Black History Month: People Who Changed Our World
We celebrate Black activists, scholars, authors, leaders, scientists and artists who inspire us. King's community members talk of these people who have been powerful influences.
athletes
Muhammad Ali
From a very young age, my family introduced me to who Muhammad Ali was. My family and I felt inspired by Muhammad Ali as he is a early Black, Muslim activist and an American professional boxer whose nickname was "the Greatest." He used his platform as a famed athlete to build awareness of racial and global inequities. He went to the United Nations to campaign against apartheid with a message of peace and spirituality. He consistently challenged white supremacy, racism, segregation, and the US hegemony.
Muhammad Ali inspired me as he represented his religion and spirituality as a defining character of himself. His religious beliefs highlighted his peaceful nature and dedication to giving back. Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States, and the Liberty Medal for his long-time role as an advocate for humanitarian causes.
His long list of acts of compassion include these:
- Providing relief for PA coal mine disaster
- Being the largest single Black contributor to the treasury of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) by donating $10,000 ($78,000 in 2020 USD).
- Supporting Palestinians refugees: he was one of the first notable people in the U.S. to support Palestinians
- Campaigning against apartheid in South Africa and bringing attention to racial issues and global inequalities
- Cofounding and sponsoring the Children's Journey for Peace and Children's Peace Foundation
- Seeking the release of Iran-Iraq prisoners of war, he negotiated freedom for approximately 25,000 people
-- Medina Birani, Student, Office of EDID
Musicians
Marvin Gaye
As a child living in Canada and the US in the 60s and 70s, I grew up in the midst of social justice movements, the Civil Rights struggle prominent among them. I gravitated toward music as a philosophical medium to help make sense of the chaos around me. One of my ‘philosopher heroes’ was Marvin Gaye. He wrote and sang about injustice, racism, the environment, war, love, and peace. His poetry made an incredible impact on me as a young person and his work continues to inspire me today to do what I can do in my privileged role to make a difference.
-- Dr. David Malloy, King's President
Read about why Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' is still relevant today. (Source: Smithsonian Magazine).
Philosophers
Charles Mills
More than any philosopher I have read recently, Charles Mills has encouraged me to rethink the foundational projects of philosophy. His work on the racial contract is absolutely convincing and makes one wonder why philosophy departments around the world do not make him essential reading. His books should be on every introductory course in philosophy.
-- Dr. Nigel Joseph, Lecturer, English, French, and Writing
Politicians
The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, PC, CC, CMM, COM, CD
Michaëlle Jean served as the 27th Governor General of Canada from September 2005 to October 2010. She was the first person of Caribbean descent and the third woman to hold this position. Ms. Jean is also a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and social activist.
Ms. Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She moved to Québec as a refugee at the age of 11 when her parents were granted political asylum. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts at the Université de Montréal, and is a gifted linguist fluent in five languages: French, Haitian Creole, English, Spanish, and Italian. While studying, Ms. Jean spent eight years working with women’s shelters in Québec. She also helped establish a network of emergency shelters throughout Québec and other parts of Canada.
From 1988 to 2005, Ms. Jean enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, presenter, and news anchor working for Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. When hired to work for Radio-Canada, Canada’s French-speaking public television network, she became the first Black journalist in the news department.
On January 27, 2005, Ms. Jean was sworn in as Governor General, Commander-in-Chief of Canada. She used her office to advance human rights, bring attention to socio-economic problems in Northern Canada, and promote Canada abroad. At the conclusion of her mandate as Governor General, the United Nations appointed her UNESCO’s special envoy to Haiti to help with reconstruction efforts following a devastating earthquake. She and her husband, filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond, founded the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, which offers programs to support young people in Canada.
Learn more about Michaëlle Jean and her work at her official website and the Canadian Encyclopedia.
-- Sarika Singodia, MSW Placement Student for the Office of EDID
The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean will be bringing Black History Month to a close with an exciting talk at Western University on Thursday, February 29, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Reserve your seat.
Scholars
Geneva Smitherman, Linguist and Language-Rights Activist
Geneva Smitherman, linguist, language rights activist, educator, and writer, was one of the architects of College Composition and Communication’s pathbreaking 1974 resolution “Students’ Right to Their Own Language,” and the 1988 resolution on “National Language Policy.” She fought and continues to fight fiercely for African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to be recognized as a rich and resourceful code. Her strong spirit, passion for equity, and intellectual achievements inspire me every day. Here’s an article by her.
