Tossing Pebbles in the Stream

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Two Black Men with a story for Canada

I usually try to write something for Black History month. This year in spite of reading a lot about some inspiring experiences of black Canadians I let the month slip by without a posting. Well I have a second chance. Recently, two remarkable Black men have died, Herb Carnegie and Lanier Phillips. They had very interesting relationships to Canada, which are worthy of remembering and celebrating.

Herb Carnegie, died last Friday , age 92. He has long been remembered as the "best hockey player who never played in the National Hockey League". He played during the 1940's and discrimination and his own pride, kept him out of the NHL. About the time that Jackie Robinson came to play in Montreal as the first step to his breaking the colour barrier in baseball, Herb Carnegie was being kept out of hockey because he was black. He could have done for hockey what Jackie Robinson did for baseball.

Finally he was offered three different chances to play for minor professional teams in the New York Rangers organization. He refused because he knew he was good enough to play for the parent club and considered it an insult to be paid less than is hockey equals and sent to one of the minor pro clubs. He also was married and had three young girls and a wife he needed to support. You can read more of his story here. I hope you will take the time to do so.

His historic moment was lost. The Toronto Maple Leafs would have been the club for him as it was the team in his home town. Connie Smythe is seems was somewhat a racist or at least a coward when it was reported he said he would pay $10,000 to the first person who could make Herb Carnegie a white man.

Herb Carnegie played hockey for minor pro teams in Northern mining towns and in the Quebec League on an all black line with his brother, Ozzie and Manny McIntrye, called the Black Aces, Playing for the Quebec Aces). He was admired as a superb skilled hockey centreman by teammates such as Jean Beliveau who did come to play in the NHL. For Carnegie, his life eventually moved on. He became a successful businessman, financial advisor , motivational speaker, outstanding amateur golfer and philanthropist.

He began a foundation, which one of his daughters manages today. It awards scholarships to young people to go on to University.

Herb Carnegie

The Black Aces: Manny McIntrye, Herb Carnegie, Ozzie Carnegie

Herb Carnegie is in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and he was awarded the Order of Canada medal. Someday soon I hope he will be inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he deserves to be. This could be the greatest tribute that could be granted him for all his life he loved the game of hockey and his story is one of the great bittersweet stories in Canadian sport.

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Lanier Phillips, died last Sunday, age 88. he was an American who came to leave an inspiring personal story that forever has linked him to Newfoundland. I did not know his story until recently when I read a reference to it on the American Ambassador to Canada's website. He had travelled to St. Lawrence and Lawn Newfoundland for a commemoration ceremony of the ship wreck of two American warships, the USS Truxtun and USS Pollux on February 18, 1942. Lanier Phillips was in attendance. He had been a sailor on the Truxtun. He was the only black sailor to survive with the help of local fishermen and miners. Over 200 sailors perished and 43 survived.

Lanier Phillips life was forever changed by his own account. He was born in Georgia at a time when life for a black man in the South was very harsh under the worst of the era of discrimination and Jim Crowe laws. To escape this he became a sailor. In the navy, there was also great discrimination as black men could only be messmen and servants to officers. But for him it was better than life for a black man in Georgia. He was only 18 when the ships went aground. The weather was very harsh it being February. Sailors would surely perish if they jumped into the water. For many this was the only option. Most of the black sailors were afraid to go ashore for surely they would be lynched by the local inhabitants. Lanier found the courage to try. He manged to get into a lifeboat and when near the shore got wet and was on the shore surely ready to perish in the cold when a local person got him up and got him into shelter where women worked to get the oil from his body. Lanier recounts that this is the first time that white people were ever kind to him. He had to tell the women that not all the black on his body was oil. It was the colour of his skin. This may very well have been the first time the Newfoundlanders on this remote point of the Burin Peninsula had ever seen a black man. This mattered little to them. One of his nurses, Violet Pike, took him home to her place and put him into her bed. She and her family nursed him back to health. It was a life changing experience for Phillips to be treated with such respect and kindness. He was welcomed into their home and ate with them, whicn he had never experienced back home in Georgia. You can hear the full story here
and here on you tube. This is a history less worth hearing.

