Lawyers give back with Black Business Law Clinic

Lawyers give back with black business law clinic

By Neil Armstrong

An initiative of two black lawyers, in partnership with Pro Bono Ontario (PBO), to assist black-owned enterprises through a business law clinic is creating a favourable buzz among many fellow lawyers, entrepreneurs, and community members.

They hope that the momentum is sustained and that businesses will take advantage of this unique opportunity.

The PBO-Black Business Law Clinic was officially launched on September 26 with a reception and information session for potential volunteers at the offices of the law firm, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, on the 44^th floor of Scotia Plaza in Toronto.

The idea for such a clinic is the brainchild of lawyers, Michelle Henry, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, and Anthony Stephen Benjamin of Benjamin Law who thought about this last year.

“We started thinking about the needs in the community, what areas we thought we could provide practical advice in and keep it to the business side as opposed to litigation,” said Henry, noting they wanted to help businesses with incorporation contracts, leases and those things.

Earlier this year they approached Pro Bono Ontario about the creation of a business law clinic dedicated to serving the GTA’s Black community by providing pro bono business-oriented legal services to small businesses and non-profit organizations who cannot afford a lawyer. 

Pro Bono Ontario agreed to coordinate the creation of the clinic as a new project and will offer ongoing support to it as a corporate project.

Starting a new business is a difficult process for anyone, regardless of background or experience. 

This process can be even more complex for visible minorities who have little access to experienced professionals willing to provide them with the appropriate advice and guidance.

As a result, only a small percentage of these businesses are familiar with the legal requirements needed to operate in Ontario or mitigate their exposure.

With respect to the GTA’s Black community, despite being a major ethno-cultural group in the GTA, there are only a few initiatives that are focused on assisting members of this group transition into successful small business owners or effective non-profit organizations. 

Further, there has never been free, early level, legal supports available to support these new businesses and organizations.

Henry said the reception from businesses and organization in the Black community to the initiative has been extremely positive.

“The reaction is: Can we have it outside of Toronto? Is it just Toronto? I think the ultimate response has been it’s needed in the community, it’s something that’s long overdue and it’s about time,” she said.

Benjamin said they are trying to give black businesses a mechanism whereby they could get off the ground in a practical way and follow the legal procedures that are available.

“Because too often black businesses start off on their own and they make a million missteps, so we’re trying to see if we can start off from the beginning helping them with the corporate structure, helping them with whatever agreements they need, and also giving them foresight, in terms of how to structure their business, understand their markets and how to go about raising capital, getting the infrastructure in place, getting contracts,” said Benjamin.

He said they are trying to get lawyers, not only black lawyers, but lawyers from across Ontario with specialized skill set for the Black community.

“I, particularly, would like to help our young community participate in the new economy, with respect to IT, so people need copyright advice, patent, trademarks, advice on IT laws and that sort of thing. The commercial firms downtown are willing to provide that advice for free to get businesses off the ground. So our community is getting first class advice for free,” said Benjamin.

Starting January 2017, PBO will launch the satellite clinic that will run one Saturday a month in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood at his law offices -- Benjamin Law at 1018 Finch Avenue West, Suite 301.

But right now, lawyers can volunteer to participate in the Pro Bono Ontario Corporate Law Clinic. The clinic runs three (3) nights a week between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at 393 University Avenue.  Volunteers are scheduled once per quarter.

They can also help create public legal education videos (approx. 15 minutes in length) for small business owners. PBO will help coordinate and produce the videos and make then accessible online. Each video will feature both the lawyers name and firms’ name, if desired.

Using their unique skills, volunteer corporate lawyers will be able to assist eligible clients with a broad range of corporate, employment, contract, real estate, licensing and other business, commercial and regulatory matters. 

These volunteers will play an important role in community economic development by assisting individuals to build a strong foundation for their organizations to grow and thrive.

This will have a long-term benefit not only for the individuals served directly, but also for our communities.  

Lawyers can sign up to volunteer at the clinic through its online portal and will be scheduled by PBO staff. 

They should visit: https://www.pbovolunteers.org/ to sign up.  As a PBO project all volunteer lawyers are covered under PBO’s Law Pro policy.

PBO will be responsible for the coordination of clients and volunteers.

In low-income communities, small businesses provide fundamental skills, create jobs and help generate wealth so that vulnerable Ontarians can build secure and productive lives.

Henry, Benjamin and Matthew Wiens, director of corporate projects for Pro Bono Ontario, were enthusiastic about the ten calls – potential clients -- Pro Bono Ontario received after they appeared on a radio show at G98.7 FM on September 25.

