Dynamic Jamaican-Canadian Storyteller Adds YouTube Channel

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed        Sandra Whiting, storyteller, speaker and event host

Storytelling is at the heart of everything Sandra Whiting does and now she has added “Sandra Seh,” her new YouTube Channel where she shares her opinions on various matters.

 

The storyteller, speaker and event host says her mother was very good at storytelling when conversing with her during her childhood in Jamaica. On immigrating to Canada many years ago, Whiting met Dan Yashinsky, a well-known Canadian storyteller, author, and community organizer. 

 

It was while attending a festival he organized just to listen to the wordsmiths that she started falling in love with hearing stories again. 

 

“I had always been a reader. I can still remember the feel of those old books in the library and getting into the stories so it’s been a long time,” she says noting that, “From I learn to read and learn to hear words and learn to hear stories I’ve loved them.”

 

Her family required that everyone shared whatever they were experiencing so storytelling felt very natural to her.

 

Whiting says whenever she talks, people want to listen, and sometimes individuals remind her of things she told them twenty years ago.

 

For many years, Whiting has worked in arts and culture at the Harbourfront Centre, Obsidian Theatre, Factory Theatre, Jamaican Canadian Association and other diverse cultural organizations and events in Canada.  

 

“I get a huge kick out of it. I feel so pleased to be asked and my view of it, especially as an emcee, is that I want the audience to experience the best of what is being presented,” says the court interpreter for Jamaican Patois/Creole.

 

She conceived Kuumba — the longest  running Black History (African Heritage) programme at a major cultural institurion in the city.

 

While Zoom has made it more difficult to engage people, she still hears from participants that they felt warm like everyone was in the same room.

 

Whiting sat on many boards but has stepped back to allow others to fill those roles, however, she is still involved in things that pique her interest.

 

Having embraced social media and digital technology quite a while ago, she says pivoting during the COVID-19 pandemic was not unusual. 

 

“It just made me realize one must embrace what’s new. I don’t understand a lot of things but one thing I also know — find people who know and get them to help you because more people don’t understand things than we think.”

 

Whiting is pleased that she has the ability competent and patient young people to help her. While conscious of the fact that she can reach other people through these media, she wonders if they really hear.

 

During Black History Month, she launched “Sandra Seh” because the month inspires and showcases Black Canadians. Although well aware that Black History is to be supported 365 days a year, her view is that February is “our Christmas.”

 

She says “Sandra Seh” was on her bucket list for a while and she figured now was the time to do it. 

 

“It has reinvigorated me, honestly, amazingly,” says Whiting who thanks her friend, photographer Michael Chambers, for helping her set up a mini studio in her home and did the lighting and her make up.  He also recorded the sessions on her cell phone. Whiting wants people to subscribe to her channel and to share it with others. 

 

Using the Jamaican proverb, “Mout mek fi talk; story jump out!” — she says “our mouths are made to talk and we must share our stories.” Every time she sits down, she writes her thoughts and then records the various topics inspired by lived experiences. 

 

Recently, Whiting signed on with the Black Business and Professional Association to do a project with Toronto’s Little Jamaica in the summer. They will organize a food festival on the street on the Labour Day-long weekend in September. 

 

Their aim is to animate the street and Whiting is planning a clean up of the area on the Victoria Day-long weekend in May. She is inviting people from the community to come out and help to show that they are invested because the community has fallen on hard times. Many of the businesses have been affected by the construction of the Eglinton Light Rail Transit, which started in 2011, the reduction of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and regulations closing businesses for long periods during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expressing Our Gratitude for Your Support During Our Time of Bereavement

By Neil Armstrong 

The 'Eider Road Posse' from Ensom City, Spanish Town at the Celebration of Life for my mother, Delores Armstrong on March 19, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario.

On behalf of my family, thank you for sharing in the Celebration of Life service held for my mother, Delores Armstrong, fondly known as Dell or Ms. Dell, on March 19, 2022 at the Brampton Funeral Home & Cemetery. Thank you for your condolences and the stories and memories you shared over the past few weeks.

 

We want to thank our family here in Canada, in Jamaica, the United States, the UK and elsewhere, especially my aunts — Gwen (Gigi), Pat, Elaine, Clyte, Ula (June) and Melesa (Lesa).

 

Thanks Uncle Lloyd, my sister-in-law Miranda, my nieces and nephews: Deja, Breanna, Jordan and Nathan, cousins: Juliette and her family, especially 10-year-old Leah (who wrote and recited her poem in tribute to Aunty Dell), Andrea (Nicky), Karen and her family, Dale and his family, Michelle and her family, Steve, Kevin and his family, Andrew and his family, Myrna and her family in the UK, and Avis in Malta.

 

Thanks to Ms. Dell — my mother’s best friend, Delores Barnes — who lives in Florida and was represented by her granddaughter, Natasha who flew in to join us from North Carolina. Thanks Odete, Lance and Gail for all the love you showed my mother.

