Dr.Leroy Clarke brings over thirty-five years of experience spanning elementary to post-secondary institutions as well as industry including former Resource Teacher/Consultant – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Durham Catholic District School Board.
Dr. Clarke is a member and advisor on several local and national boards and committees including the Durham Council on Aging (DCoA) and External Assessor (2021) for Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional (CCIP) with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI). Leroy has received several honours and awards, he is most proud of his roles as spiritual leader, husband, father, grandfather, brother, mentor, community advocate and much more. Dr. Clarke has a passion for youth and is convinced that investing in them through mentoring, training and coaching is investing in the future.
As a young man Raphael Francis realized his passion for radio, where he could sit in one place while broadcasting sound and music around the world. He’s been in the business of telecommunications for decades and shared his knowledge as a professor at Durham College.
Mr.Francis hosts a Thursday afternoon Zoom radio show called, “Soundtraks” which features reggae, calypso and classics that bring back memories and make you want to dance.
Chris Campbell is the Vice President of Toronto Carpenters’ Union Local 27 and also Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Carpenters’ Reginal Council (CRC). He has been a member of the Carpenters Union for 33 years and a full-time staff representative for 20 years. Today the major focus of his responsibility is to address issues of racism, fight discriminatory hiring practice and promote our trade to women and people in the BIPOC community. He also proactively fosters and engages effective relationships with local community partners around the province. Chris also plays a major role in recruiting youth from his community to pursue careers in the construction trade.
In this interview with Stanley Ugagbe, the Canada-based Chris Campbell who hails from Jamaica harped on how he was able to navigate his way to the top. He shared insight on what led him to focus on “addressing issues of racism, fighting discriminatory hiring practice and promoting our trade to women and people in the BIPOC community”
Patricia Gloudon is the mother of three, grandmother of six, great grandmother of one. She was born in the island of Trinidad and migrated to the United States in 1969, to join her mother in Baltimore. She subsequently moved to New York to study Fashion Design.
In1973 she moved to Toronto, however opportunities for fashion design were limited but she continued to fulfill her dream by designing and making clothing for friends and family.
Grooming is an essential component of making a good first impression and that seems to have contributed to an agency sending her to the Bank of Nova Scotia for an interview. She joined the Bank in 1973, working in the filing room and after six months, she moved to the Accounting Department, then the Pension Fund Department. She then moved on to become the first Black woman to be on the Money Market Trade Desk and eventually became Director, of the Commercial Retail Money Market Trading Desk.
Emmy Iheme, is a member of the Rotary Club of Oshawa and a retired Staff Sergeant from Durham Regional Police Services. After 29 years on the force, he is now able to devote his time to his family and his volunteer life. Emmy was born in Lagos Nigeria into a loving, supportive and well educated family who shaped his values and life’s arc. As a promising young soccer player, Emmy was awarded a scholarship into the farm system of a European soccer club. So began his teenage years in Europe. After several transfers, he landed in Italy, released from the soccer obligations and able to attend university, which he did at the Vatican!
His friendship with a Canadian family whom he met while at the Vatican Museum led him to Canada in the early 80”s. And in 1985, he accepted a position with Durham Regional P.S. While at university Emmy specialized in conflict resolution thus he was well prepared for some of the challenges he would encounter during his next 29 years. He worked across Durham region from Whitby and Oshawa to Clarington, beginning as a foot patrol and rising first to C.I.D., then homicide detective, then Executive Officer and finally Staff Sergeant, platoon leader. He retired in 2019.
His professional life was the catalyst for his community involvement especially in his desire to make a positive influence on youth. To that end, an example of his volunteerism is his 2019 co-chairing of the Ontario Parasport Games where over 450 athletes from around the province came to Durham to compete. His photos of some of the athletes and games illustrated how gifted and talented these athletes are.
In addition to coaching, Emmy is involved with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports. This organization works with Canadian athletes of all ages to educate them on the dangers of drug use (both recreationally and as athletic enhancements). This work has taken him to many schools from elementary to university, to the Para Olympic Games in Vancouver and Turin, and this summer to the Games in Tokyo.
