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As
I turned the pages of my copy of the Black Business and Professional
Women's Calendar, it struck me that many Black women are both professionals
and volunteer community workers, pursuing what amounts to two full-time
careers.
The
three women interviewed for this article support this viewpoint,
although they were selected almost by happenstance. While they are
professionals dedicated to their careers, their off duty hours are
spent as active participants in the community, energizing and sustaining
Black cultural identity.
Maud
Fuller seems to be everywhere. Go to a panel discussion on Black
theatre, and she is there as the moderator keeping the evening lively,
good humoured and fast paced; go to a concert by the Heritage Singers
and there is Maud, their artistic director, warming up the audience
as MC with a fund of anecdotes; at an upcoming dinner tribute to
Louise Bennett (the Jamaican poet, raconteur and actress), Maud
will be the hostess. Maud is also a professional with a record of
high academic achievement.
A
high school teacher in Jamaica, she was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship
to England where she studied speech and drama for the classroom.
She earned a B.A. in English and Spanish at the University of the
West Indies and an M.A. in English at the University of Toronto.
Concerned
about the teaching and integration of West Indian children in Toronto,
Maud studied Linguistics at the University of Toronto and is certified
to teach English as a second language with emphasis on the dialect
component. She joined the Toronto Board of Education in 1969 and
has conducted workshops for the Board and for the University of
Toronto Faculty of Education on teaching the West Indian child.
Her expertise in the Creole language of Jamaica has led to her being
consulted by the courts on linguistic meaning and interpretation.
Long
ago, Maud's enthusiasm for the theatre led her to the stage. She
performed in many Jamaican productions including the annual Christmas
pantomimes and played the second lead comedienne to Louise Bennett
on the long running radio program, "The Lou and Ranny Show."
Life
in Toronto has not cooled her interest in performance and drama.
She has taken part in two CBC productions, a short story by Austin
Clarke, adapted for television by lan Carew, and a 1968 David Susskind
production called "The Choice." Maud has directed musical plays
for drama groups in Toronto and acted as unofficial consultant to
many a theatrical enterprise, assisting with Toronto performances
by the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica headed by Rex Nettleford
and with Willie Lloyd Jackson productions of plays by Trevor Rhone
(the Jamaican playwright). At present her main involvement is with
the Heritage Singers, a West Indian group founded by Grace Lyons
to revive and perform Caribbean folk songs.
Maud
has been their artistic director for six years, helping to find
appropriate songs and being responsible for their choreography and
staging. Always in demand, the Singers have performed at sacred
and secular concerts and have provided an evening of pleasure in
many old age homes and other institutions. Always willing to extend
herself, Maud took part in the 1984 Ethnic Festival in Saskatoon
as a storyteller, and this has led to a new enterprise, taping Jamaican
folktales for children.
With
Maud Fuller it is impossible to tell where her vocation ends and
her avocation begins. Jean Gammage came to Canada in 1963, fresh
out of high school. She married here and has a teenage son. As a
teacher for the North York Board and an instructor at York University
for the Teacher Education Program, Jean's on the job activities
pale in comparison to her off-duty pursuits.
She
finds fulfillment working within established organizations, lobbying
the government for community benefits and participating on the political
scene. Involvement with the West Indian community led to her becoming
the first woman president of the Jamaican Canadian Association,
a position she held for two years, 1979-80. She continues to be
active in the association, currently as second vice-president. This
experience led to greater participation in the Black community.
From
1980-84 Jean sat on the Ontario Advisory Council on Multiculturalism
and Citizenship and during that time chaired the Human Rights and
Anti-defamation Committee and the Immigration and Refugee Committee.To
complement these activities Jean was a member of the Mayor's Committee
on Race Relations for four years, chairing the Equal Opportunities
Subcommittee, and sat on the Urban Alliance and Race Relations Board
for five years. Bright, assertive and with unlimited energy, Jean
Gammage seems to have made a second career for herself as a volunteer
community worker.