 

We extend a special thanks to members of the original ‘Eider Road Posse’ who have travelled from across North America to be here: Ms. Ethlyn and her children, Ann and Paul; Andrea, Lasandra, Jean and Andrew,  Shaun, Debbie, Petal, Tony, Sonia and Lance, Christopher, and Robert. They journeyed from Virginia, New York, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Florida, Maryland, Jamaica and Ajax, Ontario to be with us. And we have heard from other members of the Eider Road family and the wider Ensom City fraternity who could not be with us in person but remain very supportive: Mrs. Lawson, Mrs. Fender, Ms. Prendergast, Ms. Maureen, Michelle, Rohan, Ewart, Junior, and The Chapman sisters: Rose, Pat, Sonia, Sharon and Burneata.

 

Thank you to friends of my sister in the US who became an extended family to us: Zandrine Magloire and her family, LaVonnie, Elaine, Ruth, Cora, and Fitzroy Matthews who prayed with us and Dell in the last remaining minutes of her life.

A family shot at the repast

 

The Petrojam group has been a strong support to my father, Air Canada did the same for my brother, Andrew, and I am thankful for the support of the RJRGleaner Group, the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), and Alzheimer Society Peel. 

 

Thanks to Central Park Baptist Church for its unwavering support, especially Pastor Soedi Antonie; the Palliative Care Team at Brampton Civic Hospital, the oncologists, and all those who made my mother as comfortable as possible over the last nine weeks of her life.

 

 

Family at the repast after the Celebration of Life service and the burial

Thank you, Itah Sadu of A Different Booklist Cultural Centre: The People’s Residence for all your love and support, and to Abena Perryman of Andrew Perry for designing the funeral program with so much creativity.

 

Thanks to all of my friends who have reached out to us over the past couple weeks.

More family pics from the repast

 

Thanks to the staff of Brampton Funeral Home and Cemetery for their assistance in making everything happen so smoothly. Four years ago, when I came to the funeral home with my parents to make their funeral arrangements, I did not realize that at least one of them would be no longer with me on March 4, 2022. 

Longtime friends at the repast/reception

 

I’ve left the biggest THANK YOU to my sister, Sharon, who although she lives in the Bronx was always in tune with the health needs of Dell. From she came to visit on December 20, she hasn’t left. She was committed to providing Dell with all the help and comfort that she needed. THANK YOU, Sharon, and also to Blue, Andrew and Duke for being a part of Dell’s strong support network.

My mother, Delores Armstrong, was laid to rest on March 19, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada

EULOGY for Delores Armstrong presented at a Celebration of Her Life on March 19, 2022 at Brampton Funeral Home & Cemetery by Neil Armstrong

 

 

My mother, Delores Armstrong, was from humble beginnings and would have thought this is too much fuss about her today, but we are here to honour her by celebrating her life. We — my siblings and I — called her Dell, the name we heard our father fondly calling her. She was known by many as ‘Miss Dell’ — her beloved nieces and nephews called her Aunty Dell — to her grandchildren, Deja and Jordan, she was simply Grandma.

 

Dell, 79, was born on September 15, 1942 to Florence and James Scarlett in Lower Buxton, in the garden parish of St. Ann, Jamaica. She died on March 4, 2022 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I think she was destined to love colours because her mother’s maiden name was ‘Green,’ her father’s surname “Scarlett’ and she met my father, Henry Armstrong, whose nickname is ‘Blue.’ All of this helps me to weave an intimate tapestry of her life in this tribute to her.

 

She attended Lower Buxton Elementary School, and upon finishing she became a class monitor and received one-on-one instruction from her teacher — she was the apple of her teacher’s eye. She excelled in home economics. It was in Kingston that she was taught dressmaking by Miss Fraser, now deceased, — the mother of her lifelong friend, Delores Barnes, who resides in Florida — and she eventually became a dressmaker and a stay-at-home mother. Working from home also meant that she saw the opportunity to engage in something else that she loved — taking care of children — she was a popular babysitter. That love continued when we immigrated to Canada.

 

In 1960, Dell met Henry in Kingston where she had relocated to help her sister, Lurline. They subsequently had three children: Sharon, Neil and Andrew and eventually moved to Eider Road in Ensom City, Spanish Town in 1973. Walton (Mark) Campbell, her first child, and Duke, Henry’s son would eventually join us there. On June 26, 1982, the couple were married in St. Andrew.

 

Dell was kind, compassionate, humble, hospitable, and always willing to lend a helping hand in any way she could. Needless to say, our home was a welcoming place for many relatives and friends. Eider Road was where she shone in our immediate family and the extended family as we called the Eider Road Posse. It was on this road that communal baking skills were showcased, where we celebrated and mourned together, where many of us as children got ready on a Sunday to attend Ensom City Gospel Chapel. It was also where New Year’s Eve street parties or annual Labour Day projects happened and Dell was always involved. Some members of the Eider Road family have travelled long distances to be here today to honour her and we thank them.