-- Dr. Vidya Natarajan, Assistant Coordinator, Writing
Scientists
Katherine Johnson, Mathematician
Katherine Johnson, a pioneering mathematician at NASA, made invaluable contributions to space exploration, notably aiding missions like John Glenn's orbital journey around the Earth. Her precise calculations were important for the safety and success of astronauts during crucial space missions. Unfortunately, despite her significant impact, Johnson's work remained largely unacknowledged for years due to racial and gender biases of that time. But in 2015, Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her contributions to space exploration and her role in advancing American science. Therefore, Johnson was awarded the Hubbard Medal, National Geographic's highest honor in 2020. Katherine Johnson has influenced many people, inspiring them to pursue their passions despite challenges through her perseverance in excelling in a sector where she encountered major obstacles.
-- Zambaga Zorigtbaatar
Theologians
Fr. Bryan Massingale, Theologian
One of my theological heroes, Fr. Bryan Massingale is a black Roman Catholic priest-professor (Fordham University, NYC) and one of the foremost Catholic theologian-ethicists in North America today. He is moreover a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). Massingale is noted for his many contributions to moral theology, particularly, to the theological-ethical reflection on race. One of his noteworthy works is his 2010 book titled Racial Justice and the Catholic Church published by Orbis Press. It is described thus in the publisher’s website: “Confronting racism is difficult but essential work if we are to heal the brokenness in our society and our church. In the author's words, ‘We all are wounded by the sin of racism... How can we struggle together against an evil that harms us all?’.”
I would also recommend that people read his reflection in the wake of the “Amy Cooper incident” at Central Park, NYC in 2020 called “The assumptions of white privilege and what we can do about it.” It is an electrifying read that probes without fear the blatant racism that exists in North American society. It will definitely make readers uncomfortable but that will hopefully lead to enlightenment and action to change our racial attitudes.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview he gave in 2020 published in Commonweal magazine:
“I challenge them to think of this: if it were up to people of color, racism would have been over and done, resolved a long time ago. The only reason that racism continues to persist is because white people benefit from it. If we’re always going to have conversations that are predicated upon preserving white comfort, then we will never get beyond the terrible impasse that we’re in, and we will always doom ourselves to superficial words and to ineffective half-measures. That difficult truth is something that the Catholic Church in [North] America has never summoned the courage or the will to directly address.”
-- Dr. Julius-Kei Kato, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Writers
Zalika Reid-Benta, Writer
I had the recent pleasure of attending a virtual The Write Place reading by Zalika Reid-Benta, who is the current Writer-in-Residence at Western (a program which the Department of English, French, and Writing at King's helps to co-sponsor). Zalika read from her award-winning collection of short stories, Frying Plantain. For me as a listener, it was a completely immersive experience; she has seriously good craft as a writer, but she makes it seem effortless. I'm looking forward to Penguin's release of Zalika Reid-Benta's new novel next year, River Mumma, a magic realist novel informed by Jamaican folklore and set in present-day Toronto.
-- Dr. Krista Lysack, Chair, Dept. of English, French, and Writing
Octavia Butler, Writer
My most memorable and immersive reading experience in the last year was thanks to Octavia Butler. Her Parables series. It came to me on walks, in dreams, conversations – it influenced my way of seeing and has stuck with me since like a thought-provoking companion. I marvel at Butler’s insight and foresight – the perspicacity that fueled her endless imagination, her commitment to the tale that let characters unfold authentically. I think she allowed herself to be challenged and perhaps even frightened by her own writing at times, to explore the unknown by writing it. A cosmic openness comes through in her work, that envelops me as a reader and instructs me as a writer.
-- Misha Bower, Creative Writing Consultant, The Write Place
Toni Morrison, Writer
Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye is an intricately written novel, that presents the tragedy of its main protagonist, Pecola Breedlove. Morrison’s prose is exquisite, and provides deep insights into how the mechanisms of white supremacy—and its ideals of beauty—work to compound its destructive effects on a young, black female child.
-- Naveera Ahmed, Manager, The Write Place
Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley, Poet
Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley OM, OJ, MBE, Hon. D. Litt., or Miss Lou as she was affectionately known, was a Jamaican poet, folklorist, actress, singer, comedienne and radio personality who contributed more than 50 years to Jamaican theatre, culture and the literary arts. She used Jamaican vernacular as the basis of all of her works during a time when it was not seen as "desirable" by the establishment. She pushed boundaries and created poetry that she performed on stage which she won honours for both locally and internationally. In 1987 she moved to Toronto, bringing her style of poetry and theatre to Canadian audiences. Dubbed the Queen of Jamaica and the Mother of Jamaican culture, she remains one of the true legends.
I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Lou as a teenager in Toronto. She was kind enough to host us in her home and sign my mother's copy of Jamaica Labrish.
-- Nikki Sasso Mitchell, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization Coordinator
