Kay Livingstone, first president of the Canadian Negro Women Association (CANEWA), was instrumental in organizing the first National Congress of Black Women meeting held on April 6-8, 1973 in Toronto. This was the first time in history that black women (African, West Indian, African-Americans) from across Canada met to discuss issues of relevance to Canadian black women. Delegates were CANEWA (formerly known as the Canadian Negro Women’s Club), was founded in 1951, by a group of black women in Toronto.
At the conclusion of the fifth National Congress of Black Women in Winnipeg (1980), delegates launched the Congress of Black Women (CBWC). There were 23 chapters of CBWC, including Ontario. The Honourable Jean Augustine founded the Toronto Chapter of the Congress of Black Women in 1973 (after the first National Congress). She was also awarded the first Kay Livingstone Award in 1987. CBWC’s mandate was:
- “To provide a network of solidarity for Black Women in Canada, and to be a united voice in the defence and extension of human rights and liberties for Black Women in Canada.
- To foster a climate in which it is acceptable for Black Women to openly examine the issues which affect us and our families.
- To plan and implement a program of education for Black Women.
- To develop relations with other local, national and international organizations whose aims and objectives and purposes are in keeping in those of the Congress.
- To constantly re-examine our objectives and purposes and adjust our efforts accordingly”
( Congress of Black Women of Canada. “Congress of Black Women of Canada” [pamphlet] (n.l.: n.d., p. 2), York University Libraries, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, Jean Augustine fonds (F0515) Accession 2007-022/003 (02) )
The CBWC chose the cactus as a symbol for the organization:
“to show the strengths and resiliency of Black women. It is of a family of plants that thrives under adverse conditions. No matter how arid the soil, no matter that no care or attention is given, the cactus survives, multiplies, flowers and bears fruit. A fitting symbol. With or without assistance, the Black woman manages to educate herself; rears and educates her children; tends to her sick and aged; labours both inside and outside her home. She survives and the race survives.” (as cited in Small and Thornhill, 2008, p. 433-434).
SOURCES
Cherry, Z. (1973, April 06). After a fashion. The Globe and Mail (1936-Current).
Hill, L. (1996). Women of vision: The story of the Canadian Negro Women's Association, 1951-1976. Toronto, ON: Umbrella Press.
Small, S., & Thornhill, E. M. A. (2008). HARAMBEC! Quebec black women pulling together. Journal of Black Studies, 38(3), 427-442. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021934707306584
Jean Augustine discusses the Congress of Black Women of Canada button.
TRANSCRIPT
Let Black Children Talk” and that was the “Congress of Black women of Canada”. Well, maybe I should do this one first because the Congress of Black Women of Canada was the national organization. And so we had chapters all across the country and we had regional meetings, of course with our vision statement and our mandate and we knew exactly as women where we wanted to go with the organization. And it’s still alive, there is the foundation that raises funds for scholarships and other things and one of the interesting things is that we had a theme or a motto or whatever it’s called and it was we, the vision of black women [is] almost like the cactus; that the cactus is a very hearty plant and the cactus will grow even if nobody is planting or nurturing the soil and that the cactus despite whatever hardships at the end springs this beautiful flower and we considered ourselves almost like the cactus. And this was basically a little bit of a fundraiser we had when we sold this button.