Black History Month
February marks Black History Month, we celebrate significant achievements and contributions of Black Influential Figures and their communities. Throughout history, these contributions have enriched cultural diversity, compassion, and prosperity.
ROSA PARKS - ACTIVIST
FEBRUARY 4, 1913 - OCTOBER 24, 2005
Rosa Parks is famously remembered for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks was a civil rights leader whose bravery led to nationwide efforts to end racial segregation. Her legacy continues today as one of the most influential Black females in our history. Parks was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award by the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal.
“I WOULD LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED AS A PERSON WHO WANTED TO BE FREE… SO OTHER PEOPLE WOULD BE ALSO FREE”
-ROSA PARKS
VIOLA DESMOND - BUSINESSWOMAN | TEACHER | MENTOR | ACTIVIST
JULY 6, 1914 - FEBRUARY 7, 1965
Viola Desmond was born in Halifax in 1914. Following in the footsteps of her hard-working parents, she became an independent businesswoman. After discovering that Nova Scotia beauty schools did not accept Black Students, she trained as a hairdresser and beautician in Montreal and the United States. She later went on to open the Desmond School of Beauty Culture in Nova Scotia, which gave training opportunities to black women to help them confidently open their own businesses.
In 1946, unaware that the theatre was segregated, the Black Nova Scotian chose a main‐floor seat in the theatre’s "whites only" section. When she refused to move to the balcony, where black patrons were expected to sit, she was arrested, dragged out of the theatre, and jailed. Viola's case is known as the most publicly racialized case in Canada. In 2010, the government pardoned the late Viola Desmond, removed her conviction from the historical record, and issued an official apology for being wrongfully jailed and fined. In 2018 Viola Desmond was selected by the Minister of Finance as the first Canadian woman featured on a regularly circulating Canadian 10-dollar bill. Click here to learn more.
DENNIS MITCHELL - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, STARLIGHT CAPITAL
Dennis Mitchell is a thought leader and an active contributor to the Canadian asset-management industry. With over 20 years of experience in the investment industry, he held various executive positions, including his current role as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Starlight Capital.
Dennis received the Brendan Wood International Canadian TopGun Award in 2009, 2010, and 2011 and the Brendan Wood International 2012 Canadian TopGun Team Leader Award. He also received the Afroglobal TV Excellence Award for Enterprise in 2020 and the Black Business and Professionals Association’s Harry Jerome President’s Award in 2021.
Mitchell is paving the way for inclusion and diversity and found that good management teams have diversity of thought. His hiring practices include building and working with a diverse group of people.
“IF YOU FOCUS ON HAVING A DIVERSE NETWORK AND A DIVERSE GROUP OF PEOPLE TO CHOOSE FROM, YOU’RE GOING TO BENEFIT FROM DIVERSITY OF COGNITION, DIVERSITY OF PROBLEM SOLVING, DIVERSITY OF EXPERIENCE.”
-DENNIS MITCHELL
MICHAEL LONDON - INTERIOR DESIGNER | ENTREPRENEUR MICHAEL LONDON DESIGN
Michael London is one of Toronto’s top luxury Interior Designers. He is also one of few Black designers in a predominantly white industry. As a former Design Director of Gluckstein Design, Michael London made his mark in the Interior Design community with residential clientele and developers over the past twenty-five years.
Initially, Michael thought he would pursue a career as an Architect, but that quickly changed once he saw his first set of interior design plans during his Grade 12 co-op placement at Gluckstein Design. During his placement, it became evident that Michael’s true passion was design, and this realization would set him on the path to becoming an Interior Designer.
He quickly enrolled in the 3-year design program at Humber College, where upon completion, he returned to Gluckstein, not as a co-op student but as a Junior Designer. Michael then spent the next 20 years with Gluckstein developing his design philosophy and style before deciding to take the entrepreneurial route and open his own company, Michael London Design, in 2018.
The motivation behind Michael London Design is to achieve a high standard of design that is immersive, creative and inspired by culture, all of which he states is “fundamental in our pursuit of achieving unique interiors.”
His growing portfolio consists of high-profile multi-unit residences, commercial interiors inspired by iconic luxury brands, and private residences that are situated within some of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Toronto, Rosedale, Forest Hill, Kleinburg, King City, Ottawa, and New York.
Michael is highly respected in the Development industry, and RioCan is proud to be working with him on one of our most highly anticipated condominium projects, located in the heart of Yorkville, 83 Bloor Street West.
"MY PARENTS INSTILLED IN ME A STRONG FAITH FOUNDATION, AND MY MOTHER ALWAYS ENCOURAGED ME (AND STILL TELLS ME TO THIS DAY) THAT "YOUR GOAL IN LIFE IS TO BEAUTIFY THE WORLD". THIS MEANT VERY LITTLE TO ME EARLIER IN MY CAREER BUT, NOW THAT I AM IN THIS POSITION, HER STATEMENT MEANS SO MUCH MORE TO ME AS I FORGE MY PATH".
- MICHAEL LONDON, NOTABLELIFE.COM
MICHAËLLE JEAN - 27th GOVERNOR GENERAL, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF CANADA | DIPLOMAT | JOURNALIST
Michaëlle Jean, a former CBC journalist, was the first Black person to serve as Canada’s Governor General, a position she held between 2005 and 2010. Born in Haiti, Jean fled with her family to Quebec in 1968 after her father was arrested and tortured by members of dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s regime. In the 1980s, she became the first Black reporter to be featured on French television network news in Canada and went on to host her current affairs show, Michaëlle.
After being appointed Governor General, Jean used her office to emphasize freedom as a central part of the Canadian identity. The United Nations called on her to become UNESCO Special Envoy to support reconstruction efforts in Haiti in the same year a powerful earthquake killed hundreds of thousands, with as many wounded and displaced. From 2011 to 2014, Michaëlle Jean also served as Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, where her offices for UNESCO Special Envoy were hosted.
On November 30, 2014, Michaëlle Jean then became the 3rd Secretary General of La Francophonie at the 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Dakar, a position to which she devoted her whole energies from January 5, 2015, to January 3, 2019. “I know how precious that freedom is…. I, whose ancestors were slaves, who was born into a civilization long reduced to whispers and cries of pain,” she said during her installation speech. For more information click here.
CARRIE BEST - HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST | AUTHOR | JOURNALIST | PUBLISHER | BROADCASTER. MARCH 4, 1903 – JULY 24, 2001
Carrie Mae Best (née Prevoe), OC, ONS, LLD, grew up in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in an era of racial discrimination. She is well-known and admired for her work as a human rights activist, author, journalist, publisher, and broadcaster.
Sparked by incidents of discrimination, Best, a civil rights activist, co-founded The Clarion, one of the first newspapers in Nova Scotia owned and published by Black Canadians. Best used the platform to advocate for Black rights. As an editor, she publicly supported Viola Desmond in her case against the Roseland Theatre.
She used her voice in radio and print to bring positive change to society in Nova Scotia and Canada. Click here to learn more.
“IM AS GOOD AS ANYONE AND BETTER THAN MOST”
-CARRIE BEST