“I think as more people reach out, hopefully through Pride and the other media and they reach out to other communities hopefully people will access the service – it’s free. Some of these lawyers bill $750 an hour and people are getting it for free,” said Benjamin.

He said to find the clinic people would go online at Pro Bono Ontario and there would be a link to fill out a form which can then be and submitted.

Talking about corporate pro bono, Wiens said Pro Bono Ontario has been around for 15 years and help, on average, 20,000 clients each year through its various projects.

“When we were talking about this project in the early stages what we really wanted to focus on with all of our new projects with the mandate is “smallest commitment, largest impact,” smallest commitment from you, making sure it’s organized, making sure you have all the support you need and the largest impact for the clients that are actually getting these services.”

He said the corporate law clinic was launched five months ago and in that time it has helped over 500 small businesses get legal advice.

“These businesses that are coming through are incredible. They’re people that are working two jobs but they’re trying to start something on their own. They’re tired of working two jobs; they want to build their own business. University students who have ideas greater than I can ever dream of and are making them happen but just couldn’t afford to get early level legal support. They don’t necessarily understand the sort of business and legal side, how much they go together.”

Anyone with questions about the PBO-Black Business Law Clinic can contact Matthew Wiens, director of corporate projects for Pro Bono Ontario, at mattheww@pblo.org or at 416-597-0770 ext. 927.

Oware Tournament Returns to Africentric School

Oware tournament returns to Africentric school

By Neil Armstrong

Oware, one of the world's famous games having its roots in antiquity from Kuma temples of Egypt to ancient Zimbabwe and Uganda, is returning to Toronto District School Board’s Africentric Alternative School. (AAS)

In 2011, the first MACPRI Toronto International Oware Tournament and Family Fun Day was held at the school.

The second was held in 2013 at Westview Centennial Secondary School in the city and this year the tournament returns to the school on October 15 with Jean Augustine as its patron.

Augustine, a former school principal, was a Member of Parliament from 1993-2006 and served on the federal Cabinet from 2002 to 2004.

As the first African Canadian woman to be appointed to the federal Cabinet, Augustine also championed the legislation to recognize February as Black History Month in Canada.

The tournament is an all-ages, inter-generational activity which includes participants ranging in age from 12 to 80 years old sitting and playing together.

Adisa S. Oji, also known as Brother Oji, chief of MACPRI is the founder of Oware Canada, Oware Jamaica, Oware Ghana and developer of the African Image Revolution.

Mother Africa’s Children Photographic Reproductions International (MACPRI) was founded in 1987 and is the parent body for Oware Canada, which was launched in October 2010.

Oji said the first tournament in Toronto was held at the Africentric school because his organization thought Oware and the school was a great fit.

“So going to the AAS would raise the profile of MACPRI and that of AAS towards our common mission to developing an Africentric perspective in curriculum, educational resources, special activities, community and school engagement and even ‘made in Africa’ art for awards.”

Yolisa Dalamba, chair of the school council executive, said it was very happy to receive Oji’s proposal to host it at the AAS this year.

“We see it as a natural progression and would not have been pleased had it been held elsewhere as it signifies growth and commitment in our business and community partnerships. MACPRI has been committed to supporting the Africentric Alternative School (AAS).”

She said students are excited and are planning to have prep sessions to support those participating in the tournaments.

“This is a fun and engaging way to teach and learn math and students have shown leadership in getting involved in helping to prepare for it. Such an experience can involve much of the student body and when students see something like this being embraced by parents then it becomes a community initiative and that’s one of the things we value greatly,” she said.

Oji said MACPRI is aware of the challenges presently facing the AAS so returning there for the third tournament will help the school to gain needed positive publicity that will assist in re-invigorating its profile.

He noted that what people love most about the Oware tournament is that they can have fun, while playing an exciting original African game and learning about aspects of African culture embedded in the game’s rules.

“Many people want us to do the tournament every year and expand to have a tournament for different age groups, but MACPRI does not have the budget or get enough sponsorship to do this. Oware Day is primarily self-funded by MACPRI,” he said.

Referencing feedback from past tournaments, he said many younger children – those below the minimum age to play, 12 – have argued that the tournament should be for them too.

As a result, children as young as 7 years old have been allowed to participate in the tournament.

“Their parents have been taken aback by the confidence their children exhibit playing against someone six times their age. The Oware tournament and family day, in summary, for many, is seen as unprecedented – to get more than four generations to sit and play together.”

He said people love the hospitality of the free breakfast and the numerous family day activities, such as art and craft, head wrapping workshops, storytelling and more.

