“If it is to be, it is up to me.”
Those are the first words Jean Augustine recalls reading at the age of three.
That phrase, written in the hallway of a building she was visiting with her grandmother in Happy Hill, Grenada, has informed and continues to inform how Augustine lives her life as an advocate, trailblazer and educator of Canadian history.
Augustine, the driving force behind federal recognition of Black History Month in Canada during her tenure as the first Black Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons, was the guest of honour at Rooted Together: Celebrating Our Collective Legacy, an event to formally close Black History Month celebrations at McMaster University.
Community members gathered in L.R. Wilson Hall on Wednesday to share a delicious meal, gain inspiration from art, poetry and music, reconnect with old friends, and partake in celebration of a shared history of struggles and triumphs.
Chancellor Nicholas Brathwaite greets Jean Augustine.
Rooted Together: Celebrating Our Collective Legacy featured a display of the Rooted Beings exhibition in the foyer of L.R. Wilson Hall.
At the heart of the event was a screening of Steadfast: The Messenger and the Message, a documentary celebrating Augustine’s life and highlighting her persistence and sage wisdom.
It was followed by a fireside chat illustrating the impact of generational legacy on the community’s strength and future with fellow Grenadian-Canadians Nicholas Brathwaite, McMaster’s first Black chancellor, and Keziah Gibbs, a recent Life Sciences graduate and recipient of the Nicholas and Janice Brathwaite Award through the PETNA Foundation.
Keziah Gibbs chats with Jean Augustine and Nicholas Brathwaite.
“How fitting is it that my first public event as Chancellor is an on-campus celebration of Black History Month that includes honouring someone whom I deeply respect and admire, and who, like me, was born on the island of Grenada?” said Brathwaite.
“We both initially came here to Canada to claim the promise of education. The folks in Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Brathwaite, who received an honorary degree from McMaster a few years ago, said the university’s commitment to building a more just society can be guided by following the roadmap of Augustine’s life, as highlighted through the documentary.
Jean Augustine addresses the crowd.
Augustine, who herself has honorary degrees from multiple Canadian universities, was instrumental in advocating for equity and inclusion in Canada from the moment she arrived through the Canada-Caribbean Domestic Program in 1960.
She said her involvement in the development and launch of Canada’s official multiculturalism policy in 1971 showed her that diversity is integral to the fabric of Canada.
“We asked the question across the country, ‘Who are we as a Canadian society?’ And as we did surveys, the answer came back: We are not just English and French. We are a multicultural, multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-diverse, multi-religious society. That was a hook to my younger self to say, ‘If this is who we are, how can we make systems and institutions include all of us in our diversity?’ ”
From left: Cheryl Louzado, Eve Nyambiya, Jean Augustine and Stephanie Henry.
Thanking Augustine for her work in breaking down barriers for young Black women in Canada, Gibbs asked her what advice she would give her younger self if she were embarking on this work today.
“Take a risk,” replied Augustine. “Get involved. Find the people who are ready to shake the tree and stand with them and shake the tree.”
She pointed to the risk she took in entering federal politics in 1993, bearing the responsibility of being the first Black woman to enter the House of Commons as an elected official and ensuring her voice represented Canadians from all walks of life.
Thirty years after the first Black History Month was celebrated in Canada, Augustine said it’s vital that Canadians stand firm in their commitment to diversity and inclusion, despite “breezes blowing from the south.”
“We have to make sure that our history will not be erased because we understand who we are,” said Augustine. “We said so in legislation. We said so in policy, and we buttress it by what we do at academic institutions like this.”
McMaster President Susan Tighe said Augustine’s achievements in embedding Black history in Canadian policy are powerful reminders that Black history is Canadian history and that Black history is world history.
From left: Chancellor Nicholas Brathwaite, President Susan Tighe, Jean Augustine, Provost Maureen MacDonald and Professor Juliet Daniel.
“We all have an important opportunity and responsibility not just to recognize, but to celebrate the achievements and the contributions of Black people and communities, particularly given the long and devastating impact of racism, both historical and current, which has sought to minimize or erase these achievements and contributions,” said Tighe.
Augustine did more than just advocate for recognition, said Alpha Abebe, an associate professor of Communication Studies and Media Arts in the faculty of Humanities.
“She understood something essential: that if something is not structurally embedded, it can be easily erased,” said Abebe.
That’s why work is underway to establish an interdisciplinary institute of Africa and Black Diaspora Studies at McMaster to nurture the university’s ecosystem of Black scholars and ensure its roots can grow strong.
The event closed with a poem from McMaster graduate Akilah Walcott, a singer, writer and spoken word artist whose poem “Dear Black Girl” echoed the need to cultivate and sustain Black history beyond the month of February.
Akilah Walcott performs at the beginning of the Rooted Together celebration.
Dear Black Girl.
Black is the richness of fruit grown on good soil.
Of roots that stretch back in time, and a legacy that now waters you.
Your hair holds more history than textbooks have words to write about.
Your lungs hold more language than every word your ancestors cannot speak.
When you cannot look yourself in the mirror,
Look to the ground beneath your feet.
Learn from the wisdom of your shadow.
Crawl when you cannot stand.
Be boldest in the light,
Even if all you are now is an outline of yourself.
Show the ground you cannot be buried.