Dovie Rochester born in Jamaica as a young child she took part in church choir where she discovered a love for music. She also learned dressmaking as a young girl while growing up. She emigrated from Jamaica to Bermuda at an early age and worked there for a year then migrated to Canada in 1972. After settling in Toronto Ms. Rochester attended George Brown College and obtained a more in depth knowledge in pattern drafting and fashion designs. After working in the fashion industry for a while, she made a career change by obtaining a nursing diploma and started working at North York General Hospital.
Additional qualifications include a diploma in counseling skills and a certificate in Leadership Strategies. Dovie is a volunteer with the Canadian Mental Health Association and Scarborough Women’s Centre. Her most important achievement is being a mother of three sons.
While healing from a car accident, Ms. Rochester found peace and solitude through the art of music and creative writing. Her songs are inspiring, therapeutic, fun and energetic, some of which relate to issues in our world today. Dovie is talented, dedicated and committed to the advancement of children and youth. She states humbly:
“I have written and built up a catalog of songs which are presently on CDs. My wish is to bring unity, harmony and much love to people with my creativity in songwriting and singing. Stamina is my forte as I continue to grow daily because of my creativity and passion for music.”
Gregory (Greg) Frankson, OCT, B.Ed., B.A. is an author, speaker, advocate, and subject matter expert. Since 2004, Greg has appeared in six anthologies, edited the critically acclaimed AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets, and published four poetry collections. His words have been published in periodicals, newspapers and literary journals on three continents.
Greg founded Voice Share Inc. in 2017 to help individuals and teams strengthen their inclusive leadership and effective communication skills to accelerate change and boost results. He is a longtime member of the Queen’s University Council and serves on the board of directors for Prince’s Trust Canada.
In community, his leadership resulted in the overdue commemoration of Robert Sutherland, Canada’s first known university graduate of colour and first Black lawyer, first at Queen’s University and then across Canada. He is also a co-founder of AfriCANthology Canada, which produces BlackLit Durham among other projects focused on spotlighting, sharing and amplifying the stories of Black Canadians.
His forthcoming debut book of creative nonfiction, Alphabet Soup, will be published by Dundurn Press in January 2025.
Ms. Lara Awoleye (Awol-eye) is a first generation Nigerian Canadian. She is a Licensed Social Worker and Psychotherapist with over 12rs in the Mental Health Field with a passion for support Children, Youth and their caregivers. Lara previously worked in the financial sector as a Hedge fund investor relations manager for a $12.5 billion account. For over 15yrs, she supported new immigrants and their family in the Jane and Finch community.
She also served as an executive of Shespeaks, a platform where women share their stories through various mediums to inspire and encourage other women to achieve their dreams. In 2022-2023, as a member of the Confronting Racism in Durham Region Working group, Lara helped developed resources for employers and employees to create inclusive workplaces in Durham. Lara current provides Social Work and Attendance Counseling to the DCDSB school community and is involved in various equity initiatives. Lara loves going on road trips with her family, cooking, equity advocacy, studying ancient history and archeological digs. On-going learning is a bucket filler for Lara.
It has become a tradition over the past eight years during the United Nations International Decade (2015-2024) for People of African Descent to have the Proclamation of February as Black History Month in the City of Oshawa. As well, Dr. Leroy Clarke, President and Executive Director of e-CAMP MENTORing in partnership with various community stakeholders, has been presenting annually to Council during Black History Month on the United Nations’ selected theme of “People of African Descent: Recognition, Justice and Development”.
2024 is particularly special, being the end of the Decade-long celebration, as well as the City of Oshawa’s Centennial Anniversary. On Monday, February 26th, 2024 at 9:30 AM, we invite you virtually or in person to the City of Oshawa Council Chambers, 50 Centre Street S, L1H 3Z7 to hear a Centennial presentation This is Our Home: Black History in the City of Oshawa. Stay tuned and connected for our July celebration – A Journey of Diversity: Black Heritage in the City of Oshawa – Past, Present and Future, thanks to the City of Oshawa for a Community Centennial Grant to make this event happen!