“When we think about culture we usually focus on food and other forms of cultural expression like music, dance and language. Rarely do we think about preserving traditional Afrikan games and their vital role in preserving a dynamic “village” community,” said Dalamba.

The tournament will be held at the Africentric Alternative School on October 15.

At play at the 2013 MACPRI Toronto International Owaree Tournament and Family Fun Day at Westview Centennial Secondary School in Toronto. Photo credit: Adisa Oji

The 2013 MACPRI Toronto International Oware Tournament and Family Fun Day at Westview Centennial Secondary School in Toronto. Photo credit: Adisa Oji

Storytelling at the 2013 MACPRI Toronto International Oware Tournament and Family Fun Day. Photo credit: Adisa Oji

The Legacy of Contrast Newspaper Remembered and Celebrated

Contrast newspaper remembered and celebrated

By Neil Armstrong

It was a moment of nostalgia at the 4^th annual Black & Caribbean Book Affair on October 1, when for 2 hours former staff, reporters and editors of the now defunct Contrast newspaper gathered to celebrate it at 28 Lennox St., just around the corner from A Different Booklist, organizer of the event.

The newspaper, with the tagline, “the eyes, ears and voice of the community,” was founded by Al Hamilton, who was from Edmonton, Alberta, in 1969.

The first issue of the paper was published on February 9, 1969 and its front page was about the Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) race-related riot in Montreal, noted Dianne Liverpool who worked at Contrast.

It was launched as a biweekly and subsequently became a weekly in 1972.

The paper took a hardline on issues of racism, policing and immigration.

Hamilton managed Contrast until he sold it to Denham Jolly in the early 80s, who after a couple years sold it to Horace Gooden in 1983.

Gooden stopped publication of the paper in 1986 and a few years later launched an online version.

Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist, said Harold Hoyte, co-founder of The Nation newspaper in Barbados, was also a member of Contrast in its early years.

“Some great people came out of this space,” she said, noting that Jolly called from Jamaica on Saturday to wish them a good event, that Hamlin Grange was attending the wedding of his daughter, and that JoJo Chintoh and Hoyte could not make it to the celebration.

The afternoon included a roster of speakers such as Toronto councillor for Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina, Joe Cressy, Sandra Young, Patrick Hunter, Al Peabody, Dianne Liverpool, Lorna Simms and Clifton Joseph.

“As we are aware that the Mirvish Village and the space that we occupy in a little while will be no more, one of the good things about stories, stories are memories, they’re like taking photographs. So despite what we know now will not exist, at the same time, as tellers, as griots, as people we will carry those stories and those memories with us.”

Peter Venetis, project manager, and Alexis Cohen, architectural historian, both of Westbank, based in Vancouver and one of Canada’s leading luxury residential and mixed-use real estate development companies, spoke at the event.

‘The process for us started about 3 years ago and what we’ve tried to do in this process is communicate with people as often as we can and open up and hold a dialogue. We opened a gallery up the street where people can come and learn about the project and help influence it in terms of the programming that it delivers. It’s a large project, it’s about 1,000 apartment units and some condominiums, it’s a public market, it’s a daycare, it’s a park space, it’s new streets, heritage restoration, public art – it’s a very unique offering for the City of Toronto coming all at once,” Venetis said.

He said like anything “it’s change and change is difficult sometimes” and “part of  what we do as developers is sort of look to the past so we can guide to the future.”

He said they have spent the last year celebrating different chapters in Mirvish Village’s history and “today we’re here to celebrate this chapter.”

Cohen works with ERA Architects, the heritage architects partnering with Westbanks and many other consultants on the project.

“Our role is about the bricks and mortar, we’re going to be restoring the buildings but we’re also working on a very comprehensive interpretation plan to make sure that the history of this site is both captured in our research process and also remains legible to the public in meaningful ways moving forward,” said Cohen.

She said she met Sadu a couple months ago and they have been talking about “the significance of the Black community at Bloor and Bathurst, of Contrast, of numerous businesses and important figures that have shaped the neighbourhood, and shaped the community and intersected with the Honest Ed’s and Mirvish Village, layered the history.”

Cohen said they are working right now on an exciting exhibition in collaboration with Chinedu Ukabam.

‘WELCOME TO BLACKHURST STREET’ EXHIBITION ON OCTOBER 15-NOVEMBER27 AT MARKHAM HOUSE: CITY BUILDING LAB

It’s called “Welcome to Blackhurst Street” which will open on October 15 and will be about Black heritage at Bloor & Bathurst and “all of the deep and significant contributions that black business owners and the community have made to shape not only this neighbourhood but the city at large.”