 

She taught us compassion by demonstrating it; there were times I would see her crying and ask her what was wrong. Her answer surprised me — she was thinking of the hardship a family member or friend was experiencing in Jamaica and she offered whatever help she could from here. She gave and many times lent money wherever she could. Whenever I heard her expression — “Poor so and so” — I knew she was thinking about the situation of someone she cared about in Jamaica or here. She demonstrated love and kindness by her deeds and never sought to make a public display of her actions.

 

She was a storyteller and someone who made people laugh at any moment. Her stories about life in Lower Buxton, in Kingston, or Spanish Town would have us in stitches. We would hear the stories of how at one time her father planted everything that we ate – sweet potatoes, yam, pumpkin, whatever ground provision you knew, he planted it – how her mother was a kind and patient woman, and about the childhood pranks Dell played on her siblings. At home here in Brampton, she was humorous and always found African movies or gospel groups to watch and sing along to on her tablet, or word search puzzles when not cooking or gardening. We would join her sometimes to try to harmonize in the singing. Her sisters — my aunts Ula (June) and Melesa (Lesa) — reminded me that wherever she was, there was always food, and Dell believed in cooking more than for her family. If anyone stopped by, there was something to offer.

 

She was loved by her family and friends, and that was recently demonstrated when Gail Lywood — a child Dell babysat, and the daughter of family friends, Odete and Lance Lywood — who is studying to be a nurse, came to visit her wearing her nurse uniform and brought her stethoscope to check Dell’s vitals.

 

Dell is predeceased by her parents, her sisters — Norma (Pam), Lurline (Lizzy), Esmeridina (Esmie) and Sarah — and her brother Arthur (Brother Tan Tan).

 

We miss her dearly and thank God that he placed her in our lives — a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, sister-in-law, friend to many, and such a jovial person. We will miss her laughter and how she could easily find those moments to lift our spirit. Every time I look out in the backyard garden and see the roses blooming, I will think of her, especially the pink one that my brother, Andrew, bought her and she loved the Rose of Sharon.

 

 THANK YOU to all of you for attending today’s service to help us honour her, especially those of you who have travelled from afar. Thank you for the support from our family, here and abroad, who continue to lift us up in prayer and visits in this difficult period.

 

Dell is no longer here with us but we will cherish all the memories we have of her. 

 

Yes, I am guilty of making a fuss about my mother today, but she deserves every accolade and commendation. This is my final salute to her.

 

Rest well, Dell, and walk good. 

 

You are at peace and no longer in pain. We will miss you dearly.

 

 

 

Black CAP Celebrates the History and Activism of Black AIDS Service Organizations

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed       Angela Robertson, executive director of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre

The Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), Canada’s largest Black-specific AIDS service organization, chose the end of February to reflect on the legacy of Black AIDS service organizations (ASOs) at its virtual Black History Month celebration.

 

For 33 years, the agency has worked to respond to the threat of HIV and AIDS in Toronto’s African, Caribbean and Black communities guided by its motto, ‘Because All Black People’s Lives Are Important.’ This is a reminder of its commitment to the human rights and dignity of all Black people who are vulnerable to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 

 

“Black joy is an act of resistance. It is an affirmation of our humanity when so much around us seeks to dehumanise us,” said Angela Robertson, executive director of Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre and the keynote speaker at what Black CAP billed as “LEGACY: A History of Service.” She was referring to the entertainment vibes provided by DJ Donovan Thompson at the start of the event.

 

Robertson thanked Black CAP for using the Black History Month gathering “in naming the presence of racism and the persistence of anti-Black racism in our multicultural Canada and, as well, affirming the work that we do daily to interrupt, resist, affirm and support communities and networks that really, literally, save lives.”

 

Noting that this is the seventh year of the United Nations-proclaimed International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, she located herself as an immigrant in Canada.

 

A former chair of Black CAP’s board of directors, Robertson underscored African-American author, activist and queer scholar James Baldwin’s statement that “History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us.” 

 

She said Black history is 365 days of the year and commended Black CAP and the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO) for doing work that has strengthened Black, African and Caribbean individuals and communities.

 

“You have built and kept alive a credible base of advocacy, of activism and community that have made it possible for others to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination, against homophobia and against anti-Black racism.”

 

She located herself personally as benefiting from the political and social change orientation to what they do as service delivery.

 

Robertson said she considers the agency and the council as living beings who serve not as charity but carrying out social change work. She noted that the gathering was there to say thanks for that continued legacy.

 

“Over the long history of service to Black peoples, you undertook research and led advocacy that amplified the differential impacts of HIV/AIDS on Black people and called for strategies that addressed the specifics of our needs — always underscoring this work cannot be successfully done without the leadership and meaningful involvement of African, Caribbean and Black peoples living with HIV/AIDS.” 