Lanier Phillips life was changed for ever. He had a new appreciation of white people and knew that the social situation in Georgia need not be that way. His life since has been one of fighting discrimination. He marched alongside Dr. King and fought with the school system in Boston to get his daughter in an integrated school. Throughout his life he has told his story and the transformation it brought to his life. Over the years he has maintained a relationship with Newfoundland and returned many times. You can find you tube videos of Lanier retelling his story. Here you can read all about this historic event and hear some of Lanier own account.

Newfoundlanders have not forgotten Lanier Phillips. The people of St. Lawrence and Lawn every year have a service of commemoration of those American sailors who perished on their shore and celebrated the lives of those who were saved. Lanier Phillips was awarded the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Memorial University in Newfoundland.

Lanier Phillips

Lanier Phillips overlooking Chambers Cove upon which the ships crashed and he came ashore.

Lanier Phillips story is inspiring. As a result of his experience of being rescued by Newfoundlanders, his life found purpose and direction. He went to the manage to get himself into the training program for radar technicians. He was told as a black man he would never graduate but he did, (the first black American to do so) and he went on to have a naval career .

He may have been surprised at the way Newfoundlanders treated him but Canadians should not be. Newfoundlanders have a long tradition of going to sea as fisherman and now oil workers. They know the anguish of giving up their men to the sea. They would not hesitate to try to rescue sailors no mater the risk to themselves. They also have a long respect for men in the military. They have a legacy of sending their men to war and having far too many of them coming home. The WWl battle of Beaumont-Hamal was a great defeat that left almost every family in Newfoundland lose a male member, who served with The Blue Puttees. To this day, while the rest of Canada celebrates Canada Day, July 1, Newfoundlanders celebrate Memorial Day, commemorating the loss of a generation of their men in this battle. We should not have been surprised at the generosity of the Newfoundlanders after 9/11 when they welcomed and cared for airline passengers diverted to Gander, it is part of their history of doing what they can for those, "lost in a storm".

Both of these men, Herb Carnegie and Lanier Phillips have added to Canada's legacy. They over came difficulties in their lives, took the lessons they learned and went on to contribute to society in many ways. They have inspired others and will long be remember as men of noble stature among us.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Cherish Our Libraries

I recently came upon a couple of interesting facts about Toronto, the city I was born in and raised near. It has an outstanding library system. In fact, it is one of the most used library systems in the World. About to open it's 100th branch library it is very extensive and available in every neighbourhood in the city. It is also well used not only by established English speaking Torontonians but also well used by recent immigrants. It is a keystone social institution in the city.

Toronto is a very literate city. At a time when many cities are having a reduction of the number of daily newspapers due to competition from new forms of media through the Internet, Toronto continues to have four major English language daily newspapers, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post and The Sun and one Chinese daily newspaper. Besides this there are countless weekly ethnic newspapers service non English speaking communities. Newspaper circulation in Canada is second only to Belgium.

These two interesting facts about Toronto is even more interesting when we find out that Canada is the greatest user of the Internet. This appears to be in addition to the continued devotion to the printed word in books or newspapers. It seems the Toronto Public Library system has continued to change and adapt to the needs of the broad spectrum of citizens using all the resources of technology as well as references to printed material.Toronto is indeed a very literate and intellectually curious city.

As a child, I remember my mother's great use of the library. When we moved to Port Credit when it was a small community outside of Toronto, she regularly used its very small library. She would walk us , often the three of us, the mile of so to the library, (we had no car). She would bring home six or seven large books, which she would read within a couple of weeks (neglecting housework). When it was time to get more books she would quickly get caught up with her housework and then off again to the library. It was not long before she out grew the small local library. From then on she caught the bus and then street car to take us to the library in New Toronto (a neighbourhood of Toronto). I remember it. It was old and quite large. The first library card I ever had was from this library. I think I remember having stories read to me by the librarian while my mother search out her choice of books. I assume libraries still have childrens' story hours. I always admired my father's secretary who for many years always volunteered to read the childrens' story hour at the central library in Mississauga every Saturday morning.