She said Contrast has been one of the key resources that they have been using to shape the exhibition.

“I believe that our history is a continuum so as interested as I am in doing this project about what Bathurst was in the past, I’m also very interested in knowing what Bathurst is now but also where the people who were influential on what Bathurst was, what they’re up to right now,” said Ukabam, a designer and curator.

He said he wants to make sure that no matter what happens with the neighbourhood, “whether it’s being rebuilt or revamped, or whatever, that our stories are not erased.”

Ukabam wants to capture in the exhibition the intersection of black activism through Contrast, entrepreneurs like Lloyds Barbers where he has been going for the past 15-20 years or whether it is A Different Booklist and learning from Sadu about Third World Bookstore.

Councillor Cressy said he will be working with Sadu “to find a way to have a space for black history and heritage, a permanent space, to continue here.”

“When we look back in time, it was the black history of this community that shaped this neighbourhood. And, as we look to change in the future I have to tell you it forces us all to think about where have we been and where are we going,” he said.

He said when one thinks about “where we are today in the history of Contrast, we’re struggling today.”

He said a permanent space will help “to remember Contrast, to remember the contributions of those who wrote to Contrast, to remember the history of this community but its also going to provide us that space to organize.”

“Because I have to tell you if we’re going to have the change that is so necessary, if we’re going to tackle that growing inequality, it’s not by remembering the past. It’s by standing on their shoulders and organizing to change the future,” said Cressy who described himself as an activist.

Veteran journalist, Norman Otis Richmond, host of the evening, said Hamilton took over The West Indian News Observer newspaper, which was around from 1967-1969.

Along with Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, now Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hamilton started Contrast in 1969.

Richmond said when Hamilton came to Toronto in the 1950s he started working as a porter with Canadian Pacific Railway.

Someone called him a racial slur – the ‘N-word’ -- and Hamilton retaliated.

“Al Hamilton decked the guy and let’s say Al had to find alternative employment and he ended up in prison. And when he went to prison, he reformed himself, came out and started a publication, Junior Achievement Awards and so on and so forth,” said Richmond.

He said he has a soft spot for Denham Jolly because anytime he needed anything and still need anything he can always go to him.

Horace Gooden took over the paper from Jolly and ran it until it closed.

Sharing a thumbnail sketch of the history of the Black Press, Richmond noted that Henry Walton Bibb founded “Voice of the Fugitive” in 1851, and Mary Ann Shadd founded “The Provincial Freeman” in 1853.

She was the first black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada.

He said the first black newspaper in America was “Freedom’s Journal” which was started by Peter Williams, Jr. on March 16, 1827.

Richmond referenced “The Canadian Negro” which was started by Jack White of Nova Scotia.

The veteran journalist underscored the importance of the three biggest black newspapers: Marcus Garvey’s “The Negro World,”(published in Spanish, French and English), the Nation of Islam’s “Muhammad Speaks,” and the Black Panther Party’s “The Black Panther.”

Sandra Young highlighted the connection between Contrast and The Ashanti Room, which she co-owned with her husband, Patrick Hunter, and was located at 28 Lennox Street years after Contrast relocated.

She had fond memories of Third World Bookstore, Joyce’s and Wong’s businesses along the Bathurst Street strip.

“As a publication, Contrast championed African liberation, social justice and social change. Contrast spoke to the social issues that dominated the life of Toronto’s Black community such as racism, education, youth issues, justice issues, and really when you compare 1969 to 2016, it really hasn’t changed that much,” she said.

When the newspaper left 28 Lennox St., Young said the building appeared lifeless and unoccupied.

Young said her mother owned a bookstore and that it was probably what birthed the idea in her head in 1994 of The Ashanti Room to focus on the “excellence of our community and African heritage.”

She was driven by the idea of positive Afrocentric, positive black images, “greeting cards with black themes were unavailable in Toronto at the time, black dolls and African textile equally so, except during Kwanzaa markets.”

She listed nine black businesses that operated from 28 Lennox St. including: Identity Toys and Island Dolls, Jambayaya, Origins, Soulful Reflexology, Lorraine Scott, and Enid Lee, a race relations consultant had an office there as well.

Contrast moved up Bathurst St. and then eventually to the Oakwood Avenue and St. Clair Avenue area.

Richmond had memories of Horace Campbell and Walter Rodney walking through the doors of Contrast arguing about singer, Roberta Flack. Campbell was not impressed with Flack but Rodney loved her.