 

Robertson emphasized the enormity of the work that both organizations do and the task ahead out of the pandemic, as well as the ongoing resistance to anti-Black racism. However, she said so too are the great possibilities contained in ensuring that those impacted by HIV/AIDS live lives with dignity and “our support and the opportunity to continue inspiring individuals and collective acts of resistance, of activism, to vision and create the society we want to live in.”

 

“My brother, Courtnay McFarlane, is always reminding us of the importance of naming names and often the names of our champions are not reflected or embedded in the historical archives of services and service organizations in this city. And we’re only called and our names are only called in this Black History Month celebration.”

 

Robertson proceeded to name a few individuals “who give life to the legacies we now celebrate and ask that you call their names year-round.” They include Camille Orridge, “who saw a need in the early 80s at the height of the HIV pandemic and organized to convene others to create the services we now affirm as legacy.” Recently, the University of Toronto announced that Orridge is one of eleven individuals who will be conferred with an honorary degree later this year. 

Photo contributed  Camille Orridge receiving an award from Andrew Campbell, then chair of the agency's board of directors, at Black CAP 30th anniversary gala at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2019

 

The list of those significant in the development of Black CAP included Erica Mercer and Tony Caines, Black workers at Toronto Public Health and the City of Toronto, Douglas Stewart, the inaugural executive director of Black CAP, ACCHO’s first coordinator Esther Amoako, a founder of AIDS Alert Ghana, Courtnay McFarlane “whose artistry rooted Black CAP in Africanness with the use of the Adinkra symbol,” researchers Winston Husbands and Wangari Tharao, Trevor Gray, Junior Harrison, Lena Soje, and others. 

 

“That this is but a short list and I urge you to continue to call the names that have made a difference in our lives,” exhorted Robertson.

 

At its 30^th anniversary gala held at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2019, the agency honoured members of its original steering committee: Orridge, Stewart, Mercer and Stefan Collins. It also celebrated Harrison, McFarlane, Husbands, Falconer, Brian Parris and Phillip Pike.

 

For Gareth Henry, executive director of Black CAP, the celebration was happening in the context of Black people continuing to confront and deal with anti-Black racism in Toronto, and in the “fight for our rights to be not othered but to be treated with the dignity and respect that we all deserve.”

 

The event included a panel discussion involving Dionne Falconer, Chris Leonard and Lena Soje, former volunteers and staff of Black CAP. Soje highlighted the importance of making space for the needs of older LGBTQS2+ people and for Black CAP to include young people born with HIV in its programming.

 

Taking his cue from that suggestion, Henry announced that Black CAP would be hiring two youth born with HIV to work with all the staff to learn and gain the necessary skills within an AIDS service organization.

Photo contributed      Gareth Henry, executive director of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP)

 

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of Black CAP’s Lifetime Advocacy Award to trailblazers: MPP Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP culture and heritage critic and women's issues critic for the Official Opposition, leadership coach and former manager of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit at the City of Toronto and former director of community resources at the City, Aina-Nia Ayo’dele Grant, and Al Ramsay, associate vice president, LGBTQ2+ & Black Customer Segments, TD Bank Group.

 

Alluding to something his granny in Jamaica would say, Ramsay said his heart was full and that it was important to recognize that “our community is at the heart of what we all do.”

 

He acknowledged that he was standing on the shoulders of “great giants” in the Black community” and said he was very emotional when he received the email informing him that he was a recipient of the award.

 

Describing the agency as a lifeline in the community, Ramsay said there are many misnomers about the Black community not working together but Monday’s event proved that was not the case. 

Photo contributed       Al Ramsay, associate vice president, LGBTQ2+ & Black Customer Segments, TD Bank Group

 

“There is something very exceptional when you get recognized by your community, and for me, what that means is both the Black and queer community. I thrive to bring my whole self to everything that I do, and so for me, this recognition is saying yes, you have done so Aina-Nia. There is a feeling of true peace that there is something I must be doing right,” says Grant, an ancient wisdom teacher and spiritual liberation activist who recently retired from the City of Toronto and was joining the event from Jamaica where she is on vacation.

 

Grant said many years ago she chose Black CAP as her favourite place because of the work that it does, the way it is done and its clients. “What I do know is for as long as I’ve been a part of Black CAP, Black CAP shows up for everybody.”

 

She said the work of the agency is beyond HIV/AIDS education. “You feed people, you bring home to people, you hire the people who you care for and then you mentor them and then you send them off and then people come back. This is community, this is Ubuntu; this is our African way of being.”

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

 

Tearing up before speaking, Jill Andrew said when she got the email she was shocked, speechless and she cried. She said Black CAP was one of the first organizations that embraced her when she first came out as her full self as a Black queer woman.

 

She commended Black CAP for its work, especially the AYA Project that has been addressing food insecurity of some of its African, Black and Caribbean clients during the pandemic. 

