M 2-1 —'<* ^1 ^-->+-J* •gwn ^Prm«mL*Er-9 u _Q fD pj r'c fP £ m £ £ u ° rn Cct O CD •'>•;- ­ 1rn w CU ^ "43 u f- r~ U +J —:<u c "^_ ^ r- Din V. I 1 ."=. C on * 1 • — i_ 1 T3 P CD CD f- 5 CD- u Ol Des issueiS sedLam amnesi thepasi HIE;] ONTARIO M 2-2 S|l§HERnAGE DBSStrust /iC,eruztd& U Matters Heritage Matters ispublished in English and French and has .1 combined circulation ol 9,200. I)igital copies are available on our website at www.hcritagctrust.on.ca. Advertising rates: Black and white Business card- $125 plusHST '. page - $250 plusHST Inserts —Call to inquire abouc ourexceptional rates. For information, contact: Ontario HcritageTrusl 10 Adelaide Street East, Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M5C 113 Telephone: 416-325-5015 Fax: 416-314-0744 Email: [email protected] Website: www.heritagei rust.on.ca © Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2011 © Ontario Heritage Trust, 2011 Photos ©Ontario Heritage Trust, 2011. unless otlicrwisc indicated! Produced by theOntario Heritage Trust (an agency of theOntario Ministry ol Tourism andCulture). Editor: Gordon Pirn Guesl Editor: Dr. Afua Cooper Graphic Designer: Manuel Olivcira Ibis publication isprinted on recycled paper using vegetable oil-based inks. Help us protectour environment bv passing alongor recycling this publication when you have no further need forit. Aussi disponible en francais. The inclusion ol any advertisement or insert in this publication does not imply or constitute an endorsement or acceptance bv the Province of Ontario of anyof the advertisers, productsor services advertised. TheOntario Heritage Irust is not responsible for errors,omissions or misrepresentations contained in anyadvertisement or insert. i &OI: ISSN 1198-2454 Print1 ISSN 1911-4-16X rPDF/Online 1/11 £>.Ontario CONTENTS Greetings Feature story: Celebrating the International Year for People of African Descent The life of the mind in the Promised Land Len Gibson: Ontario dance pioneer A tribute to Dudley Laws Looking beyond the law The journey of the Africentric Alternative School Recognition, justice and development Overcoming historical amnesia: Recognizing people of African descent as pioneers and community builders 10 The UNESCO Slave Route Project: Itineraries of African-Canadian memory 12 Wilma Morrison: A life of activism 13 Changing perspectives on the past 14 Black heritage resources 16 Cover image: Celebrating Emancipation Day at Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site inDresden (Photo: Keith Blackwell Photography) The views and opinions expressed in this publication arethose oftheauthors and donot necessarily reflect theviews andopinions oftheOntario Heritage Trust or the Government of Ontario. M 2-3 A message from the Chairman Heritage is as much about the future as itis about the past. An understanding ofthepasthelps usto build a better future. This year hasbeen designated by the United Nations as the International Year for People ofAfrican Descent. While wecan use this time tocelebrate theprovince's Black heritage, itmust also bea time to reflect onitssignificance. Ontario is home toa large and long-established community ofAfrican descent whose members have made, over many generations, an immense contribution to the life anddevelopment ofthis province. The stories in this Special Edition ofHeritage Matters illustrate the broad character ofOntario's Black heritage. They teach usaboutthe many ways in which the Black community hasplayed a substantial partin building andshaping thesocial, cultural, political andeconomic fabric ofthis province. They provide uswith a greater knowledge andappreciation oftheways in which people ofAfrican descent have contributed to the narrative ofOntario. They enrich our understanding ofthis province and ofthe important place oftheBlack community within it. We should also take this opportunity tosalute the active role played by Canadians ofAfrican heritage, again and again, in thedefence of Canada and, by extension, in thepreservation ofour shared history and institutions. The long-standing contributions ofthe many community leaders and members ofthe Black Heritage Network ofsites and organizations, who have done somuch tosafeguard this important history, are also deserving of our recognition. Iwould encourage you tovisit www.heritagetrust.on.ca/slaverytofreedom to learn more aboutthe network. Join me asweacknowledge this important year. Together, wecan celebrate and broaden our understanding ofthe significant role ofthe Black community in telling Ontario's stories. \ itA-u*s*s.