Clifton Joseph did not work with Contrast but was a student at York University and a reporter for the student paper, Excalibur, who interviewed Hamilton to write a story about the fierce black community newspaper.

“Al was a sweet dude, talk nice, you’re in a trance when Al is talking, I mean, and a sharp dresser. Of course, Al had the pimp about him too. Al Hamilton had a kind of pimp style,” said Joseph.

He said the Microfiche Section of the Toronto Reference Library was where he went to research information about Contrast and Spear magazine.

Joseph described Contrast as “a radical paper that dealt with the issues that gave you an explanation of the world” that he met when he came to Canada in 1973.

“Contrast was a radical, black Third World, international struggle-oriented newspaper,” he said.

Richmond, who is a historian and Internet radio program host, said he worked for Contrast for about 9 years but was underground.

He remembered that Maurice Bishop, a revolutionary and politician who later became Prime Minister of Grenada, used to layout the paper upstairs the building.

“The last thing about Maurice Bishop, at one time if you went to Grenada they had billboards with ‘Contrast supports free Grenada.’ There was a link between Contrast and Maurice Bishop,” said Richmond.

Al Peabody said Harold Hoyte and Arnold Auguste, publisher of Share newspaper came out of Contrast and became successful media owners.

Hoyte founded The Nation newspaper in Barbados in 1973 and Auguste founded Share in Toronto in 1978.

Peabody mentioned others who worked there such as the late Austin Clarke, Royson James, Hamlin Grange and Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange.

Cecil Foster was an editor there from 1979-1981, Dan Hill and Cameron Bailey also wrote for the paper.

He described Al Hamilton as a “suave debonair gentleman” and “a professional conservative playa.”

“When I first met him back in ’66, he wore like an undertaker suit and he was working for Corrier Canadese, an Italian paper,” said Peabody who noted that Hamilton worked in advertising.

Several speakers mentioned that Contrast was more than just a newspaper and one said the newspaper at one time founded a consortium to take over Doctor’s Hospital, which hired many Black Canadians, and whose employment became precarious at one point.

The newspaper also founded a support group to help immigrants.

Lorna Simms, the last editor of Contrast, who eventually founded her newspaper, Dawn, said she had a good job at the Gleaner in Jamaica and although her children were living in Canada, she had no intentions of leaving Jamaica.

The kids would be home for the holidays so she saw them often.

But her decision to stay here changed when she was making plans to fly back to Jamaica and Denham Jolly, new owner of Contrast, called her to offer the job of editor of the paper in the early 80s.

She said she learned a lot of stuff there, especially from people like the late community leader, Harry Gairey, and John Brooks, who would walk in and talk to her things happening during that time.

“I was very grateful because I had a new enlightenment about world issues,” she said.

Simms said the last issue of Contrast was never printed because Horace Gooden told her the same day it should have been printed that there would be no issue – the paper was closed.

She was very appreciative of the generosity of the Jamaican community that helped her to start her own biweekly publication, Dawn, founded in July 1991.

Lawyer, Courtney Betty, gave her two rooms at his office, small businesses that used to advertise with Contrast said they wanted to continue with her, the printer for Contrast printed her first issue for free and she was offered a free computer.

There were lots of memories in the room and also there was author and publicist, Dalton Higgins, who later that night received the 2016 My People Award for outstanding work in writing nonfiction.  

Also receiving an award was PanMan Pat Mc Neilly for outstanding work in arts education. He is celebrating 50 years of creating Pan music.

Author, Nadia Hohn, was the recipient of an award for her contribution to children's literature.

A cake to celebrate Contrast newspaper at a reunion event for many who worked at the groundbreaking publication.

28 Lennox Street in Toronto -- former home of the now defunct Contrast newspaper.

Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist, speaking at an event to celebrate the legacy of Contrast newspaper at 28 Lennox Street in Toronto.

Short film focuses on cod in Atlantic Canada

Short film focuses on cod in Atlantic Canada

By Neil Armstrong

One of the four films featured by the National Film Board of Canada at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2016 focused on cod, an important ingredient of Jamaica’s national dish, ackee and saltfish.

The short film, “HAND.LINE.COD.,” directed by Justin Simms is set in the coldest waters surrounding Newfoundland’s rugged, breathtaking Fogo Island.

It follows a group of “people of the fish”—traditional fishers who catch northern cod live by hand, by hook and line, one at a time.

Their passion and livelihoods are intimately connected to the water.

Their secret mission is to drive up the price of fish, the exact opposite of what’s been going on for the last 50 years, since the introduction of industrial fishing practices.

After a 20-year moratorium on North Atlantic cod, the stocks are returning.