 

Andrew said the agency’s work expands beyond HIV/AIDS to “caring about our hearts, our minds, caring about where we lay our heads, caring about our self- esteem and our dignity.”

Photo contributed     Jill Andrew, MPP and Ontario NDP culture and heritage critic and women's issues critic for the Official Opposition

 

The inaugural Black CAP Lifetime Advocacy Award is given to individuals who have focused their efforts on the betterment of the community. “Their dedication to advocating for the important and necessary work of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention has not gone unnoticed.”

 

The agency says it appreciates their steadfast support and thanks them for all that they have done and continue to do for African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Review of Half-Court Trap and Some Reading Suggestions

By Neil Armstrong

 

Half-Court Trap by Kevin heronJones tells a very compelling story about rivalries, friendships, how misguided pent-up feelings can lead to unfortunate circumstances, and ways to redeem one’s self – all are important life lessons imparted in this young adult fiction.

 

heronJones, a youth basketball coach, author, journalist, actor, lecturer and award-winning performance poet, uses the game of basketball to explore important themes among these young players.

 

Here is a synopsis of the book: “Fall ball is starting up and Nigel knows he’ll make the team. He’s a good player, he works hard and he respects his teammates, the game and his coach. But at tryouts, the last person Nigel wants to see is there – Number 5 from a rival team who got the best of Nigel last year on the court by calling him “fatboy baller.” When his rival becomes his teammate, Nigel gets set on revenge. But is it worth sacrificing the team’s shot at the championship?”

 

It is within sports that we meet Nigel, his parents and siblings, his teammates, Coach Shabaka, the coach’s daughter Kiya, his rival, Denham, and Denham’s parents. heronJones deftly uses the dialogue among the players to situate the conflict between Nigel and Denham, gullible friendship and the consequences of actions.

Also tackled are the issues of fat shaming, peer pressure, parental conflicts and the importance of collegiality. 

 

The author gives the main characters the latitude to make mistakes, realize their missteps and make amends for their actions. heronJones develops the familial relationships of Nigel and Denham to provide readers with a window into the impact that families can have on their members. The parents can learn from their children too.

 

Published by James Lorimer & Company Ltd. in 2021 as part of its sports stories series, Half-Court Trap will spark discussions among young readers and between them and their parents, coaches and mentors. 

 

Other books written by heronJones to read

 

In 2005, I AM a Child of the SUN, was published by the author’s company, PoeticSoul Publishing.

 

“This book of poetry asks and responds to the many questions that drift in and out of the young Black mind. It presents the reality of being a Black child in the 21^st century. I AM a Child of the SUN is more than just an arbitrary collection of poems. It is a work of art, which contains essays, narratives, social commentaries, rants and editorial in poetic form. The poems chronicle the maturation of a young Black mind into a confident spiritual being,” notes a description of the book.

 

A description of another book, Telephone Love – Poems, Verses & Songs, published in 2008, also by PoeticSoul Publishing, notes that, “Love is meant for the elevation of intertwined spirits and the descending of such is nothing less than tragedy. With Telephone Love, heronJones offers up a fresh look at love, relationships and everything they encompass.” 

 

Check out heronjones.com to find out more about Kevin heronJones

 

 

Here are some other books from my reading list

 

 

Rainbow Milk, a novel by Paul Mendez, published by Doubleday in 2020

 

“An essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice, Rainbow Milk follows nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of his Jehovah’s Witness upbringing,” notes a synopsis of the novel.

 

Paul Mendez is a London-based novelist, essayist and screenwriter of Jamaican heritage. Born in 1982 and raised Jehovah’s Witness in the English West Midlands, Mendez disassociated himself from the Witnesses while still a teenager. In 2020 Dialogue Books published Rainbow Milk in the U.K., where it was featured in The Observer’s prestigious Top Ten Debut Novels list and was short-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize.

 

Check out www.paulmendez.co.uk

 

Una Marson by Lisa Tomlinson, part of the Caribbean Biography Series published by the University of the West Indies Press in 2019.

 

 Una Marson’s work embodied anti-colonialism, anti-racism, feminism, class politics and pan-Africanism in the first half of the twentieth century. Her poetry and dramatic work symbolically ushered in a new era in Jamaica’s literary landscape and her efforts in championing early Jamaican literature, as well as her avid support for Caribbean writers in Britain and the region, made her a key proponent of the development of a national and West Indian literary canon, states the book’s description.

 

Lisa Tomlinson is a lecturer in literary and cultural studies at the Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She is the author of The African-Jamaican Aesthetic: Cultural Retention and Transformation across Borders.

 

The Caribbean Biography Series from the University of the West Indies Press celebrates and memorializes the architects of Caribbean culture. The series aims to introduce general readers to those individuals who have made sterling contributions to the region in their chosen field – literature, the arts, politics, sports – and are the shapers and bearers of Caribbean identity.

 

The other individuals featured in the series are Beryl McBurnie, Earl Lovelace, Marcus Garvey and Derek Walcott.

