Ryerson U honours Black women

By Jasminee Sahoye

Two Trinidad-born Canadian women were recently recognized for their work in raising the profile of the Black community at Ryerson University and beyond.

Dr. Akua Benjamin, a professor in the department of Social Work received the faculty award in honour of Emma Stark, a slave who with her husband saved enough money to buy their freedom and set up a log cabin school in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in 1874. Stark was also the first black teacher on Vancouver Island.

Lucina Fraser, a librarian at the university received the staff award in honour of Reverend Addie Aylestock, who became Canada's first ordained Black female minister in 1951.

Jamaican-born Dr. Afua Cooper, a historian, author and poet who was the guest speaker at the awards ceremony talked about the importance of Black history in Canada in the context of combating racism and marginalization.

Cooper said Canada has erased some of the memory of Black history, adding that there are many untold stories of Black people who came to Canada. Dr Cooper, who earned her Ph.D. in Canadian history and the African Diaspora with a focus on the Black communities of 19th century Ontario, has done ground-breaking work on the enslavement of Black people in Canada.

Such research has resulted in her books The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Slavery in Canada and the Burning of Old Montréal in 2006, released in the United States.

Also receiving an award was Cooper’s daughter for her outstanding achievement as a high school student at Jarvis Collegiate Institute. Her award was in honour Viola Desmond, a Black business woman who in 1946 was jailed for refusing to give up her seat in a movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, simply because of the colour of her skin.

This is the second year for the awards program which was organized by Ryerson’s Tri-Mentoring Program, Discrimination & Harassment Prevention Services, Ryerson Students' Union and the United Black Students at Ryerson.