HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH PATRICE BARNES MPP for Ajax 230 Westney Rd South, Suite 502, Ajax, ON L1S 7J5 905-427-2060 | Patrice.Barnes@pc.ola.org | patricebarnesmpp.ca Let us honour the profound contributions, resilience, and achievements of the Black community. Neil Armstrong/Gleaner Writer TORONTO: THE INFLUENCE of Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as Miss Lou, looms large in Toronto during Black History Month, which is also recognised as Black or African Heritage Month, or Black Futures Month. In a space named in her honour at the Harbourfront Centre – Miss Lou’s Learning Centre – on the city’s waterfront, two educators and artists Maurice Gordon and Marsha Laylor hosted a Jamaican poetry workshop inspired by the words and style of Jamaica’s beloved “Mother of Culture” . At the event, titled “Crafting Chapters and Verses,”participants read, translated, interpreted and performed poetry written by Miss Lou and then created and performed their own poetry written in her trademark style. Laylor, a middle school teacher for more than 20 years, says she has a passion for the arts which fuels her drive as an integrated arts teacher at the Peel District School Board. She leads several extra-curricular music, drama and dance clubs. The York University graduate, who has a B.Ed. and a BA with honours, majoring in English and Caribbean studies, started writing and reciting poetry, participating in church productions, and competing at high school drama festivals at an early age. She encourages her students to critically examine themselves and the world around them and to boldly share through spoken word, music, drama and dance. Laylor believes the arts are extremely powerful tools that can be used to address and challenge antiblack racism and other issues in society, as well as to build self-esteem and to inspire racial pride in marginalised communities. Gordon is a guitarist, composer and lecturer from St. Andrew, Jamaica who migrated to Canada in 1974 where he studied music. He said the two agreed to collaborate on the workshop after he learnt that Laylor – who attended his shows – loved Miss Lou’s poetry and was a teacher in Brampton. Last year, he invited Laylor to support his “Miss Lou Birthday” online celebration, which became their first time working together.“She donned the costume, read a few poems and sang a few songs. This led to me inviting her to participate more, and that led to my invite to participate in Kuumba,” said Gordon. As a child, Gordon watched Miss Lou’s children’s television show,“Ring Ding,” and loved her and the show. “I, fortunately, got a chance to meet her on her last visit to Jamaica in 2003. I went to The Pegasus hotel and gave her a copy of my “Jamaica Time: Celebrating Festival Vol. 1 CD”. It was so nice, and she was so downto-earth, that is why every Jamaican wants her to be their aunty, mother or grandmother,”said Gordon. He returned to Jamaica in 1991 where he conducted research with Dr Olive Lewin and worked with Jimmy Cliff and Mutabaruka before moving back to Canada in 2018. While in Toronto, Gordon said his love for Jamaican folk songs was rekindled and he started performing them. “I also started to make learning the Jamaican folk songs a part of my teaching when I taught at Edna Manley THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 15 - MARCH 16, 2024 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 3 Miss Lou’s legacy celebrated in Toronto Miss Lou’s portrait on the wall of the Learning Centre in Toronto. Citation to Miss Lou on the walls of the Learning Centre, Harbourfront, Toronto. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS College,” he said. Gordon shared that he also wrote a song for Miss Lou and has an unfinished piece titled “Tell Me Miss Lou.” A plaque at the entrance to Miss Lou’s Learning Centre at the Harbourfront Centre thanks the following community members for their counsel – special advisers, Anne-Marie Bonner, then consul general of Jamaica; Pamela Appelt and Fabian Coverley, coexecutors of Miss Lou’s estate; and Prescott Harrison. The research advisers were Ruth Brown (Johnson), Ted Chamberlain, David Fitzhenley, Maud Fuller, Lorna Goodison, Carl Henry, Grace Carter-Henry Lyons, Rex Nettleford, Gail Scala and Sandra Whiting. Initially called Miss Lou’s Room – now Miss Lou’s Learning Centre – the space for student trips and activities was created under the leadership of the government of Ontario and officially opened in 2007. Appelt was instrumental in proposing the idea and gaining the funding to make it a reality. Last year, the centre was relocated from a space overlooking Lake Ontario to another that is upstairs and near the main entrance of the Harbourfront Centre. Maurice Gordon and Marsha Laylor
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