Canada Post Honours Afro-Canadians Who Shaped History

Their contributions brought together two public officials from different eras in the same celebration.
Canada Post Honours Afro-Canadians Who Shaped History
(L-R) Cleta Brown Surji, daughter of Rosemary Brown; Dr. Mary Regester, president of the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; Jackie Bailey, operations manager of Canada Post, and Joyce Shadd Middleton, great great granddaughter of Abraham Doras S Helena Zhu/The Epoch Times
Updated:
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/DSC_0183.JPG" alt="(L-R) Cleta Brown Surji, daughter of Rosemary Brown; Dr. Mary Regester, president of the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; Jackie Bailey, operations manager of Canada Post, and Joyce Shadd Middleton, great great granddaughter of Abraham Doras S (Helena Zhu/The Epoch Times)" title="(L-R) Cleta Brown Surji, daughter of Rosemary Brown; Dr. Mary Regester, president of the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; Jackie Bailey, operations manager of Canada Post, and Joyce Shadd Middleton, great great granddaughter of Abraham Doras S (Helena Zhu/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1830762"/></a>
(L-R) Cleta Brown Surji, daughter of Rosemary Brown; Dr. Mary Regester, president of the National Congress of Black Women Foundation; Jackie Bailey, operations manager of Canada Post, and Joyce Shadd Middleton, great great granddaughter of Abraham Doras S (Helena Zhu/The Epoch Times)

VANCOUVER—To acknowledge February as Black History Month, Canada Post has issued commemorative stamps featuring two black pioneering figures, Abraham Doras Shadd (1801-1882) and Rosemary Brown (1930-2003).

Although the two public officials were from very different eras, their contributions in shaping today’s Canada brought them together in the same celebration.

Shadd was the first black person to hold political office in Canada when he was elected to the Council of Ralegh, Ontario, in 1859. He also assumed a major role in the Underground Railway as a “station master” and “conductor,” directing slaves escaping from the southern U.S. through a secret route to Canada—and to freedom.

On their way north, Shadd provided the refugees with food, shelter and clothing. Later on in 1851, his family moved to southern Ontario’s North Buxton area, joining many of those he led to freedom.

“He was blessed to have the courage to use these advantages to make a difference to those fleeing the bonds of slavery and the courage to use his leadership skills in the anti-slavery cause … And these legacies continue to inspire me today,” said Shadd’s great great granddaughter Joyce Shadd Middleton, chairperson of the Buxton Historical Society.

Middleton was speaking at the stamp launch, entitled The Courage to Make a Difference, on February 1 at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre. The launch was followed by a gala reception to mark the opening of Black History Month 2009.

Born in Delaware, a slave state, Shadd was the tenth child in a successful butcher’s family. He devoted his entire life to the abolitionist movement, championing the fight against racism. He was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society in which he remained an active member throughout his life.

Born in Jamaica, Rosemary Brown was the first Black woman to be elected to public office and the first woman to run for the leadership of a Canadian federal political party.

Upon encountering racism while studying at McGill University after moving to Canada in 1950, Brown dedicated her life to standing up for her rights and the rights of other women, as well as those of the poor, immigrants and minorities.

In 1955, she moved to Vancouver to marry Bill Brown. She was first elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1972 as a New Democrat and served until1986.

“There’s so much to say about this wonderful and inspirational woman,” said Robin Geary, who worked as Brown’s personal political assistant for all her years as an elected official.

“Rosemary was an intelligent, passionate, committed, charming, dignified, sensual and very funny woman, who made us laugh and cry and enabled us all to be better than we knew we could be.”

In 1974 Brown made a bid for the leadership of the NDP, becoming the first woman in Canada to run for the leadership of a federal political party.

“The legacy of that campaign is still felt today, as more and more women enter politics, many of them directly influenced by Rosemary,” said Geary.

Brown, who had three children, was very dedicated in the field of education. She was a visiting lecturer at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria. She also served on the board of Queens University, the North South Institute, the South African Trust Fund and the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Her son Jonathan Brown, who also spoke at the stamp launch, expressed his gratitude to Canada Post for “preserving” his mother’s place in history. He said it reminded him of what his mother told him in his childhood.

“She said, ‘Son, whatever you want to accomplish, do not let them write them write you out of the history books. And even if you don’t accomplish anything, if one of our people, of your people, does something and they don’t want to talk about it, you get out there and you march and vote. You pound on doors, and you never stop … you keep going.’”

Over the years, Brown became a member of the Privy Council, the Order of Jamaica, the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada. She was a participant in founding the Vancouver Status of Women Council and the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and served as the Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1993 to 1996. She sat on the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee and was also a member of the Judicial Council of British Columbia.

Canadian Bank Note printed two million of the new stamps, which are sold in panes of sixteen. On one stamp, Shadd is portrayed in the foreground holding a lantern, lighting the way for the refugees. On the other, Brown, poses before the B.C. Legislature.

“This postage stamp will allow more Canadians to learn about the great work of Rosemary Brown and the difference she made to so many lives. It was an honour to have Rosemary Brown as a member of this party, and we are very pleased that she is being recognized along with Abraham Doras Shadd for Black History Month 2009,” said NDP leader Jack Layton, in a greeting letter to the National Congress of Black Women Foundation.

According to Lara Minja of Lime Design Inc. who designed the stamps, the stamps mirror the individuals and include various imageries to tell their inspirational stories.

“Both Rosemary and Abraham were role models who truly made a difference and their legacies will live on in those who have followed,” said B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, in a greeting letter to The Courage to Make a Difference.