This Little Light of Mine:

Addena’s Substack

JULY  NEWSLETTER 
Welcome,   Whoooo!  it’s great to see that you are taking time to join me for my July Issue of: This Little Light Of Mine .  Summer is flying by!  It’s almost August already!

In Victoria July was full of  tons of activities: music events, craft marketplaces, festivals, fireworks, and picnics.  It all started out with Canada Day’s July 01 Annual Gorge Canada Day Community Picnic and Vendor  Market .   The event was held along the beautiful Gorge Waterway.   For water activities  offered: Canoeing, 

Paddle boarding, and swimming on the small beach at the far end of the waterway. 
There was great food and beverages available from  a variety of Food Trucks, and lots of music on the Main Stage, as well as local musicians playing on the Art Stage.  
Food and music .. how can you lose! 
I never seen this event quite like this before, they had  The Whole Nine Yards! 

The organizers even thought to include a “Busker Corner” set up especially for Buskers to entertain , and  just down the walkway from that was Face Painting tent available for kids of all ages!

Irvin and I rented 2 Artists and Craft tables.  Irvin was there with his leather business:  “Irv The  Leather Guy” (selling his belts and other Leather works) and I had a Book Table set up to sell my books. 
While I sat at my table I took photos of a few of the wonderful and fun loving eccentric passersby’s (and some fabulous pets) celebrating Canada Day.  

Me and my new Friend Jenny. She’s a craftsperson and makes beautiful bags. She also has been doing film work for about 20 years. She’s pretty amazing!

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What’s coming up in August 

Emancipation Day August 1, (in Canada) is set to recognize the official ending of slavery in Canada.  The date has now been designated an official holiday in most Canadian provinces.  
It started in the East and has now officially declared Emancipation Day and a holiday in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia New Brunswick, and British Columbia. In Vancouver, Mayor Kennedy Stewart and his council in 2021 issued a statement: “We marked August 01 Emancipation Day and invite residents to join fight against anti-Black racism and discrimination. This Emancipation Day the City of Vancouver is calling on all residents to honour, celebrate and give thanks to the Black and African Diasporic communities for their achievements, investments and contributions to Vancouver, and to take action to eliminate anti-Black racism.
To mark this day, Mayor Kennedy Stewart issued a proclamation on behalf of the City declaring August 1, 2021 Emancipation Day in Vancouver. I. His speech that day he said: “On this day, I join with everyone in our city to recognize the lasting and destructive legacy of slavery and the injustices visited on black communities in Vancouver and throughout the country," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart. "Together, we are called upon to fight anti-black racism in all its forms and to work towards a more humane and just future for all." “The City of Vancouver acknowledges the impacts of anti-Black racism and the intersectionality with anti-Indigenous racism, along with the intersections of ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status”

[Photo of April  Sumter-Freitag and Valerie D Walker with  the Proclamation]

It’s is understandable that when most people think about our history of Slavery, racism, and segregation in North America they think about the USA, and their history, but we also had a history here in Canada of Slavery, racism, and segregation.  Canada’s Emancipation Day, which is coming up August 1, got me thinking about our Canadian history of racism, most of which was not written about in our school books, newspapers, and wasn’t an open topic of conversations in our communities. We in Canada had our own Jim Crow era and rules.  We had segregated schools, theatres, housing, universities, workplaces, Swimming pools, libraries, and were restricted from membership in community clubs, etc. Most people don’t know about Canada’s  historical and present institutional racial inequities and prejudices. Many people haven’t witnessed them, or were taught about that history in our schools, and sadly many people deny that truth of our history.
Racism was different in Eastern Canada than it was in Western Canada.  Here in Western coast of Canada, racism was less overt so it seemed less severe as it was in Eastern Canada.  (It still hurt the same though) .

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I was thinking about Emancipation Day coming up when my brother Walter, came by and dropped me off a golf magazine that had published a story about our cousin, Darrell Maxwell  from Truro, Nova Scotia. 
My brother Walter has been an avid golfer since first learning to golf  as a kid in Truro, Nova Scotia where my Mom was born.   We would visit Truro  by train using my Dad’s Porter Pass and go there to visit my Moms family all summer every year.  My mom took us there so we could see the dozens of relatives we had, but more importantly I think she took us kids there so would feel empowered by feeling part of a community, and feel that we “belonged”. She took us there so we could experience the fantastic rush you felt from not being the only black family in a neighborhood (like we were in Winnipeg.)
Getting back to golf, … I would like to share some of that golf story I read in the magazine my brother brought to me and in doing so share some Canadian history with you that you may not have heard or read about.