During this workshop participants will experience a process of affirmation creation and learn about its effects on our mental health and well-being. Song-writing is a form of personal expression and a tool to shift stress and anxiety.
Roxanne will guide us in a singing meditation and share an easy process for song-writing that anyone can do, regardless of experience.
Roxanne Christian is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. She has over a decade of experience working with physical, mental, emotional and cognitive needs within district school boards, municipal nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals and other populations within the community. Roxanne is registered and Board Certified through the Certification Board of Music Therapists in the USA and the Canadian Association for Music Therapy. Visit her online at livelovelifemusic.com
At the heart of Greg Frankson’s artistic work is a deceptively simple idea: Every voice has value. In this session we will talk about how owning one’s voice and sharing it more effectively in conversation, or through art forms like spoken word poetry, can have a positive impact in the community, teach you important lessons about yourself, and contribute powerfully to social change.
Since 2004, Greg Frankson has featured in numerous audio recordings, videopoems, public speeches, articles, anthologies, and literary journals, published four poetry collections, and edited the widely acclaimed AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets.
He is a 2012 national poetry slam champion, a 2013 inductee to the VERSe Ottawa Hall of Honour, and won Best Author in the 2021 ByBlacks.com People’s Choice Awards. He appeared on the CBC TV show Canada’s Smartest Person in 2012 and is the former poet-in-residence on the CBC Radio One show Here and Now Toronto. Greg is passionately focused on living according to his personal mission statement – to present the vision that inspires others to positively change the world.
Experience the flare of Al St.Louis’s Spoken Word. One of the foremost Toronto-based Spoken Word artists today, Al St. Louis has been using the art of performance poetry to strengthen his skill and passion acting. St. Louis,the storyteller, has been re-enacting words and sharing the writer’s tale since 1998. His love for the arts has given him an amazing career as a spoken word poet, traveling throughout the United States and Canada as a Motivational Educator.
Inspired by a need for change and a hunger to share his gift, Al has been compelled to perform on many and create his own stages. His talents have allowed him to work collaboratively with many reputable entertainers including John Singleton, Spike Lee, James Brown, Roy Ayers, Andre 3000, Tyrese, 50 Cent, Malik Yoba, Hill Harper just to name a few. Al’s debut album “Dear Diary” released in 2018 has been making waves on all streaming platforms. Backed by his band the SoulMates, St. Louis brings the power of spoken word poetry to life and along with it, a life-changing message to listeners all over the world.
www.alstlouis.com
In this workshop we’ll explore drumming and body percussion as a tools for wellness. I’ll teach the rhythm on djembe and as body percussion, come with or without a drum! You can do this seating or standing up! We’ll track how the percussion is affecting our mood and energy levels. There will be opportunity for sharing in circle.
Elisha MacMillan is a mixed-ancestry dancer, sociologist and equity arts educator. Elisha believes that drum and dance are powerful tools to foster connection and celebrate uniqueness. She draws inspiration from her ancestors from Jamaica, Scotland and West Africa.
Elisha has been performing and teaching for over twenty years, and studied drum and dance in Guinea, Mali, Ethiopia and Brazil. She works with schools and non-profit organizations across Ontario and founded Rhythm is for Everyone in 2009 and co-founded the Intergenerational Hub with Dr.Leroy Clarke in 2021. Elisha is passionate about intergenerational community building, education and the arts.
Come ready to be entertained by the talents of others, or share your own singing, poetry, story-telling, spoken word, dance…! Hosts Cora Reid and Raphael Francis will weave reggae, calypso and anecdotes throughout the open mic!
Pictured above, Cora Reid is a singer, community activist and motivational Speaker. She is host of the Black Rose of Durham Radio Show and has won numerous music awards including Top Reggae Gospel Female Singer in the 2003 Canadian Reggae Music Awards, Best Reggae/Soca recording for the 2003 Maja Awards and in 2010 the Reggae Achievement award. Her organization Black Rose Movement is about inspiring young black youth to greatness while educating others on the issues of systemic racism and anti-black racism.