My heart is heavy. What has been happening to black people for far too long has been horrifically magnified this week.
As a white woman I am acutely aware that I can’t speak to the systematic racism and the subsequent ramifications; I haven’t walked in those shoes. What I can do though is listen, learn and take action.
I am embarrased to say I did not know many of these black Canadians honored with a postage stamp. Kay Livingstone, pictured above, launched the Congress of Black Women of Canada in 1975. It is now a nationwide organization dedicated to the welfare of black Women and their families. She is also credited with coining the term “visible minority.”
Baseball Hall of famer
Fergie Jenkins, from Chatham Ontario, was a Hall of Fame Pitcher with the MLB. He was the first Canadian to win a Cy Young award and to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
Any baseball fans out there that know what year and team he played for when he won the Cy Young award?
Lincoln Alexander
I shook the hand of Lincoln Alexander when I graduated from University of Guelph where he was the longest serving chancellor in the history of the school. Even in those split seconds of our meeting he made an impact.
And not just with me. He was a leader in the fight for racial equality, a champion of justice, education, heritage and held some of the highest political postions in Canada.
When he passed away in 2012 I remember being so sad and speaking about this great man with my kids.
Her case intiated civil rights movement in Canada
Viola Desmond was a Canadian business woman who started her own hair and skin-care company for black women. After not being allowed to train as a beautician in Halifax because of her African heritage she went to Madam C.J. Walker’s beauty school (I highly recommend watching Self Made which chronicles the story of Madam C.J. Walker) in Atlanta.
Ms. Desmond challenged racial segregation in 1940s in Nova Scotia after being arrested and charged for sitting in the “whites only” section of a movie theatre. She fought the charge in court and her case contributed greatly to the rise of the civil rights movement in Canada.
First person of African descent to arrive in Canada
Believed to be the first person of African descent to arrive in Canada (in 1608) whose name survived history, Mathieu Da Costa, arrived a free man who earned his living as an interpreter for Europeans who were trading with Indigenous people in the New World.
a politician with passion
Rosemary Brown was the first black woman to be elected to public office in Canada. It was in 1972. Not that long ago. Let that sink in.
She was also the first woman to run for leadership of a Canadian federal party when she ran for leadership of the federal New Domocratic party. After political life she was a professor and then served as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Thank you to Canada Post for not only these photos but for honoring Black Lives and allowing their legacy to live on through a postage stamp.