Wes Hall Urges Graduands to Go Change the World

 By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: York University     Wes Hall, recipient of the honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, honours causa, at York University's Fall Convocation

Wes Hall, the executive chairman and founder of Kingsdale Advisors, a shareholder advisory firm, has urged graduands at York University to dream big and to know that they can accomplish anything they aspire for in life.

 

Addressing them at the Fall Convocation where the university conferred on him an honorary degree — Doctor of Laws, honoris causa — he told them that they have untapped potential “so change I want to be to, I will become.”

 

The philanthropist and author told them their fellow graduands represent their community and they are all starting from the same place. “You’re going to get into the workforce together and I want you to behave as a community. And, when you see injustices happening to a member of your community, stand up, say something, do something, stop it.”

 

“See the opportunities others do not see, do what others won’t dare to do. My formula for success — have a curious mind, work hard and smart, and be a changemaker. Do not take no for an answer. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. Don’t let anyone stop you, and if the establishment challenges you when you’re trying to make positive change in our society, keep going. Change will happen but it takes persistence, it takes time, it takes commitment,” said the founder and chairman of the Canadian Council of Business Leaders Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism and the BlackNorth Initiative.

 

Hall said the work that he does today is to eradicate some of the challenges that he and his team see in society that are preventing individuals from greatness. 

 

He told the graduates that society has labels for people like him and those who share his background. “They call us underserved, underprivileged, underrepresented — that label imprisons our potential. It divides us, it makes us feel like we do not belong, it makes us feel ashamed of our place in society, yet we cannot control it. We do not determine the country in which we were born, we do not determine the families we are born into. That’s all luck, but it’s held against us, or it’s held up depending on what happens in our life.” 

 

Hall said there are injustices in society, and it is everyone’s duty to react when they see them. 

 

The recipient of six honorary degrees advised them to never discriminate against opportunities and told those who come from privilege that they have a more critical role to play in society by using it to change the world. 

 

Reflecting on his thirty-eight years in Canada and how different things are from where he started in Jamaica, Hall thanked his grandmother, Julia Vassell, who died at the age of 97 for loving and caring for him and his siblings. He also thanked his wife, Christine, their five children and his father.

 

“When I was growing up in that tin shack in rural Jamaica with my grandmother working on a plantation, I never thought that my life would be anything but that,” said Hall while lauding the diversity of the graduates and telling them that they are the future of Canada. 

 

He said the sooner diversity can be integrated into society the better and the quicker many of the problems in the world today will be solved. 

 

Hall said his mother abandoned him when he was 18 months, and his siblings — sister Joan at 4 years old, and brother Ian, 6 months old — in a plantation shack. She left a pot of porridge on the stove and told Joan to feed everyone whenever they were hungry. 

 

Days later a neighbour heard them crying in the house and when she checked she realized that they were by themselves. She quickly went to find the children’s grandmother who was raising seven grandchildren plus a special needs adult daughter at the time but opened her home to them. They were now ten grandchildren and two adults living off a plantation worker’s salary.

 

“That hard work that I witnessed as a child carried me to this day,” said Hall noting that opportunities were limited for him and his siblings. Their only option was to work on the plantation, but he said he was saved because his father, who migrated to Canada when Hall was one year old, rescued him from that life.

 

Hall, who came to Canada on September 27, 1985, at the age of 16, said when he lived in Jamaica, he had no right to education.

Photo credit: York University   A hood is adjusted on Wes Hall at the Fall Convocation where the honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, honours causa, was conferred on him by York University

 

“I could take the exam and then if I passed, I could go to high school, but my grandmother couldn’t afford high school. When I came here, September 27, 1985, was a Friday and on Monday I was in high school. Education was a right here, I didn’t have to take an exam. I didn’t even have to be smart; I was entitled to be educated and that completely changed my life.”