 

Can You Hear Me Now?  How I Found My Voice and Learned to Live with Passion and Purpose by Celina Caesar-Chavannes published by Random House Canada in 2021.

 

Celina Caesar-Chavannes had already broken boundaries as a Black woman in business when she decided to get into politics. But, in 2015, when she became the first Black person elected to represent the federal riding of Whitby, Ontario, she hadn’t really thought about the fact that she was headed for a place that was not designed for someone like her, notes a synopsis of the book.

 

Celina Caesar-Chavannes is an equity and inclusion advocate and leadership consultant, and a former Member of Parliament who served as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and to the Minister of International Development et la Francophonie. 

 

 

A Different Booklist Cultural Centre’s February 2022 Virtual Programming

 

All events are listed on Eventbrite for registration.

 

 

Tuesday, February 1

2:00-3:00 p.m.

Michael Lashley in conversation with William Ging Wee Dere, author of Being Chinese in Canada: The Struggle for Identity, Redress and Belonging. Presented at the beginning of Chinese New Year and Black History Month. 

 

Many in multicultural Canada feel the issues of cultural identity and the struggle for belonging. Although Being Chinese in Canada is a personal recollection and an exploration of the history and culture of Chinese Canadians, the themes of inclusion and kinship are timely and will resonate with Canadians of all backgrounds.

 

 

 

 Thursday, February 3

10:30-11:30 a.m. – Joanne Hillhouse

Joanne Hillhouse, The Jungle Outside. HarperCollins – a children’s book illustrated by Danielle Boodoo Fortuné (Audience: Primary Students)

 

Set in the Caribbean, The Jungle Outside tells the story of Dante and his grandmother, Tanti, as they explore Tanti’s garden. At first reluctant, Dante soon comes to realise the adventures that await him outside and we follow them as he climbs trees, tastes fruit, and finally notices the nature around him.
Beautifully illustrated by Danielle Boodoo Fortuné, this book is a visual feast which will feed the imagination of young readers. It encourages children get outside and explore, to look at things differently, and to face their fears.

 

Thursday, February 10

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Opal Palmer Adisa (editor), 100+ Voices for Miss Lou: Poetry, Tributes, Interviews, Essays. The University of the West Indies Press.

Host: Lisa Tomlinson 

Free

 

100+ Voices For Miss Lou is a tribute to the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley. It celebrates the Jamaican poet, author, storyteller and ambassador whose influence impacted people globally. The book is the realization of an idea that Opal Palmer Adisa had several years ago and includes poetry, tributes, interviews and essays from over 100 contributors. 

 

 

 

Friday, February 11

“Walk a Mile in My Shoes”

6:30-7:30 p.m.

TRENT is the author of How Sneakers Saved My Life: My Entrepreneurial Journey (Book 1) and How Sneakers Ruined My Life: The Entrepreneurial Journey That Shifted My Mental State

Host: Itah Sadu

Ticketed

 

In his memoir, Trent captures in two books his journey as an entrepreneur but also as a young man who made mistakes, learned from them, sought help when he needed it, and continues to strive. Trent also uses his books as teaching tools to share with youth and budding entrepreneurs some of the pitfalls of business but also to educate them on the reality of some of the transactions and terminologies they will encounter.

 

 

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Sumaiya Matin, The Shaytan Bride. A Bangladeshi Canadian Memoir of Desire and Faith

Host: Gayle Gonsalves

Ticketed

 

The true story of how one Muslim woman shaped her own fate and escaped her forced wedding.

 

The Shaytan Bride is the true coming-of-age story of a girl navigating desire and faith. Through her journey into adulthood, she battles herself and her circumstances to differentiate between destiny and free will. Sumaiya Matin’s life in love and violence is a testament to one woman’s strength as she faces the complicated fallout of her decisions.

 

 

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Launch of the book, Welcome to Blackhurst: An Iconic Toronto Neighbourhood, a book published by A Different Booklist Cultural Centre.

Ticketed

 

 

Thursday, February 17

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Toufah Jallow, author of TOUFAH with Kim Pittaway, in conversation with Sarah Onyango 

Ticketed

 

An incandescent and inspiring memoir from a courageous young woman who, after she was forced to flee to Canada from her home in The Gambia, became the first woman to publicly call the country’s dictator to account for sexual assault—launching an unprecedented protest movement in West Africa.

 

 

Friday, February 18

7:00-8:00 p.m.

“Two Poets in Conversation and Performance”

Lillian Allen, Make the World New selected with an introduction by Ronald Cummings. Wilfrid Laurier Press & Charles C. Smith, Searching for Eastman: A Performance Poem. Mawenzie House.

