Known for: Professor; social worker; appointed senator
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 1, 1953; born in Preston, Nova Scotia; first African-Canadian to hold a tenure-track position at Dalhousie University and to be promoted to full professor. She is a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 3, 1947; first Canadian to be elected to the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists' international board in 2006; president of the Canadian chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 4, 1846; date of death: Apr. 13, 1915; first Black person appointed by the Ontario government as King's Counsel on Nov. 10, 1910.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Mar. 8, 1942; Kennedy is an electric blues, R&B and soul blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He won the Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year on Apr. 2, 2016 for his album, This is From Here; perfomed at the TD Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival on Aug. 5, 2016.
Notable facts: Elected bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada on Aug. 9, 2016. The first Black female bencher elected to represent Toronto at the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 11; chef; owner and executive chef at Saturday Dinette restaurant which opened on Sept. 5, 2014; Gladstone Hotel's first chef in residence.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 16, 1939; Sealy is a pianist, organist and composer. His CD, Africville Suite won a Juno Award in 1997. In 2010, he was installed in the Order of Canada.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 18, 1895; date of death: Jul. 24, 1960; born in Stewarttown; buried in Georgetown; one of roughly 1,000 Black soldiers; fought in an all-white battalion in the First World War and one of 23 known Black soldiers who fought at Vimy Ridge. During the Second World War, he was the Company Sergeant Major (CSM) at the Newmarket Basic Training Camp #23. In 1944, he was appointed to the "Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" (MBE).
Known for: Co-founder and operator of Brown's Cleaners and Tailors chain
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 19, 1912; date of death: Dec. 6, 1999; co-founded the first Black owned dry cleaners in Ottawa, Brown's Cleaners and Tailors in 1955 with her husband Herbert Brown.
Notable facts: Dennery's third sculpture, a bronze bust of Toussaint L'Ouverture, was unveiled on Aug. 23, 2017 to mark Montreal's 375th birthday and the 2017 International Day of the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition at Parc Toussaint L'Ouverture.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 27, 1951; farmer; historian; awarded the 2011 Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge by the Underground Railroad Free Press; received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award in 2002.
Notable facts:An Act for the Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Service of such Slaves (also known as the Slavery Abolition Act) received Royal Assent on this day, Aug. 28, 1833. It would become law on Aug. 1, 1834. The act abolished slavery in most British colonies, emancipating over 800,000 enslaved Blacks in the Caribbean, South Africa and a small number in Canada.
Known for: "Mr. Emancipation"; organized the Emancipation celebrations
Notable facts: Date of birth: Aug. 29, 1899; date of death: Aug. 1967; Walter Perry, also known as “Mr. Emancipation”, organized the Emancipation celebrations in Windsor from 1936-1967. The celebrations attracted thousands of people every year. The celebration activities usually included a parade, Miss Sepia beauty pageant contest, talent shows and a variety of other entertainment. The Emancipation celebrations during this time included guests such as Jesse Owens, Eleanor Roosevelt, Stevie Wonder and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Notable facts: Date of birth: Jan. 28, 1924; date of death: Aug. 31, 2015; president of the Canadian Negro Women’s Association, 1953-1954 and 1973-1974; former vice-president of the Ontario Black History Society.