Now, using proven techniques from centuries past, these fishers are leading a new revolution in sustainability, taking their premium product directly to the commercial market for the first time.

Hand-lined cod fillets are making their debut in Toronto’s finest restaurants, where the city’s top chefs clamour for premium fish.

Simms takes viewers deep inside the world of the brave fishers returning to past methods that hold tremendous potential for the future.

“What I really love about what the people in Fogo have done and this initiative is  they’ve started to look at catching cod by hook and line in a professional way again. And kind of trying to create a system by which that can actually make money so that we don’t have to trawl and we don’t have the kind of overfish,” says Simms who noted that the practice was initially for recreational purposes.  

In the film, viewers vicariously travel with the fishers from the early morning hours, spend time on the ocean, and witness the intricacies of a 500-year-old tradition that’s making a comeback.

“Even though the fishers of Fogo, even though it’s a small effort that they’re making, in terms of there’s only 30 or 40 of them right now catching fish this way, one certainly hopes that enough people can see it and maybe be inspired to try and adopt it for themselves, and slowly but surely we can kind of stop raping the oceans,” said Simms.

Retired journalist, Keeble McFarlane, in an article “When Ackee Meets Codfish” in the Jamaica 50^th anniversary coffee table book, “Jamaicans in Canada: When Ackee Meets Codfish,” references the exports from that region of cod in the 1770s to the British Caribbean colonies.

“All around the island of Newfoundland and to a lesser extent, the mainland territories of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, fishermen braved the dark, stormy, frigid waters of the North Atlantic teeming with cod which were easy to catch and which in those days often were as big and heavy as the men who hauled them in.”

On September 14, Claude Joli-Coeur, the Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada, held a reception at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto where he introduced the directors and production teams of the four films screening at the festival.

The other films are: “We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice” directed by Alanis Obomsawin, Theodore Ushev’s “Blind Vaysha” and “Window Horses” directed by Ann Marie Fleming.

Cod from Fogo Island off the coast of Newfoundland

Justin Simms, filmmaker of HAD.LINE.COD, a National Film Board of Canada film which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.

Black bencher encourages students to excel

Black bencher encourages students to excel

By Neil Armstrong

Tanya Walker, the first elected black female bencher from Toronto in the 219-year history of the Law Society of Upper Canada, has advised new post-secondary students that the principles behind excellence should become a set of beliefs and their natural way of thinking.

This was her first presentation since she was sworn in as bencher on August 8. Benchers are elected every four years by lawyers, and regulate lawyers and paralegals.

She was the keynote speaker at the United Achievers’ Club annual scholarship and recognition awards held in Brampton, Ontario on September 17.

Walker told the 15 scholarship recipients that they already know about excellence because they have had a goal and now they are working on a new one, which may be to complete college or university with distinction.

“You are living in a great time to achieve excellence, for instance, technology is so advanced now virtually any question you may have might be answered on Google,” she said.

Walker said she graduated high school in 1987and at that time there was a study of blacks in Toronto that graduated from high school.

The graduation rate was 44% almost twenty years ago; 15% would go to university and 9% to college.

She said the most recent report shows that the rate has increased by 20%, approximately 65% of blacks graduate from high school with 24% heading off to university and 17% to college.

“When I was in high school, I knew of very few black partners at accounting and law firms. Hearing of a black CEO was rare. In entertainment, we had few leading black actors on drama TV. More than ever there are now black partners at accounting and law firms.”

She said as minorities, immigrants and children of immigrants “we should be proud of ourselves” but there’s still so much more to do.

Walker noted that in Canada, on average, a black person earns 10-15% less than a white person and that there is a justice gap where there is an overrepresentation of black men in prison.

Black male inmates account to 9% of the total prison population while they only represent around 3% of the Canadian population.

“We can all work together to make a difference in our society,” she said.

Walker shared three pointers with the students of what they can do, as young leaders, to continue to achieve excellence.

“Be confident in who you are,” she said, telling them that they are unique. “Embrace who you are and don’t let anyone define you. Remember you have the right to be where you are. You have the right to head where you’re going.”

The second point is to learn from failure. “You’ll encounter bumps in the road but it’s important to learn from it, develop a strategy, and push forward.”

The lawyer told them to never view their challenges an embarrassment, noting that it is important to understand that “your experiences facing and overcoming adversity is one of your biggest advantages.”

“If I didn’t have the hardworking qualities of resilience that my Jamaican parents taught me I would have given up on being a lawyer,” she told them.