The library I am most impressed with, in spite of the fact that I have only had a couple of chances to visit it over the years, is the new Toronto Reference Library. It is a fabulous library in central mid-town Toronto. It is five stories and very modern in all ways.

View of the Reference Library atrium from the second floor

Another view of the Reference Library where we can see the study desks, computers and the stacks on a floor above.

Toronto build its library system with the help of Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish/American Industrialist whose legacy in a large part is his funding of libraries and other educational institutions. Ten Carnegie libraries were built in Toronto in the early part of the 20th century.

Carnegie helped fund 125 libraries all across Canada in many small towns as well as cities. There is even one in Dawson in the Yukon.

This is the historic Carnagie Library in the Toronto neighbourhood of Yorkville.

On one of my frequent searches on the Internet ( I was looking for the poorest places to live in the United States) I discovered the the first Carnegie library is in Braddock, PA. This was the location of Carnegie's steel mill. Sadly, Braddock today is a desperately poor community although only 8 miles from Pittsburg. It is a mystery to me how such a community could languish only a few miles from a major city. There is no city in Canada where a town so close would not be a prosperous bedroom community with housing costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Braddock you can still get a home for under $75,000. , and even much lower than that. It is a challenging community with a most unusual mayor. I encourage you to read about Braddock. It is the symbol of the demise of the heavy industry in the "Rust Belt" of America. It deserves better, if for no other reason than it is home to the first Carnegie Library, which was, at one time, in danger of being torn down.

The Braddock Free Public Carnegie Library

I could go on and on about Carnegie, Braddock and the role of free public libraries but I have written enough. Think about them.

I think one of the things Toronto has reason to be proud of is its community based free public library system. The people of Toronto appreciate it and use it extensively. May it always be so.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Winter's Last Gasp, I hope!

After a Winter of little snow and mild temperatures (those relative terms),
one sees the first of March as surely the doorstep to the end of Winter.
We got away with something, . . . . didn't we? No! Winter has one more teasing snowfall.
This is the tail end of the dreadful tornado infected storms in the US midwest. I have no reason to complain about a little gentle snow, lower temperatures and some wind to drift the snow.

(click on photo to enlarge)

I had a nice path cleared to the woodpile, as I was taking advantage of the warmer weather to bring in the rest of the wood, most of which I will not need until next autumn. Here it is. My wood pile and path covered in snow, the wet heavy kind that comes at the end of Winter.

A cleared path to the road. This kind of snow is perfect for snowshoeing. That is one to the good!

The snow bank across the road in front of the house. This is a bigger bank than we had earlier this Winter and all of Winter last year. It is similar to banks of snow that we used to get every Winter, all Winter, 20 years ago. It will be gone soon. March 15 is the date that the half load restrictions goes on the gravel roads so they will not be broken up by the large truck traffic as they thaw out.

My house, tall and proud with its feet in the snow. I am snug inside, keeping the wood cookstove going, listening to the radio, reading, and diddling on the computer. Such is life these days.

I promise this will be the last positing to Winter scenes, this season.

Monday, February 27, 2012

And Yet, More Reading

Last week, I had one of those easily forgettable birthdays. (When you reach my age more and more of them are easily forgettable) There are those who still remember so I got a couple of books as gifts for the milestone. As an addition to the Christmas books I got this past years I feel a little backed up in my reading.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Here are the two new additions to my backed up reading materials. They both look very interesting and promise to be a little lighter reading than a couple of my other books from Christmas that remain unread. I find them both very tempting and I have already started to read in one of them.