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She
has served with the United Way Allocations Committee and is on the
Board of the Metro Toronto Children's Aid where she chairs the Housing
Subcommittee. One of her favourite activities is the Harry Jerome
Awards for young Blacks who excel in the arts, athletics and academics.
She
is now chairman of the Board of Trustees which is in the process
of setting up a scholarship fund to assist young adults who wish
to pursue a post-secondary education. A personal high point for
Jean was running as a Liberal candidate in the 1981 provincial elections.
Though she lost the election she felt it gave her valuable insights
into the needs and aspirations of many ethnic communities in the
Oakwood Riding and allowed her to meet, face to face, with the people
she tries to serve and represent on the various boards and committees.
Lolita
Brown-Phillips is no stranger to grass-roots social involvement.
Raised in England and Jamaica, she was trained as a draughtsman
and worked for a firm of land surveyors when she came to Canada
in 1974. She decided to switch to social services as her experiences
in England during the 1950s made her acutely aware of the problems
of Black immigrants. One vivid memory is her experience of being
the first Black to attend her convent school in England.
Although
Lolita started life in Toronto separated from her first husband
and a single parent with three daughters, she earned her B.A. in
Sociology and Political Science from York University and today is
a settlement officer in Scarborough for the Ministry of Citizenship
and Culture, helping immigrants adapt to their new surroundings.
However, Lolita did not need any academic qualifications to begin
serving the Scarborough community by working at the St. Paul's L'Amoreaux
Centre, chiefly with seniors, and at the Agincourt Community Servlces.
Her
main concern is the social integration and adjustment of all immigrants,
not just West Indians. A strong supporter of multiculturalism, her
volunteer activities are cross-cultural and not directed towards
any specific ethnic group. In 1980 she became Scarborough's first
multicultural worker attached to the Human Services Board for three
years, investigating the needs of various ethnic groups and how
social service agencies could best respond to these needs.
A
major achievement which grew out of this position was helping to
develop an equal opportunity program for the Municipal Council.
During this period she was vice-president of the Tropicana Community
Association, which assists West Indian immigrants to preserve their
culture while adjusting to Canadian life. Lolita made her focus
West Indian youth and developed a series of workshops for young
Caribbean immigrants.
This
led her to become a founding member and director of the Scarborough
Intercultural Initiatives Coalition which concentrates on youth
and multiculturalism. The Coalition has held multicultural summer
camps in the Malvern area and encouraged parents to participate
in developing programs which allow young people to share cultures
and improve community relations.
Concerned
that all ethnic groups have access to social services, Lolita sits
on the board of the Scarborough Community Legal Services and the
board of the Multicultural Workers Association. Recently she became
a member of the Scarborough Board of Education's advisory council
to develop a multicultural and race relations policy. Involved with
the role of women in society, Lolita is dedicated to making women
more self-reliant and economically independent. In Jamaica she taught
a group of rural women basic skills and how to work cooperatively.
In
Scarborough she was active in setting up the Scarborough Women's
Centre and has served on the board of the Emily Stowe Shelter for
Battered Women. She is a member of the Women Intercultural Network
(WIN), which is involved in broad cultural issues such as education
for immigrant women, English as a second language and promoting
community support and services, all aimed at encouraging immigrant
women to participate as Canadian citizens.
Often
ethnic groups are seen only in terms of cultural festivals such
as Caravan. Lolita does not regard this as true multiculturalism.
For her cross-cultural participation and a sincere understanding
of other cultures within the Canadian mosaic is what give meaning
to multiculturalism. Always available to give time and advice to
community groups, she was encouraged to run as a candidate for alderman
in Ward 14 in 1982 in order to make a full-time commitment to community
development programs. Although she lost the election, her success
at serving all elements of the community was acknowledged in 1985
when she received the Volunteer Service Award of the Ministry of
Citizenship and Culture.
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