It is time for a Sankofa moment; Toronto Welcomes Dr Julius Winston Garvey

SIMONE J. SMITH

“It’ also up to those of African descent to assume some responsibility in carrying forward the lagacies of his father and other civil rights leaders.” Dr. Julius Garvey

With all that was going on in Toronto, it was hard to keep up with everything, but Toronto Caribbean Newspaper is going to offer something special to its readers. In this edition, we are going to honour the efforts of the collaborating partners that were responsible for bringing Dr Julius Winston Garvey to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in the next edition, we are going to provide you with some concrete action plans that were discussed during Dr Garvey’s time here, and how we as a community can utilize the plans to better our individual and collective work in the community.

Heritage Toronto, The City of Toronto, Rasta Fest, Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce, Planet Africa Group, FAM TV, and The Jamaican Canadian Association have been working together on a visit from a man like no other. On Saturday, August 17^th, 2019, Dr Julius Garvey arrived in Toronto for four filled days of meeting, and connection opportunities with the African-Caribbean community in Toronto.

Surgeon and medical professor Dr Jullius W. Garvey was born on September 17^th, 1933 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was born to one of Jamaica’s most celebrated heroes and founder of United Negro Improvement Association, Marcus Garvey, and activist Amy Jacques Garvey. Dr Garvey happens to be the younger of two sons and was raised and went to school in Jamaica. He is a graduate from the famed Wolmer Trust High School for Boys and earned his B.S. Degree from McGill University in Montréal, Canada in 1957. He also received his M.D., C.M. degree from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in 1961.

In more recent years, he has been working to secure a pardon for his famous father, who along with three others, was charged with conspiracy to use the mail to defraud. His arrival in Toronto is timely as 2019 marks the 400-year anniversary of the first enslaved Africans arrival in the United States in 1619 (Tyner, African Bar Association, 2019). Most recently (2013), the UN had declared 2015 -2024 the International Decade for People of African Descent to “Promote respect, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of people of African descent.” To follow this up, the African-American History Commission Act was passed on May 1^st, 2017 to commemorate the 400^th anniversary of the arrival of Africans in the English colonies (Tyner, African Bar Association, 2019). To further establish the 400-year anniversary, Ghana President Akufo-Addo declared 2019 as “The Year of Return.”

During the period of late 1600s – early 1800s, millions of Africans were enslaved and placed on slave ships that were headed to Brazil (largest percentage of people reported as black in the diaspora, Guardian, 2011), the Caribbean and the United States. The voyage has been documented as being gruesome, and unpleasant; it would have taken anywhere from three weeks to three months at sea, and many of our ancestors did not make it. We have seen the visuals of slaves chained together in pools of their own blood, urine and feces and we have heard the stories of what followed when they came off these boats. Dr Garvey’s trip to Toronto is a reminder that it is now time to have a Sankofa moment. Sankofa means, “We must return to the source.” As noted in the quote that commenced this article, we must always remember to pay our respects to our enslaved African ancestors who had a hand in shaping the course of world history.

During Dr Garvey’s time here with us in Toronto, he not only was able to take in a bit of our roots and culture, he was also able to: sit down with members of the BBPA, Young Leaders of Tomorrow representatives, mental health practitioners, and with members of the community to discuss the 400 Year of Return and Economic Development in the Black Community. In our next edition, our esteemed community African Historian Dave Rankin will take us a little deeper into Dr Garvey’s world, and highlight strategies that were put in place during his time here.