Wednesday, July 13, 2011

ENJOY SUMMERTIME IN TORONTO 2011!

If you did not attend the Aretha Franklin concert on June 24 you missed a treat. Technically it was not an Aretha Franklin concert but the 18,000 people at Metro Square on June 24 were there to see and hear the Queen of Soul. Imagine people lining up at 10:00 in the morning for an advertised 8:30 concert. Those were some dedicated Aretha fans. I did not get there until 6:45 p.m. not being familiar with the rules of early arrival for concerts. I thought 6:45 was early for an 8:30 concert but I have learned my lesson. The Queen of Soul’s performance kicked off the TD Jazz Festival and the performance was free. It is not often that a concert by a world class performer like Ms Franklin is free. She lived up to her title Queen of Soul with a fabulous, flawless 90 minute performance that had people of all ages and abilities dancing and singing. Only a few hundred lucky people saw her perform in person, the other more than 17,000 of us had to be satisfied with viewing the performance on large screens. The performance began at a bit past 10:00 p.m. which meant that some of those dedicated fans had been waiting for 12 hours! I admire Aretha Franklin’s talent and love her music but not 12 hours of standing-in-line-waiting worth of admiration and love. I did sit on the ground for more than two hours though which is something I had not done since I was a ten year old member of Girl Guides in New Amsterdam, Berbice, Guyana. It was well worth the sacrifice though. The Queen of Soul treated us to some of the old classics including Natural Woman, Giving him something he can feel, Think, I say a little prayer and How Long I’ve Been Waiting one of her newest pieces from her 2011 album Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love. What a wonderful start to the summer!

The weather is cooperating beautifully so far and there is so much more to come. This weekend (for the final time if City Hall gets its way) Africa will be brought to Toronto, at Queens Park. Afrofest, the annual celebration of African culture which has brought thousands of Africa loving visitors to Queens Park, has received their walking papers from City Hall. Afrofest, which is the first ever festival held at Queens Park beginning in 1990, has been evicted from Queens Park. The July 9 and 10 Afrofest is supposed to be the last that will be held at Queens Park. In January 2011 the organizers of Afrofest were informed by the powers that be at City Hall that they would not be allowed to hold Afrofest at Queens Park in July. Music Africa the group that organizes Afrofest wrote to the city asking them to reconsider and received a letter from the City’s Parks Department in March informing them that they would not receive a permit to stage Afrofest at Queens Park. On April 22 a Support Afrofest Concert was held at the Centre for Culture and Arts, 918 Bathurst Street. It seems that one of the reasons for refusing the permit is the success of Afrofest. In an article published by CBC News on March 16, 2011, Richard Ubbens, the director of Toronto's Parks Department is quoted: "The number of people and success of the festival is partly working against itself in that the park is too small for such a huge, huge crowd." Wasn’t that the reason Caribana was moved from University Avenue to Lakeshore? Watch out now! Well it seems that Music Africa and its supporters have been able to convince the City politicians to permit this last staging of Afrofest at Queens Park. Since this will most likely be the final Afrofest staged at Queens Park make sure you attend this 2011 Afrofest and shake something.

As wonderful as the various summer festivals are, many of us do not attend festivals and prefer other ways of enjoying the summer. Reading is an excellent summer activity especially for our children and young people who are out of school and away from formal education for the next 8 weeks (back to school Tuesday, September 6.) Encourage them to read for fun and to learn about our heroes and sheroes, those well known, little known and unsung. One of those heroes Dr Daniel Hale Williams (January 18, 1856 – August 4, 1931) made history when he performed the first successful heart surgery on July 9, 1893. His achievements were extraordinary for an African American who was born before slavery was abolished in the USA on January 31, 1865. Dr Hale Williams received his medical degree from the Chicago Medical College in 1883 and established the Provident Hospital and Training School on May 4, 1891. I could only find two books written for children about Dr Hale Williams: Sure Hands, Strong Heart: The Life of Daniel Hale Williams by Lillie Patterson published in 1981 and Daniel Hale Williams: Surgeon Who Opened Hearts and Minds (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Inventors and Scientists) by Mike Venezia published in 2010. Unfortunately, neither book is available at the Toronto Public Library (TPL.)