< Thomas H.B. Symons, CC, O.Ont, FRSC, LLD A message from the Honourable Jean Augustine Friends, The International Year for People ofAfrican Descent aims "tostrengthen international, national and regional cooperation to benefit the people ofAfrican descent, and to recognize and promote their political, economic, social and cultural contributions from their diverse heritage and culture." In Ontario, wecelebrate this diverse heritage andculture and take thetheme ofthe year - recognition, justice and development - as a challenge todomore. We also recognize theneed toaddress issues thatstill haunt thewell-being ofpeople ofAfrican descent. Ontario has a rich history ofthe African-Canadian presence. Ours hasalways been a legacy ofstruggles andchallenges, butstrong leadership hasalways enabled usto turn challenges into opportunities. Iwould like to takethis opportunity to acknowledge thework ofthe Ontario Heritage Trust, the support of contributors tothis issue, and toall Ontarians who are working toensure that wehave a diverse, inclusive society where people ofAfrican descent arerespected and valued, and where they can beacknowledged as productive members ofsociety. I read somewhere that we ill beknown forever by the tracks weleave behind. As wefocus onissues impacting people ofAfrican descent, Ontarians have theopportunity to leave their own "tracks" behind. Jean Augustine, PC, CM, BA, M.Ed., LLD (Hon) Jean Augustine was appointed as the first Fairness Commissioner for Ontario in March 2007. She was also the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to the House ofCommons. She cares passionately about education and the challenges faced by newcomers to the province. M 2-4 Celebrating the Interna o fAfncan Descent The United Nations (UN) has designated 2011 as the kidnapped and sold into the transatlantic slave trade, discrimination in the courts. Further,Olivernotes that International Year for People ofAfrican Descent. The andendedup in the northern states. During the popular media continue to present Black Canadians in UN recognizes that, worldwide, people ofAfrican American Revolutionary War, he escaped from slavery demeaning ways: as poverty stricken, pathological heritage still face racial discrimination and oppression and fought on the side ofthe British, later settling in and criminal. Oliver further identifies the invisibility of as a result of slavery and colonization. Ontario; healso fought for the British during theWar Black history as oneofthe reasons that Black people In declaring the year's theme as "Recognition, of 1812.Enslaved Ontario woman Chloe Cooley was continue to face various forms of racial discrimination. Justice and Development," the UN has called on an early human rights champion. Josiah Henson According to the 2009 Statistics Canada police member states to take steps to redress this opened the first industrial and manual trades school report on hate crimes, "Blacks continue to be oppression. Responding to this call from the UN, the in Canada. And, in more recent times, Jamaican- victimized byhate crimes more than any othergroup." Ontario Heritage Trust hasdedicated this issue of Canadian Rosemary Brown changed the Canadian Hate crimes directed against Black Ontarians and Heritage Matters to Ontario's 250-year African- political landscape when she became the first Canadians have increased by 34 percentsince 2008 Canadian heritage and history. Black woman to run for the leadership ofa federal - particularly inToronto, Ottawa and the Kitchener- Ontario's Black heritage dates back to the period party - the New Democratic Party - in 1972. Waterloo area. ofthe French regime. As early as 1745,Black oarsmen Black Ontarians throughout the pasttwoand a Some of the leading authors and scholars of - enslaved and free - worked in the lucrative fur trade. half centuries have builtcommunities, towns and Ontario's Black experience - found here inthis Special We find evidence of theseBlack boatmen working in cities, haveraised families and haveused theirskills Edition of Heritage Matters - have responded to the Toronto, Cataragui (Kingston) and Niagara Falls. and talents for the development and progress of the call to make Black history visible and to use history as This heritage was created andshaped by Black province. a tool to breakdown stereotypes and promote people from diverse origins and experiences. In Though the accomplishments, contributions and greater awareness ofthe province's Black past. addition to Blacks from the ancien regime, we have achievements of Black Ontarians are legion, the All the authors focus on one or all aspects of Loyalist military families who gained their freedom as history of Black people in Ontario hasbeen Black people as agents in the creation oftheir own a result of fighting for the British. There werealso underrecognized, marginalized orforgotten. And history, andthe need for recognition, justice and enslaved Africans who laboured for their white these were no mere accomplishments. Pierpoint, for development for Black people. Rosemary Sadlier Loyalist