 

Hall said the future that he has today was not meant for him and he thanked everyone who paved the way for him. “I am forever grateful and will continue to work hard to pay back that debt of gratitude that I owe to them,” said Hall thanking again his grandmother who “never saw an ounce” of his success and died in poverty. 

 

He said the work that he does today is to honour her.

 

 

Annual Health Conference Focuses on Enjoying Life Beyond Treatment for Prostate Cancer

 By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed        Dr. Stacy Loeb is a Professor of Urology and Population Health at NYU Langone Health and the Manhattan Veterans Affairs, specializing in prostate cancer.

A diagnosis of prostate cancer and the ensuing treatment of it do not mean that a man cannot enjoy the rest of his life. The many ways in which he can do so will be explored at the upcoming free annual health conference of The Walnut Foundation titled Prostate Cancer Survivorship: Enjoying Life Beyond Treatment on Saturday, October 28, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on Zoom.

 

The Foundation is a men’s health interest and prostate support group working with the Black community to identify the needs of Black men in the areas of health and related issues, and to provide a forum for discussion in a comfortable, safe and supportive environment. Black men are 76 percent more likely to get prostate cancer and 2.2 times more likely to die from it. If detected early, survival is nearly 100 per cent.

 

The conference brings experts in the field together with patients and patient advocates to improve understanding and best practices around prostate cancer care. The focus is on "survivorship" this year because the Foundation has found from its engagement with men in the community that many suffer with the aftereffects of treatment. They are treated but they need assistance with issues around incontinence, erectile dysfunction, sexuality and their relationships with their partners as well as maintenance issues.... What do I eat? How do I stay healthy? 

 

"This conference aims to equip men and their partners with the tools to ensure better health outcomes pre-diagnosis, while in treatment and post- treatment," says Anthony Henry, President of The Walnut Foundation. "Men have suffered in silence after a prostate cancer treatment and this conference is designed to provide the solutions to overcoming the challenges and enjoying life,” says Ken Noel, Executive Director.

 

Among the experts that will be participating are Dr. Daniela Wittmann, Associate Professor Emerita of Urology, University of Michigan; Dr. Andrew Matthew, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; Dr. Stacy Loeb, Professor of Urology and Population Health; NYU School of Medicine; Nelly Faghani, PT, Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, Pelvic Health Solutions; Dr. Daniel Santa Mina, Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto; and Dr. Mike Fraser, Director, Cancer Programs Implementation, Movember. A couple prostate cancer survivors will also share their lived experience.

 

Registration for the conference, which is sponsored by Movember, is http://bit.ly/WalnutConference2023.

 

Storyteller and Community Builder Itah Sadu Celebrated at University in Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: York University   Storyteller and community builder Itah Sadu is flanked by Chancellor Kathleen Taylor on the left and Vice-Chancellor and President Rhonda Lenton of York University

One of Canada’s most beloved storytellers, Itah Sadu, who is of Barbadian heritage, was lionized by York University in Toronto when her alma mater conferred on her an honorary Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at its Fall Convocation.

 

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, and schooled in her early years in Barbados, she began writing stories because she wanted to see more of herself, and her community reflected in the books that were available to them. 

 

For more than two decades, Sadu and her husband, Miguel San Vicente, have owned A Different Booklist, a bookstore in Toronto that specializes in titles from African and Caribbean diasporas and the global south. 

 

In addition to being an international bestselling author, she is the managing director of Blackhurst Cultural Centre – The People’s Residence, a community space that celebrates the rich cultures of Black-identified Canadians. “She is also a dynamic entrepreneur, an educator and community builder, and she utilizes leadership, creativity and teamwork to empower individuals and groups to effect real change — a perfect candidate for an honorary degree from York University,” said JJ McMutry, Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at the convocation held at the Sobeys Stadium at the university on October 12.

