Source http://passagestocanada.com/educator-resources/
Lincoln Alexander was a lawyer, member of parliament, cabinet minister
and war veteran, but he is perhaps best known as the former lieutenant
governor of Ontario. Alexander was the first person from a visible minority
to take on the role, and the first black member of parliament in Canadian
history. Alexander died on Oct. 19, 2012. He was 90.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Anne Cools was the first
black person to become a
Canadian senator. Born in
Barbados, she arrived in
Canada as a teenager and
studied at McGill University.
Pierre Trudeau appointed her
to the Senate in 1984. She
switched party alliances in
2004, becoming a
Conservative senator. Today,
she sits as an independent.
Source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives
/black-history-month/
Viola Davis Desmond was at the
centre of one of Nova Scotia's
most controversial episodes. In
1946, she refused to sit in the
balcony of the Roseland Theatre
in New Glasgow, N.S. and sat on
the floor reserved exclusively for
white people instead. She was
arrested and found guilty of not
paying the full tax on a floor-seat
ticket. She was jailed and fined.
She died in 1965. In 2010, the
government of Nova Scotia
posthumously pardoned
Desmond and apologized to her
family
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Josiah Henson was an
American slave who escaped
to Canada in 1830. He
devoted the rest of his life to
helping other former slaves,
particularly in terms of
developing farms. He also led
a militia unit of black men in
the Upper Canadian Rebellion
of 1837.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Rosemary Brown was a Canadian politician who was born in Jamaica. She served
as a member of British Columbia's legislative assembly for 14 years and was a
candidate for the federal party's leadership in 1974.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
William Hall was the first black
person to receive the Victoria
Cross. He was born in Nova
Scotia to former slaves who left
the United States because of
the War of 1812. He became a
sailor in his twenties, eventually
joining the Royal Navy.
He was awarded the Victoria
Cross after securing a British
garrison in Lucknow, India,
while serving on HMS Shannon.
Hall was one of two sailors to
survive the attack, but was the
only one able to continue to
fight. He fought until the
garrison was safe.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Senator Donald Oliver has been a successful civil litigator and
educator. He was appointed to the Senate in 1990.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Willie O'Ree was the first black player in the National Hockey
League. O'Ree made his debut with the Boston Bruins in the
1957-58 season. O'Ree later played in the Western Hockey
League before retiring in 1979.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Portia White was an acclaimed
concert singer and performed
concerts across Canada, the
U.S., and Central and South
America.
She performed for the Queen
at Charlottetown's
Confederation Centre in 1964.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/black-history-month/
Hon. Jean Augustine was
appointed as the first Fairness
Commissioner for Ontario
in March 2007.
Ms. Augustine was born in
Grenada and came to Canada in
1960. She attended the
University of Toronto, where she
earned bachelor of arts and
master of education degrees.
She became an elementary
school principal in Toronto.
Ms. Augustine was the first
African-Canadian woman to be
elected to the House of
Commons. She was elected in
the riding of EtobicokeLakeshore in 1993 and sat in
Parliament until 2006.
Source: http://www.fairnesscommissioner.ca/index_en.php?page=about/media_room/commissioners_biography
Source: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/community-heritage-and-familyhistory?t=featured&pg=6