The one I find myself reading is the one called Eating Dirt, by Charlotte Gill. It is about her experience as a professional tree planter for twenty years. This is perhaps one of the most physically challenging jobs anyone could work at. That anyone would do it for 20 years or more is remarkable to me. Having worked as a logger, I know some of the challenges to work in the bush planting seedlings on a piece work basis. I even considered trying it but decided at the time I was already too old. (I was over 30). Usually, students are recruited to do this work in Northern Ontario. Those who survive the physical challenges of it and master a good level of speed at at planting can make a good amount of money in a season. Not many make a profession of it.

The challenge of being a tree planter in British Columbia, which is the case in this book, is many times greater than the relative easier setting of Ontario, with the longer season on steep slopes of the mountains to work on. Besides the heat and cold, biting insects and poisonous plants, bad food and crummy housing, long hours and many days without a day off, you might also have to deal with Grizzly Bears, Cougars and other challenging wild life.

I just want to learn why and how a woman could rise to this physical challenge and what "spiritual" satisfaction there was in it for her to keep her at. This book is more than just a recollection; it is a life journey and an understanding between the relationship we have with forests.

The second book is a collection of essays by Nelson Mandela: Conversations with Myself. I look forward to learning more about this interesting saintly man. His life story is a remarkable one and the depths of his humanity which shaped modern South Africa, is awe inspiring. I just know it will be a wonderful read. I have read the forward written by President Barack Obama, who speaks of the influence Mandela has had on his life

My son, Parker, brought these two book by yesterday. He was in Toronto on my birthday so he brought these two gifts, one from my sister, and on from his family back with him.

I had planned to go to Mississauga to spend time with Lynne for my birthday. As it turned out I felt it was better to cancel this trip. Lynne's three year old granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer. I would have been a distraction when she, her daughter and two sons were focused on the baby. Last week she underwent surgery and had a kidney removed as the cancer was a tumor on one of her kidneys. She had an 8 hour operation at the Hospital of Sick Children in Toronto, a world class facility. She has been recovering nicely from the surgery but will face many months of chemotherapy. It is a form of cancer that is usually successfully treated but still a worry for those concerned. Certainly it is not what you like to think of a child having to cope with. There is good reason to be very hopeful for a positive outcome.

Leigha, Lynne's darling granddaughter. She has no idea of the weeks ahead of her undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments. God bless her!

In a month or so I may find the time to go south for a visit with Lynne and perhaps some time to spend with Leigha.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Prize Photo

The photo below has moved me very much. Ever since I first saw it about a week ago, I have been draw to revisit it

It is one of the prize winning photos of the World Press Photo Contest. It was taken by Samuel Aranda in Saana, Yemen, October 5, 2011. He was working for the New York Times.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

This photo I find both draws me to look at it and, at the same time, makes me want to look away. I feel uncomfortable for being a voyeur of such a touching human moment. Here we see a scene which has two images which each makes us uncomfortable such that we want to look away while at the same time we are drawn to stare. The first is a man, near naked, and obviously suffering ( he was a victim of the uprising in Sanaa ,Yemen.) We ought not to be intruding on another's suffering, (as if he were road kill on the highway) particularly when he is so helpless and unable to defend himself and his right to modesty. The second person, is a woman, in contrast, completely covered including a hiqab. The gloves would indicate she is a medical assistant but she is offering more that medical assistance.

She is offering succour to another human's pain and suffering. For me, a western person, unfamiliar with women presenting themselves in a Niqab, I am drawn to stare at her, wondering who she is. At the same time. I feel I should look away for she dressing in this manner to protect her modestly and doesn't deserve to have a stranger staring at her. Do I really need to see more of her to judge her humanity?

We often think woman in a Niqab as hiding her humanity, and yet, this scene is a demonstration of her showing her humanity to this man in a very tender way as it he were a child. In fact, he is as helpless as a child and in a way she has set aside her modestly and drawn him to her. We need not see more to understand the quality of her humanity.

I continue to return to this photo and look at it. The more I look; the more I think I learn. It is without a title so I like to call it "Compassion", or, The Muslim Pietà

If you want to see other prize winning photos you can find them here.