 

He noted that Sadu has created vital spaces and infrastructure for community development, adding that while she reflects on the importance of Black histories, she is equally focused on the future. “Her innovative annual Walk with Excellence lets graduating students from Jane and Finch neighbourhood share their achievements in a parade that ends here at York University. She is also behind the Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride in collaboration with the TTC [Toronto Transit Commission] in a nod to the legacy of American abolitionist and activist Harriet Tubman and the famed Underground Railroad.” 

 

Dean McMurty said in a time of great division and strife, Itah Sadu remains steadfast in her commitment to nurturing her community and by extension demonstrating what a culture of care can look like. 

 

He presented her to Chancellor Kathleen Taylor to be bestowed the honorary degree “for her unfaltering dedication to community, equity and education.” A Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, is presented to honour someone for excellence in areas including visionary leaders, philanthropists, public intellectuals, community builders and others. 

Photo credit: York University        Itah Sadu, who received an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa addresses the graduands

 

Singing “This Little Light of Mine” as she approached the podium, Sadu said when she called her brother, Winston, in Barbados and told him that she was receiving an honorary doctorate from York University he was ecstatic.

 

She said the late Jamaica-born Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in British Columbia, Rosemary Brown, who was the first African Canadian woman to become a member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party once said: “We must open the doors and we must see to it they remain open, so that others can pass through.” 

 

The honorary degree recipient commended Chancellor Taylor, Rhonda Lenton, Vice-Chancellor and President, and deans and faculty for opening doors and keeping them open so that others could pass through. 

 

“Graduates, I hope you will open multiple doors in the future and be door jams and I’m even going to say door jammers so that others can pass through,” she said, reminding them that they can function in a world where different experiences, perspectives and points of view are to be valued.

 

The community builder told the graduands that the great Canadian educator, Enid Lee, once said “and” is the biggest word in the world as it provides people with endless possibilities. 

 

“Don’t let yourself be limited to the word “or” but rather expose yourself to the power of the word “and” and its endless possibilities. In fact, York’s motto says it well — ‘Tentanda via’ meaning ‘The way must be tried.’”

 

She advised them to equip themselves with the word “and” and to be the best door jammers they can be, “and in the words of the Barbados national anthem, continue to write your names on history’s page with expectations great, and when this happens you will in the words of the philanthropist and singer Rihanna, you will shine bright like diamonds because after all graduates this is your time to shine.”

 

Reflecting on how she arrived at this milestone, Sadu thanked her mother, Gloria Emmaline Walcott, 91, who was sitting in the front row to witness the celebration of her daughter. 

 

“My mother was among the group of twenty-five young women who were the first to arrive in Canada in 1955 through the Domestic Program as Canada opened up immigration from the Caribbean. My mother came from 96 degrees in the shade, real hot, to the dead of winter in Ottawa. These young women, like many of you seated here, were daughters, mothers, partners, teachers, nurses, secretaries. They came with skills, and they came to work in the homes of families thereby freeing Canadian women to enter the workplace.” 

 

She said these women built a foundation on which many stand today. “They brought with them a work ethic, expectations to help their families back home, and to build a greater society here in Canada for future generations. My mother, like so many of you seated here, came from a country far away and just like you as she stepped foot on Canadian soil, she knew that a day like today was possible.” 

 

Emphasizing that these women were modelling the principle of giving back, an everyday activity, she urged the graduands to demonstrate it every day. “When you see policies that are unfair, change them — that’s giving back. When you see an injustice and you speak up and out, that’s giving back. When you say a word or a simple act of kindness, that is giving back, and know that giving back is altruistic and never ever, ever, transactional.”

 

 

Sadu is the great granddaughter of Amanda Rawlins, who was born in Barbados in the 1800s and owned a bakery, and of Amanda Phillips who owned three rum shops and a car in the early 1900s. 

 

“Her stories taught me to be bold, daring and imaginative. And I am the granddaughter of entrepreneurs Fitz and Edna Walcott; my grandfather was a master builder in his time and my grandmother sold ice, plants, oil, and land. She was a woman who seized opportunities. Their home was a hub and a place of excitement.”