Host: Ronald Cummings 

Free

 

Make the World New brings together some of the highlights of Lillian Allen's work in a single volume. It revisits her well-known verse from the celebrated collections Rhythm an’ Hardtimes, Women Do This Everyday, and Psychic Unrest, while also assembling new and uncollected poems. Allen's poetry is incisive in its narration of Black life and its call to create new and different futures. Her work highlights the need for radical intersectional change as a process of social transformation. 

searching for eastman is a multidisciplinary performance?a choreopoem?in four acts, based on the interpretation of four of Julius Eastman?s compositions?evil nigger; prelude to st joan; stay on it; and gay guerrilla. Making use of different artistic forms?poetry, theatre, music, dance, video, and digital?it is inspired by the African griot tradition, the Harlem Renaissance (eg the work of Langston Hughes with jazz and Kurt Weil), and the Black Arts movement (eg Amiri Baraka?s work with Sun Ra). 

 

 

Tuesday, Feb. 22

"Construction as Elevation: Design and Development"

12:00-1:00 p.m.

Abigail Moriah welcomes live from Barbados architect Jemala Haynes. 

Ticketed

 

 

Thursday, February 24

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Canute Lawrence, Pathology of a Pandemic. FriesenPress. Presented in collaboration with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

Host: Gayle Gonsalves

Free

 

Pathology of a Pandemic is a collection of poems that was written during the onslaught of the novel corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Teenagers, young adults, and mature adults will find this book of poetry captivating because the voice in each poem is different from the others ranging from a deceased grandmother, a physically disabled person, to the never ending passion of those who stand against all types of oppression, discrimination and systemic racism. 

 

 

Friday, February 25

8:00 p.m.

AFRICANTHOLOGY: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets

Host: Greg Frankson

Ticketed

Truth spoken plainly and powerfully is difficult to dismiss and impossible to ignore. Edited with purpose by Greg Frankson, AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets brings together some of Canada's most influential dub, page, and spoken word poetic voices and gives them space to speak freely about their personal journeys in piercing verse and unapologetic prose. 

 

 

Monday, February 28

"Construction as Elevation: Design and Development"

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Jahanne Bobb welcomes Kevin Talma.

Ticketed

 

 

Some other book events

 

The Harriet Tubman Institute and the Centre for Feminist Research at York University present the launch of the book Appealing Because He is Appalling: Black masculinities, colonialism, erotic racism, edited by Tamari Kitossa, Brock University, and published by the University of Alberta Press on Tuesday, February 8, 5:00 pm - 6:30pm. Panellists are: contributors are Dennis O. Howard and Kemar McIntosh, and poet Ryan Burke. Moderator: Elaine Coburn

https://www.yorku.ca/tubmandev/event/book-launch-appealing-because-he-is-appalling-black-masculinities-colonialism-and-erotic-racism/

 

 

Nia Centre for the Arts will launch Griot: Six Writers Sojourn into the Dark, a celebration of a new anthology by six emerging writers from its Black Pen programme on Thursday, February 10, 6:00-8:00 p.m.https://niacentre.org/events/griot-book-launch/

 

Human Rights Advocate and Gender Expert, Dr. Glenda Simms, Remembered

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Ewart Walters  Left to right: Michelle Simms (daughter), Glenda Simms, Merle Walters (her speechwriter), and Daisy Gordon (a friend)

 

The late well-known feminist Dr. Glenda Simms, a distinguished educator, cross-cultural psychologist and advocate for gender and racial equality, is being remembered as a trailblazer in Canada and Jamaica.

 

Just days before she passed away in Ottawa on December 31, 2021, Simms

was celebrated for her advocacy for women at a Kwanzaa event in Toronto. 

 

At “Kujichagulia – Ring Your Bell For bell hooks – A Tribute to bell hooks,” organized by a Different Booklist Cultural Centre: The People’s Residence on December 27, Jean Augustine – the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the Canada’s House of Commons as a Member of Parliament – spoke of Simms’s daughter, Michelle, informing her of the educator’s illness. Simms, 82, was reportedly ailing with Lou Gehrig's disease and dementia.

 

Akua Benjamin, a retired professor, former director of the School of Social Work at Ryerson, activist and former president of the Congress of Black Women (Toronto Chapter), said Simms was among the vanguard of Black women advocating for social justice in Canada and should be commemorated in the future. 

 

These accolades were shared at the virtual event held to celebrate bell hooks, African American author, professor, feminist and social activist who passed away on December 15 in Berea, Kentucky, in the United States.

 

Simms was appointed the president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1990 and served until 1996. 

 

Upon her return to Jamaica, she became the executive director of the Jamaican Bureau of Women’s Affairs from 1996 - 2005. This resulted from her attendance at the Beijing Conference on the Status of Women where she was part of the Canadian delegation and made contact with the Jamaican delegation led by Cabinet minister Portia Simpson Miller whose portfolio included women’s affairs. She was also the CEO of Simms Consulting in Jamaica.

 

Before her trailblazing work in Jamaica, Simms broke new ground in the fight for gender equality and social justice in Canada.

