NATTY  NEWS BRIEF

Milestone: The War of 1812 and Richard Pierpoint. His real name is unknown and a picture of his likeness was never available. He never married and had no descendants. He was likely illiterate. He subsisted for most of his life as a slave, farmer and labourer for hire. [read more] [April, 2012]

 

Milestone: Often times “racism” is the motivating factor in a black person’s life. It’s as if one has to prove to the “racist party” that you are better than they have given you credit for. . . . Herbert (Herb) Carnegie, Canada’s first Black hockey star who was denied the opportunity to play in the National Hockey League (NHL) because of his skin colour. He died March 9, 2012. He should be inducted in the hockey Hall of Fame. He was not one to let a “racist remark” keep him from achieving his goals. [read more] [March, 2012]

 

Famous Quotes: "poverty so sharp you could taste it" . . . . "Righteous anger that doesn't spill over into violence.". . . . "Anger is not the villain here. Anger is the necessity. It's what you do with the anger that's important in the final analysis. For those who are oppressed without anger, there is no end to their oppression.". . . . "Racism isn't always a body hanging from a tree. It's a daily encounter with where you can't go, what you can't do, who you can't talk to." – Harry Belafonte's book "My Song" [Jan. 2012]

NATTY  NEWS

Milestones: On May 17, 1882 Toronto first black mailman showed up for work. His name was Albert Jackson. The other letter carriers refused to show him the rounds. The incident was reported by the press, which wrote about “the obnoxious coloured man”. [read more] [Feb. 2012]

 

Milestone: Did you know that William Hall was the first African-Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross by the British Royal Navy on October 28, 1859, after he valiantly defended a British garrison in Lucknow, India. [Feb. 2012]

 

Milestone: (I was reading the local newspaper  and found this letter. Thought my readers would be interested in reading a condensed version of the letter written to a slave master from an ex-slave.) [In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tenn., wrote to his former slave, Jourdon Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. [read more] [Feb. 2012]

 

Did You Know: On the RMS Titanic there was one Haiti-born Black person, Joseph Philippe Laroche, on board when it sank. Laroche was born to a very wealthy family. His uncle was the president of Haiti. He went to Paris to study engineering at age 15 years old. He graduated and fell in love with and married a  French Parisian woman. [Read more]  [April, 2012]

 

NATTY  NEWS

Milestone: William Still was the mastermind and Father of the Underground Railroad. Born at Burlington, New Jersey in 1821, William Still was the youngest of 18 siblings whose parents were slaves. [read more] [Feb. 2012]

 

Milestone: Popular radio announcer and reggae DJ Delroy Sterling, died on March 18, 2012. [March, 2012]

 

MMilestone: The first black MPP was Leonard Braithwaite. The Harvard Business School graduate died March 28, 2012. He was 87. He was a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario. [April, 2012]

 

Milestones: Former Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Lincoln Alexander was Canada’s first black member of Parliament. He was the first black cabinet minister and the first black vice-regal representative. He is also a member of the Order of Canada. His first wife Yvonne died in 1999, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Lincoln married his second wife, Marni Beal in 2011. He is 89-years old. [More to come.] [Sept. 2011]

 

Milestones: On August 1, 1834, the British Imperial Act of 1833 abolished slavery throughout the British Colonies. August 1st is now celebrated annually as Emancipation Day. [Sept. 2010]

NATTY  NEWS

Milestone: Jean Augustine has held the Fairness Commissioner position since it was created in 2007 to advocate for foreign-trained professional in Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty has reappointed the 74 year old to a two-year term. The one-time Etobicoke-Lakeshore MP, who vacated her seat in November 2005 for then-star Liberal candidate Michael Ignatieff, made history 19 years ago by becoming the first black woman elected to the House of Commons. [Feb. 2012]

 

Did You Know: The month of October was Proclaimed in 1992 by the Government of Canada as Women's History Month. It is an opportunity for Canadians to learn about important contributions of women and girls to our society, and to the quality of our lives today. –- Status of Women Canada. [Jan. 2011]

 

Famous Quotes and Milestones: "I want to leave the world a better place for me having been here." – Canadian James Naismith, who penned the 13 rules of basketball, also known as the "birth certificate of basketball" on December 21, 1891 while he was a physical education instructor in Springfield, Mass. Naismith moved to Lawrence, Kan. in 1898 and became the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas. He coached for nine seasons. James Nasmith died in 1939. [Nov. 2010]

NATTY  NEWS

Milestones: Canada's only black military battalion was formed in July 1916, after white soldiers refused to fight, socialize or share quarters with them. The 600-member No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to France in March 1917. Many of the soldiers from the No. 2 Battalion were killed in the battle and returned to Canada in 1919 where they disbanded. The African Canadian soldiers had returned to the country of their birth where they were still treated as third-class citizens. A country where their ancestors' blood, sweat and tears had contributed to the wealth and privileges that others could enjoy. Blacks have been defending Canada in war since 1783 and served in the War of 1812, both World Wars and recent conflicts. – Ontario Black History Society and Book: The Black Battalion, 1916-1920: Canada's Best Kept Military Secret, by Calvin Ruck. [Nov. 2010]

 

Milestones: The first woman to have her name engraved on a Stanley Cup was Marguerite Norris, in 1954 after her Detroit Red Wings won the NHL championship. Marguerite became president of the Red Wings after her father, James Norris  bequeathed his franchise to his oldest daughter. The team then went on to win two Stanley Cups in two years, before she was ousted by her younger brother, Bruce. The Red Wings did not win another Cup for 40 years after her departure. [Nov 2010]