DarrellMaxwell was born and raised in Truro, Nova Scotia near to The Truro Golf Club. He was raised in a predominantly, Black neighbourhood in Truro called, The Island. As a young kid in Truro (around grade one age) he and a few other Black youth made money working as Caddies for a few women who played golf at The Truro Golf club. The women only played a few holes so they only had a few clubs, making it possible for those young kids to carry their bags. Black people weren’t allowed to be members in The Truro Golf club. The way that Darrell and other Black employees, acquired and perfected their golf skills was that they would sneak on the course at night, or just before dawn. They knew that a few members of the club, who knew they would come at night or early morning to play golf, purposely left their clubs there at night, so that the employees could use them to play.

By The time he was 14 Darrell had become one of the strongest junior golfers in the area, and for that reason only, he was accepted as the first Black member of Truro Golf Club. Darrell said he was real happy he was allowed to become a member of the club, but he said, at the same time, he felt sad for all the other great Black golfers before him.that had been denied membership in the golf club. Darrell went on to represent the club in the Nova Scotia, Junior Boys Golf Championships, and in 1965 was the first Black golfer to win the tournament. He competed in and won two Canadian Junior Boys, championships, and two Canadian Amateur Golf Championships. Ten years after that Darrell Organized the first Black Golf Tournament of Truro. The competitors in that tournament were some of his fellow caddies and some of his relatives. When he moved away from Nova Scotia for work shortly after that. He arranged with his brother, Stan Chook Maxwell, and Arthur Jordan, who were partners owning Apex Cleaning Services in Truro to take over organizing the yearly tournament. Those tournaments became (the now famous) Apex Black International Golf Tournament. They just celebrated 50 years of being. The Tournament has evolved into a three day event, comprised mainly of Black Golfers, but open to ALL golfers. It is usually held the first weekend of August, which seems appropriate because it’s so close to Emancipation Day and its origin story is one of rights and freedoms gained. The three day event combines the golf tournament, dances, a banquet, softball games, and family reunions. It is celebrating 50 years!

Photo courtesy of Darrell Maxwell

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Our wonderful Grio Artist and Teacher Valerie D. Walker ( see Valerie’s Arts and unique talents in my June Substack Newsletter : https://addena.substack.com/p_/.my-new-ebooks-and-introducing-ingigo

Valerie announces a fabulous event she is organizing:

Coming on August 1 Emily Carr university emancipation day 190 on August 1 at Emily Carr celebrate! Greetings, dear black artists, curators, and friends.

Let’s hang out in person on August 1 emancipation day this year number.

Vancouver Black Book Festival entitled: “Da’LuvJames James happening August 7-8 at the Vancouver, Black library Located in the Sun WAh Centre, 268 Meefer Street #072, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1X5 I will be there giving a presentation on my books and a Q &A session afterwards. I will be presenting August 08 th from 8:00 p.m. to9:00 p.m.

There will be a variety of guest presenters , from historians, talking about James Douglas, and black pioneers, to rare music presentations of poetry and comedy from various guests from the Afro diaspora and like-minded individuals. They also have a etiquette class called “spit and polish” (a tongue-in-cheek information sessions on the do’s and don’ts of social etiquette then and now tailored to the black experience. Should be fun! Additionally, they’ll be discussions on African head wraps and hats, linguistics, languages, and patois. They have planned youth learning classes on writing and reading. There will be a Book-a-Thon, and a history of Blacks in BC hosted by Michelle. Saint Hill w/ the BC, Black History and Hogans Alley Society . Plus they’ll be vendors and free food… again vendors and free food. How can you lose? Hope to see you there.

Well …. That’s all folks! See you next month from my new home of Kelowna, B.C. We have been packing for weeks. I never knew we had so much stuff.! Of course, Irvin has all of his leather and leather tools and five industrial sewing machines! And I have boxes of books and 7 file bins of folders of my writing and related stuff, But I’m too tired it’s 2:44 AM. Hey in one minute it’s 2:45. Hey, 🎶🎶🎶 “it’s quarter to three. There’s no one in the place except do you want me”. Lol. See I’m giddy.

I hope next month to share some of the new poetry I have been writing. Until then stay safe. Count your Blessings. ♥️♥️ please feel free leave a comment. I so appreciate them. Peace