenes from Jamaica in the 2000s. 

 

The unassuming and beloved photographer was one of 250 Jamaicans “who have made extraordinary contributions to this, their adopted land” featured in the coffee table book, Jamaicans in Canada: When Ackee Meets Codfish” published in 2012 to celebrate Jamaica’s 50^th anniversary of independence. 

 

Grant’s daughter, Katrina Grant, who is a nurse, lives in South Florida, with his two grandsons Solomon and Thaddeus.

Sharing some photos from Eddie Grant's 90th birthday celebration at Xaymaca Restaurant in Brampton, Ontario on May 5, 2023.

 

 

Organizers of 2023 Toronto Caribbean Carnival Promise the Best

 By Neil Armstrong

Playing was at the media launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival at the Ontario Science Centre on May 31, 2023

 

The producers of the upcoming annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival are promising the best Caribbean carnival in the world under the theme “diversity and culture live here.”

 

Jennifer Hirlehey, chair of the Festival Management Committee, said that is their strategic direction this year at the media launch of the carnival held at the Ontario Science Centre. 

 

The official launch of the festival will take place on July 11 at Nathan Phillips Square and the grand parade will be on August 5 along Lakeshore Boulevar West and Exhibition Place following the King and Queen Showcase on August 3 at Lamport Stadium and Pan Alive Panorama at the same venue on August 4.

 

“To do this, we celebrate the fact that diversity and culture live here. Our job at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival is to spread joy, to promote diversity, and to highlight our community’s talents. We must lift ourselves up beyond the mas, we must uplift our community in business, education, and opportunity.”

 

Hirlehey said the first major step they took this year was to invite all stakeholder organizations—the Toronto Mas Bands Association, the Ontario Steelpan Association, and the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes—to be on the board of the FMC, something she described as a no-brainer.

 

Their second major objective this year was to develop their Building Black Entrepreneurs education program that helps entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses. The FMC has also started an education program focused on developing Caribbean culture in schools in the city so that students can be proud of their heritage.

 

Jennifer Hirlehey, Chair, Festival Management Committee, producer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival

“The Toronto Caribbean Carnival sees ourselves as the preeminent vehicle to promote and foster diversity not only in schools but in our businesses. We created a corporate employee engagement program and that program helps employers with their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives so that way their employees feel empowered, the employees feel welcomed as a part of the community and part of the corporate community.”

 

Hirlehey said it is very expensive to produce the carnival and to have the kinds of initiatives that make the difference. 

 

“The cost of the carnival this year has gone up significantly. We, the management team, we have the responsibility of being fiscally responsible when producing the Toronto Caribbean Carnival,” she said, nothing that even while doing so they need funding from the different levels of government. 

 

“While we appreciate the level of funding we currently have it is not sufficient to put on this carnival in the way that it deserves to be put on.”

 

The FMC’s chair said the carnival contributes approximately half a billion dollars to Ontario’s economy yet year-over-year funding through grants has decreased. Last year, the carnival accounted for $180 million in federal, provincial and municipal tax revenues yet funding for the carnival does not reflect the significant economic impact it has on the Canadian economy. 

 

She also noted that businesses benefit substantially from the carnival, hotel rooms are fully booked, major restaurants are busy, yet the level of corporate sponsorship to the Toronto Caribbean Carnival does not reflect the economic impact it has on those businesses. 

 

The FMC has reenergized its sponsorship program and has developed relationships with forward thinking companies who appreciate and welcome their diversity, she said. These include companies such as Metrolinx, Grace Foods, Bell Media and new sponsors such as Porter Airlines and the Toronto Football Club. 

 

Mischka Crichton, CEO, Festival Management Committee

 

Mischka Crichton, chief executive officer of the FMC, said in 2022 there were 3, 341 direct jobs created because of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.

 

“I’m just so thrilled to be able to represent this carnival that raised me. My parents didn’t have to get on a plane to teach me about my culture and about my heritage. When other families went on family vacations, my family did the carnival during the summer so it’s so special and dear to me. I owe this carnival so much,” said Crichton who first played mas when she was four years old. Her mother made a kid’s version of her own costume to take Mischka on University Avenue where the parade lasted for two hours.

 

Crichton said the Toronto carnival is not only for Caribbean people but it is for all people and has been ranked the most diverse festival in the world.

 

She said the theme for this year recognizes FMC and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival as an unparalleled community-led cultural asset bringing together intergenerational leadership, communities, and stakeholders from all backgrounds and represent a long-lasting legacy. 

 

The CEO said there are benefits and challenges to intergenerational leadership but the most important thing is having a team and she likes having the best thinking around the table for decision-making. She said with a festival like the carnival that has been around for 56 years they cannot forget about their past and where they started. Crichton said she respects everyone who came before her and she wants to know what their dreams were for the carnival in the future—of which she is now a part.

 

Also speaking at the event was Toronto councillor Michael Thompson who said the reason corporate sponsors were not running to the Festival Management Committee was because “we have been a fractured community for quite some time as an organization.” He said the new leadership of the FMC is transforming that situation. In keeping with that theme, calypsonian Henry “King Cosmos” Gomez performed the song “Let’s Pull Together” at the media launch.

Calypsonian Henry "King Cosmos" Gomez performing "Let's Pull Together" a the media launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival

Dr. Rita Cox and Henry "King Cosmos" Gomez at the media launch at the Ontario Science Centre

 

Joe Sellors, acting director of arts and culture services at the City of Toronto, said his department works on grants to festival organizers and the FMC is a recipient. He said the carnival brings 1.65 million people to the event and he considers it one of the largest festivals that the City of Toronto produces. Sellors noted that 45 per cent of attendees come from outside Toronto which means people are staying in hotels, eating at local restaurants and spending their hard-earned dollars on Toronto’s economy. 

 

The event featured a steelpan band and the costumes of some of the mas bands that will be chipping along Lakeshore Boulevard. The Junior King and Queen Showcase will be held at the Scarborough Town Centre on July 16 and the Junior Carnival Parade will be at Malvern Community Centre and Neilson Park on July 22. The official launch on July 11 will take place in two sessions: a mid-morning event to capture the media cycle of news at noon, and a later event between 4:00-8:00 p.m. with deejays for the after-work crowd. Both are free events.