 

Sadu underscored that the work that she has done and continues to do was planted many years ago in her DNA. “I am the daughter of independence movements and civil rights movements, a daughter of jazz, of reggae, of calypso and hip hop, therefore as someone who benefited from change it left no choice but to become an agent of change.” 

Photo credit: York University       Louis March congratulates Itah Sadu

Photo credit: York University    Family, friends and well-wishers of Itah Sadu

 

Oscar Wailoo, a friend of Sadu who attended the convocation, said he was exhilarated because he has always called her the youngest of his six sisters. “I know for a fact that this bestowal of a doctorate on Itah was perfectly right because of what she has done through her work and the effect that her work has had on people in general — her writing, storytelling, the extraordinary things that she has done for this society — it was a slam dunk in my estimation that she had to have this. And it is a genuine doctorate.”

 

Celebrated storyteller and Order of Canada recipient, Rita Cox, said the honour was well deserved and she saw it coming a long time ago because Itah Sadu uses her creativity and imagination to make things happen.

 

“The thing is she gets things done so there are results every time that she ventures into an exercise. I know that she has the spirit, the understanding, the creativity and the goodwill for everybody. She is inclusive, she is wise beyond her years, and I am not surprised. I think she is heading for even higher honours.”

Gloria Walcott, mother of Itah Sadu, toasts her daughter at lunch after the Fall Convocation

Itah Sadu and friend, Veronica Sullivan, who knew each other from their childhood years in Barbados

 

In concluding her address to the over three hundred graduands, she thanked the storytelling, publishing, steelpan and Blackhurst communities, and people with whom she worked on various projects such as Pam Campbell, architect Judah Malalu, pannist Wendy Jones and educator Karen Murray for all the heavy lifting as they co-create a better world. Sadu also acknowledged the support of her husband, Miguel, daughter Sojourner Monifa, and “talented community niece,” Shannon Ashman. 

 

 

Three-day Annual Black and Caribbean Book Affair Opens on October 12 at Blackhurst Cultural Centre in Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed         Kemba Byam, Acting Manager of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit (CABR), City of Toronto

The three-day annual Black and Caribbean Book Affair, October 12-14, 2023, promises insightful discussions, celebrations of books, the presentation of the My People Award, and more at Blackhurst Cultural Centre, 777 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Canada.

The following is the schedule of the programming over the three days. 

 

Theme: Books Open Our Worldview, Bans Limit It.

Tagline: “Affirming African presence and history, no erasure here — International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024)”

 

Photo contributed   Sarah Onyango will interview GauZ' about his novel, Standing Heavy, which was shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize.

Thursday, October 12, 2023 

 

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Opening of the Black and Caribbean Book Affair, Reflections on the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024 by Kemba Byam, Acting Manager, City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, the presentation of the My People Award to children's literature author Yolanda T. Marshall, and a virtual Conversation with GauZ’ (Armand Patrick Gbaka-Brédé) about his book, Standing Heavy, now published in English. Biblioasis. He will be interviewed by Ottawa-based translator and radio and television personality, Sarah Onyango, on Zoom.

 

Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize. A funny, fast-paced, and poignant take on Franco-African history, as told through the eyes of three African security guards in Paris.

 

Photo contributed     Community historian Kathy Grant will host a presentation of Serena Virk's book, We Remember the Black Battalion, for students and teachers.

 

Friday, October 13, 2023 

 

10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. — (an event for students and teachers) — We Remember the Black Battalion by Serena Virk. FriesenPress. Deijaumar Clarke of Blackhurst Cultural Centre will introduce Kathy Grant.

 

Have you heard of No. 2 Construction Battalion? It is never too late to learn about No. 2 Construction Battalion, also known as the Black Battalion. In the First World War, when so many brave young men enlisted to fight, there were many Black men who wanted to join, but many were denied. Instead, the Black Battalion was created.

