Trent University Oshawa hosted its third annual Black History month event, “One Song, Many Voices – Continuing the Dialogue” at the Thornton Road Campus on Saturday, March 1. The day was a vibrant combination of musical entertainment, local artisan and food vendors, exhibitors with historical information about the Durham community, lectures, workshops and more.
"Today, we reflect on the legacy of African-Canadians of the past and recognize a new generation of heroes – people with vision, determination, talent, and the ability to inspire us," said Mr. Roger Anderson, chair and CEO of the Region of Durham. "This event, recognizing important accomplishments, ongoing contributions and emerging leadership, becomes a chapter in that new history, a chapter that everyone here can help write."
Saturday’s event featured several intellectual and cultural highlights, including an appearance by two-time Juno award winner Liberty Silver. Ms. Silver shaped the foundation of R&B/soul for an entire generation of black female singers in Canada, having opened in the past for Bob Marley, B.B. King and Celine Dion, and performed for U.S. President Barack Obama. Keynote speaker Paula Madden, a Ph.D. candidate in Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and author of African Nova Scotian-Mi’kmaw Relations, spoke about her research examining the history and outcome of rights legislation in Canada and the United States. Sharing the floor with Ms. Madden was David Austin, author of Fear of a Black Nation: Race, Sex, and Security and Sixties Montreal, a text which won the 2014 Casa de las Americas Prize for Caribbean Literature in English or Creole.
Mr. Anderson also presented the 2014 Local Hero Award at the Black History event, an annual accolade presented by Trent University Oshawa to a deserving community member in the spirit of equality and diversity. This year’s recipient, Mr. Marvin Ishmael, is an actor, director, educator, and champion of Caribbean culture on an international scale. Mr. Ishmael appears as Mr. Bhandari on television’s Degrassi: The Next Generation, and is currently writing a new comedy series, Dreaming, featuring a multi-ethnic cast. Mr. Ishmael has been instrumental in creating cross-cultural awareness with The Caribbean Dinner Theatre in Scarborough and on stage through his theatrical work with We Are One Theatre Productions, for which he received a Chalmers award and a Dora Maver Moore award.
"His productions and roles reveal that what binds us together as human beings, our sorrows and joys, hopes and dreams - are much stronger than what divides us," said Mr. Anderson of Mr. Ishmael.
The Black History event was planned and chaired by Trent University Oshawa Librarian, Ken Field. In recognition of the dedication displayed by Mr. Field in hosting this cultural and historical event, Pickering-Scarborough East MPP Tracy MacCharles presented him with a certificate of excellence, speaking to the importance of his efforts.
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