“Third, you have an obligation to give back, especially to this organization. As children of immigrants or immigrants yourself you cannot encounter the world with a sense of entitlement and you cannot be ignorant of what our parents, our grandparents and our ancestors have sacrificed for us so that we may be where we are.”

She said there is also a need for empathy and there is the need to “place your hand behind you to lift up others. Do not climb the ladder and then pull it up behind you.”

The scholarship recipients are: Shontia Anderson (Guelph-Humber), Kymani Carter (Sheridan College), Kiana Crawford-Matthews (University of Toronto-Mississauga), Vashti Darko (Carleton University), Jordan Gray (Carleton University), Sydney Hussett (McMaster University), Raenelle Manning (Carleton University), Jalesa Martin (University of Western Ontario), Benjamin McDonald (University of Toronto), Justin Martin ( Wilfrid Laurier University), Akachukwu Nwakoby (McMaster University), Caitlin Peart (University of Guelph-Humber), Dene Pellington (University of Toronto, Mississauga), Sanjay Persad (Sheridan College), and Katerah Phillips (Sheridan College).

Tanya Walker, Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and Founder of Walker Law PC in Toronto, Canada. Photo credit: David Spencer, DSi Fun Photos

In praise of independent bookstores, authors, artists, community builders, advocates and activists

IN PRAISE OF INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES, AUTHORS, ARTISTS, COMMUNITY BUILDERS, ADVOCATES, ACTIVISTS…

By Neil Armstrong

It’s Friday, Sept. 2 and I’m sitting just inside the roll-up window of what used to be Byzantium, a martini bar and supper club, now ‘Bar 499’ – the new space of Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St.

Glad Day, dubbed the “world’s oldest LGBTQ bookstore,” is moving from its location at 598A Yonge St. to the new site soon.

The opened window allows anyone passing by to stop and check out what’s going, ask a question if they want to, and conversations are punctuated by the sounds of buses and cars driving on Church St.

On Friday, the bookstore, established in 1970, hosted an activity with David Soomarie, a Trinidadian LGBTI and HIV activist visiting Toronto from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5, to talk about the fight for LGBTI rights in that country.

Organized by Maurice Tomlinson, senior policy analyst at Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the event brings together staff of the network, board members and staff of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), community members and allies.

Soomarie is the coordinator of Community Action Resource (CARe), an organization which he said was founded by gay men in a time of crisis in Trinidad.

“The world can be cruel if you’re gay and HIV positive,” he said, noting that when he was diagnosed as being HIV positive, he reconciled that he was “cursed by God for his sin – for being who he was.”

He didn’t do anything about his health situation for many years until he suffered a seizure and ended up in hospital.

Six years ago he made the decision to become the public face of HIV in his homeland.

Soomarie said when he came out there was a gay community, a culture, a Pride Week in Trinidad, and he could find out about who he was.

He lamented that Pride Week has disappeared into a Pride Month of parties.

“It was about us and it was us telling our stories. There is no roadmap that tells you how to negotiate your gayness.”

He said he is mainly concerned about community and community building, “the work that happens in the trenches, not for those who have the gift of words and the gift of language.” He also believes in building support networks in that community work.

Soomarie noted that there has been no leadership on HIV in Trinidad and that this is 2016 and a clinic that sees over 8000 people has a two-hour wait time to get a blood test done. This situation requires a drastic change.

He said HIV is not on the national agenda as it should be since 2010 when the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC) was dismantled.

This is his first visit to Toronto and he spoke of the importance of self-care, to be away from his work for a while “in a space that allows him to be who he is.”

In August, the bookstore in its new space hosted “Drinks and Discussion” with Kenita Placide, a human rights, HIV and LGBT activist from St. Lucia, who is also the executive director of United and Strong, the managing director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) and Caribbean advisor for OutRight Action International.

Doug Kerr, who organized that event, is having another. This time on Sept. 14, 6-9 p.m. with Ugandan filmmaker, Kamoga Hassan, and Montreal-based filmmaker, Karin Hazé, both in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Hassan is a human rights activist and founder of the new Queer Kampala International Film Festival.

In 2014, he produced "Outed: The Painful Reality", a feature about the dangers of homophobic media reporting on LGBTQ issues in Uganda.

The film won the Barbra Gittings International Human Rights Award 2015 and the Best International Feature Film Award at the Baltimore International Black Film Festival. He is currently in pre-production for his latest documentary, "Where is Home" on Ugandan gay asylum.

Hazé is an award-winning French-Jamaican filmmaker who has been producing, directing and programming for over 20 years.

She serves as the creative director of Cinema Feast, a boutique production company, which specializes in international collaborations advancing humanitarian causes.