 

“As a former national president of the CBW [Congress of Black Women], I mourn the passing of our sister Glenda Simms. As a past national president, she showed leadership which guided the formation of the CBW as a truly national organization. She was an energetic and formidable advocate for the issues affecting Black women and their families,” says Augustine.

 

She says nationally, Black women cheered Simms’s leadership to the Status of Women Canada.

 

Augustine says she witnessed Simms’s advocacy as she pushed to ensure that the voices of women from non-governmental organizations were included at the tables of the 1985 UN Conference on the Status of Women in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

“Glenda’s work and advocacy for and on behalf of women would be long remembered. May she rest in peace,” says the former minister of state (multiculturalism and status of women).

 

“Dr. Glenda Simms was a formidable presence in Canada and Jamaica. I remember hearing her speak on many occasions, including a conference hosted by the National Council of Jamaicans and was blown away by her passion, boldness and commitment to giving voice to Black women and so many others,” says Adaoma Patterson, president of the Jamaican Canadian Association.

 

“She inspired me and other young Black people to own our space, not be afraid to speak out against injustice and work together to make things better for our community. I remember her telling many of us she hoped one day we would become prime minister. Dr. Simms has left a remarkable legacy that must not be forgotten and needs to be shared with current and future activists. The Jamaican Canadian Association extends our sincere condolences to her family.”

 

 

Simms emigrated to Canada in 1966 to take up a teaching job in Fort Chipewyan, northern Alberta, an isolated area where children had never seen a Black person and did not speak English. She knew very little about the culture of the country’s Indigenous peoples but as someone who grew up in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, she could relate to their economic circumstances.

 

A graduate of Bethlehem Teachers College, Dr. Simms became an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Nippising University College of North Bay, Ontario. In 1972, she received her Bachelor of Education and in 1976, her Master of Education from the University of Alberta. Between 1977 and 1980 she was assistant professor at the University of Lethbridge, teaching educational psychology and native education. For five years, she was head of the Indian Education Department at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College of the University of Regina.

 

From 1982 to 1987 she was the president of the Congress of Black Women. A founding member of the Afro-Caribbean Association, she was also a member of the Women’s Advisory Committee on Affirmative Action to the Treasury Board of Canada, a member of Phi Delta Kappa, a board member of the National Organization of Immigrants and Visible Minority Women and a member of the Psychologists Association of Alberta, among others.

 

Dr. Simms was the recipient of several awards, including the Black Achievement Award for contributions to public policy, and was the holder of honorary doctorates from the University of Alberta, Queen’s University and the University of Manitoba.

 

In 2014, she received the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica for outstanding work in gender development.

“Dr. Simms was a champion for women’s rights and she worked tirelessly to end all forms of gender based violence and discrimination,” wrote former prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller in a Facebook post on January 1.

She noted that Simms “travelled to every parish to educate men and women about improving gender relations and ending gender based violence. She was strong in her conviction that the way to end gender based violence was to create a better understanding between women and men.”

In a Facebook post, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, says Dr. Simms was “a trailblazing figure in the fight for women’s rights.”

Grange noted that during her time at the Bureau from 1996 to 2005, Simms started the consultations toward the development of the National Policy on Gender Equality, revitalized Parish Advisory Committees, established the National Gender Advisory Committee and developed public education initiatives on gender-based violence.

“Dr. Simms never stopped advocating for women’s rights and for the removal of barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving their full potential. She gave dedicated and passionate leadership to her cause and has been a trailblazing figure in the fight for women’s rights. She will be missed,” says Minister Grange in the January 3, 2022 post. 

Photo credit: Sonia Godding Togobo   Sacred Women International's Sacred Women Training participants commune with members of the St. Elizabeth Women Ltd., founded by Glenda Simms, in Jamaica

After leaving the corporate sector, Dr. Simms became a farmer in Malvern at what she called her “shamba,” an East African word for a cultivated plot of land; a farm or plantation. 

She founded the organization, St. Elizabeth Women Ltd, in 2008, which grew into a total of seven groups operating in communities such as Santa Cruz, Malvern, Southfield and Stanmore.

"We are promoting sustainable development in our communities by helping these women to develop the economy at the grass-roots level through farming horticulture and craft," Simms told the Gleaner in a news report in 2011. 

The group had a membership of more than 250 and was involved in empowerment workshops geared towards the personal development of its members. The St. Elizabeth Women Ltd had started the process of community renewal and impacted the lives of girls and women through a process of education and empowerment. 

 

In 2017, Sacred Women International (SWI), founded by Aina-Nia Ayo’dele, held the culmination of its Sacred Leader Training with the women of SEW in St. Elizabeth. She has reposted a video on her Facebook page of that gathering “in honour of warrior woman Glenda Simms.”

 

SWI is an organization that inspires individuals to realize their highest vision, live with purpose, and influence change in their families, communities and throughout the world.

 

Dr. Simms is survived by her three children -- Michelle, Emil and Shaun – and grandchildren.