 

Photo contributed      Illustrator Ken Daley will host a presentation for students and teachers on what in involved in illustrating books

 

1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. — (an event for students and teachers) — Illustrator Ken Daley opens the world of illustration and books to young people. Iman Hassan of A Different Booklist will introduce him.

 

6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Book Launch — Sheila White in Conversation with Itah Sadu about her book, The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White. Yorkland Publishing.  Author Gayle Gonsalves will introduce them.

 

Vivian Keeler is an intelligent, attractive and determined white woman from a traditional Nova Scotia family who risks it all by falling in love with a Black man. Billy White is a charismatic and gifted member of a prominent Black family; he’s the brother of celebrated classical singer Portia White and the son of a renowned Black minister who garnered fame as an officer during the First World War.  

Photo contributed       Kwame Scott Fraser, President and Publisher of Dundurn Press

 

Photo contributed     Maria Martelle, Owner of Tinlids Inc. Both publishers will host the workshop about book distribution

Saturday, October 14

 

10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. — Workshop: The World of Distribution – the Dos and Don’ts with publishers Maria Martella and Kwame Scott Fraser. Geeta Raghunanan of A Different Booklist will introduce them.

 

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — “Audley Enough: A Portrait of Triumph and Recovery in the Face of Mania and Depression.” Written by Lesley Whyte Redford and Patricia Lavoie. Tellwell Talent. Audley will sign copies of the book and be interviewed about being the subject of it. The host will be poet and educator Michelle Muir.

 

 

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. — Yolanda Marshall and Suzette Vidale — “Culture Days”

 

It will be a storytime and steel pan event. Yolanda and Suzette Vidale will be incorporating reading and soca music for kids.

Photo credit: Lawrence Kerr      Author Nadia L. Hohn 

 

 

2:30-3:15 p.m. — Book Presentation — Nadia L. Hohn, The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories (and Recipes). Orca Book Publishers. Author Gayle Gonsalves will introduce her.

 

An anthology featuring stories and recipes from racialized authors about food, culture and resistance.

 

What if talking about racism was as easy as baking a cake, frying plantains or cooking rice? The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories (and Recipes) is a celebration of food, family, activism and resistance in the face of racism. 

 

Photo contributed     Author Asha Bromfield

Photo contributed     Author Gayle Gonsalves

 

3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. — Book Launch — Songs of Irie by Asha Bromfield. MacMillan Publishers. Asha will be in conversation with author Gayle Gonsalves.

 

Perfect for fans of The Black Kids, Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel from Asha Bromfield about a budding romance struggling to survive amidst the Jamaican civil unrest of the 1970s.

 

Photo contributed    Karen Flynn, Associate Professor, Department of Women and Gender Studies and the Department of African-American Studies Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Photo contributed   Dr. Funké Aladejebi, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Toronto

Photo contributed       Catherine Grant-Wata, PhD candidate, Department of History, University of Toronto

 

5:00-6:30 p.m.— Scholars Dr. Karen Flynn, Dr. Funké Aladejebi and PhD candidate Catherine Grant-Wata in conversation about “Black Women, Oral History and Social Activism in Canada” 

 

  As the keepers of memories, communities, and family histories, Black women lives and experiences respond to important silences, gaps, and omissions often missing, buried, or unrecorded in traditional archives and national histories. In this session, three Black women historians, at different stages in their careers, explore ways to collate, tell, and preserve the life stories of Black women in Canada. In conversation with community members, we will consider how oral histories challenge traditional historical narratives and why it is important for Black women to tell their histories on their own terms. Building on the works of Karen Flynn’s Moving Beyond Borders and Funké Aladejebi’s Schooling the System, this session will explore the ways oral history projects can shift conversations in Canadian history and reveal the significance of Black women’s lived experience and ways of knowing.

 

 

The 2023 Black and Caribbean Book Affair is Supported by:

Biblioasis

Yorkland Publishing

Orca Book Publishers

MacMillian Publishers

Toronto Arts Council

Caribbean Camera