Good news! The TPL has several children’s books about the little known history of Africans in Canada including The children of Africville by Christine Welldon published 2009, Last Days in Africville by Dorothy Perkyns published 2003, To stand and fight together: Richard Pierpoint and the coloured corps of Upper Canada by Steve Pitt published 2008, The kids book of Black Canadian history by Rosemary Sadlier published 2003, The Black Canadians: their history and contributions by Velma Carter published 1993, Viola Desmond Won’t be budged by Jody Warner published 2010, Crossing to freedom by Virginia Frances Schwartz published 2010 and John Ware by Ian Hundey published 2006. Enjoy the great summer weather and the summer festivals, read with your children and encourage them to read.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you"

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971) recorded What A Wonderful World in 1967, it was released as a single and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. What A Wonderful World was appropriately the song of choice at the recent Childcare Centre graduation ceremony that I attended. The Childcare Centre which accepts children from 2 ½ to 9 years old held their graduation ceremony on June 22. There were proud parents, grandparents and other relatives at the graduation ceremony and several excited and proud graduates. The 12 preschool graduates who will be starting Junior Kindergarten next year sang “Kindergarten Here We Come” with gusto. They all knew the words which is a testament to the excellent work of the staff who teach and care for these little ones. The 13 kindergarteners proudly recited the poem “I Know Numbers.” The seven school age students performed an African Caribbean dance choreographed by Ms Stacy-Ann Vassell-Whiteley, Artistic Director of Elite Dance Company Inc. I was there to cheer and take photographs of my little ones Jenaejah, Iiliyah, Taiwo and Kehinde.

There they were along with all the other children beaming proudly, dressed in their black trousers (the girls wore trousers too) and white tops. They all looked like they were ready to graduate from university with their mortarboards, complete with tassels, perched on their heads. As they stepped up one after the other to receive their certificates; parents, grandparents and other relatives were recording the historic occasion. That first graduation ceremony only happens once in a lifetime so it was important to record the event for posterity. There will be other graduation ceremonies but there can only be one first. The Spanish cellist (born to a Puerto Rican mother) Pau Casals (December 29, 1876 – October 22, 1973) is credited with this quote: And what do we teach our children? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work--we must all work--to make the world worthy of its children. How appropriate that the words of a man whose life spanned two centuries (1800s to 1900s) is relevant to the lives of our children in the 21st century, some of who may very well live into the next century. With the advances in technology it is very possible that many of those born in the 21st century will have the opportunity to live well into their 90s.

As African people living in North America in the 21st century we need to let our children know that they are marvels, unique, have the capacity to achieve anything and maybe when they grow up none of them will want to harm another who is also a marvel. We begin the process when we celebrate their achievements like the Childcare Centre did, supported by the parents, grandparents and other family members who attended the graduation on June 22. Every child felt appreciated and valued when they stepped up amid cheers to receive their certificate. These children of the 21st century will have a different life experience from the ones of their parents and grandparents. The words of What A Wonderful World brought to mind that the children graduating on June 22 are growing up in a world their ancestors could hardly have imagined. As recently as the 1970s there were no cell phones. Regardless of the fact that the first cell phone was invented in the 1970s the things were so big, clumsy and expensive that they might as well not have existed. Today cell phones can fit in the palm of our hands and our children born in the 21st century are so technologically savvy that a two year old can use a cell phone. This is the stuff of which 1950s science fiction was imagined.

Our children and grandchildren of the 21st century were born into a technological world and are comfortable with cell phones, computers, the Internet, text messaging, Gameboys, PlayStations, Ipods etc.,. To them, it is all a normal method of communicating, learning and playing. Research confirms that while children enjoy playing games on computers, they also develop skills in communications, creative writing and research. While adults born before the 1980s may feel that we live in a world where the use of technology is accelerating at warp speed, to our 21st century children and grandchildren cell phones, video games and social networks are a part of everyday life. On June 22 as the next generation; Jenaejah, Iiliyah, Taiwo, Kehinde and all the other children received their certificates at their Childcare Centre graduation ceremony Louis Armstrong’s words were very appropriate:
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world