She is currently working on her latest project, "75 Shots," a mentorship/film project addressing the issue of homophobia and finding solutions in countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense and punishable by law.

Being in 499 Church Street on Sept. 2 had me reflecting on the fact that a few doors down from there once stood This Ain’t The Rosedale Library, another independent bookstore that was there for many years.

Charles Huisken opened the store in 1979 and Daniel Bazuin became a co-owner in 1981.

It moved to Kensington Market in 2008 and subsequently closed in 2010.

Independent bookstores are not just places for commerce; they are spaces for enlightening discussion, the cut and thrust of debates, and community building.

I thought of Burke’s Books and Picture Framing, owned by Rita and Sam Burke, that used to be at 873 St. Clair Ave. W., and which also closed. [Hadn’t seen them in while until recently, I think, at author Austin Clarke’s funeral.]

Toronto Women’s Bookstore, which was founded in the 1970s and was the largest nonprofit feminist bookstore in Canada, closed in November 2012.

It was run and staffed primarily by women of colour, Wikipedia notes, and sold books written by women to promote feminist and anti-oppression politics.

I remember attending many events there where I met some dynamic Canadian and international authors.

Nile Valley Books, founded by Nohsakhre Ibrahim in 1999, has a location at 1921 Gerrard Street East in the Upper Beach area, and Accents Bookstore, which was founded by York University professors, Michelle Johnson and Abubacar Fofana Leon in 2012, has a studio space in Artscape Wychwood Barns.

Accents describes itself as a cultural space and notes that the studio space is “not a retail store, books are for display only.” Purchases have to be done online or by telephone.

Itah Sadu, co-owner of A Different Booklist, at a Jamaican Patty Day celebration at the bookstore.

Local authors showcasing their books at Knowledge Bookstore in Brampton, Ontario.

A panel of writers at Knowledge Bookstore in Brampton.

Miguel San Vincente, co-owner of A Different Booklist, in foreground at a reception held at the store for a documentary which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2015.

Most of my interactions have been with A Different Booklist at 746 Bathurst Street in Toronto, and Knowledge Bookstore at 177 Queen Street W. in Brampton.

David Soomarie speaking at an event at Bar 499 which will become the new home of Glad Day Bookshop.

The whole block has been sold by David Mirvish so everyone, including A Different Booklist, has until December in the present location.

The bookstore, once owned by academic Wesley Crichlow, has been around for just over twenty years.

Owners, Itah Sadu and Miguel San Vicente (who took it over from Crichlow about 17 years ago), have plans for the cultural centre to continue to have a presence in that area, even as condos are built and the look of the area – which has a long Black History – changes.

Knowledge Bookstore, an Afrocentric hub in Brampton, is owned by Sean and Carolette Liburd and has been in existence for 19 years.

I have attended many book launches, cultural events and celebrations at these bookstores, and even went on trips with the owners.

A few of us accompanied Itah to the Harlem Book Fair in New York several years ago, and I flew with Sean and Carolette to Jamaica for the Calabash International Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth many years ago.

These bookstores can be seen out and about in the community at various events – Afrofest, The Word on the Street [The 27^th festival is on Sunday, Sept. 25, 11am-6pm.], some festivals at the Harbourfont Centre, and sometimes at conferences and seminars.

I met many authors, artists, activists, advocates and community builders at independent bookstores.

A day after being at 499 Church Street for the event with David Soomarie, I was chatting with Itah about a project that A Different Booklist is working on, and on that same day I visited Knowledge Bookstore to talk with Carolette about some authors and books.

While sitting at the new space of Glad Day Bookshop on Friday, I also thought of Gwen and Lenny Johnston who founded Third World Books and Crafts in November 1968 on Walton St. in Toronto.

The bookstore moved a few times before settling on Bathurst Street where it stood for many years as an important and critical cultural hub/landmark in the development of Toronto’s black community.

I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Gwen or Lenny but I’ve heard a lot about them through people like Itah, Norman Otis Richmond, and Althea Prince, who dedicated one of her books to them.

It’s therefore a must for me to attend “Revolutionary Love” at CaribbeanTales International Film Festival on Sept. 16, 6 p.m. at the Royal Cinema to see “50 Years of Black Activism” – presented by the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project and Ryerson University – which features Gwen and Lenny.

The project’s website has a wonderful write-up on these pioneers.

The five short films also feature activists: Charles Roach, Dudley Laws, Marlene Green and Rosie Douglas.

This is my little way of acknowledging the work of these independent bookstores, authors, artists, activists, advocates and community builders.