Canadian Negro Women's Association (CANEWA)/Congress of Black Women of Canada

The Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CANEWA) was a national organization founded in 1951 to expand Black consciousness and promote education and self-sufficiency by awarding scholarships. The Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the lives of Black women and their families both locally and nationally. The first CBWC in 1973 was organized by the founder of CANEWA, which sponsored the event.

These organizations and the events they created or hosted worked to empower women by showing them their worth and potential and encouraging them to become involved in issues affecting their communities. They also worked to educate women in ways that directly impacted them, such as by providing parenting education and helping them to create networks to work toward common goals such as equality and the creation of child development programs. Although CANEWA is defunct, the CBWC continues to operate in the twenty-first century.

Background

Racism and exploitation of Black people and other minorities has a long history in Canada. Thousands of Black people were enslaved in the French and British colonial regions that eventually became the nation of Canada. Although enslavement was outlawed there before it was in the United States, Black Canadians experienced discrimination such as limits to the jobs they could hold and segregation of schools and housing. Some Black people who escaped enslavement in the United States were blocked from voting by White Canadians who resented the influx of newcomers. The Canadian government implemented immigration policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to exclude Black people. The governments of Ontario and Nova Scotia enforced segregation of schools until the late twentieth century. Local governments forbade Black people to use city swimming pools, skating rinks, and other facilities. As late as 1965, some real estate deeds prevented the sale or rental of property to Black, Asian, or Indigenous people.

Hotels, inns, restaurants, theaters, and other private businesses frequently denied service to Black persons or limited them to certain tables or rooms. For example, many theaters refused to seat Black patrons in reserved seats on the main floor, even when they paid for them. They were instead directed to upper balconies.

The federal government and many private businesses traditionally did not hire Black people, who often were primarily employed in the labor sector. When the labor movement began in the late nineteenth century, workers organized and formed trade unions, but many of these likewise excluded Black workers.

The military often rejected Black people who wished to enlist. Most Black men who were able to enlist during World War I served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion, which was racially segregated.

Many individuals and organized groups fought against discrimination. Some lobbied politicians or filed lawsuits. People held demonstrations and sit-ins, published articles in newspapers, and circulated petitions. Numerous organizations formed in the mid-twentieth century to fight for human rights in Canada. Ontario passed the Fair Employment Practices Act in 1951, and a federal act of the same name became law in 1953.

Overview

Broadcaster and actress Kay (Jenkins) Livingstone joined a small social club for middle-class Black women in Toronto in 1950. The Dilettantes organized events such as tea and garden parties. However, Livingstone had greater ambitions and led the effort to change the club’s name and purpose. In 1951 it became the Canadian Negro Women’s Club, later the Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CANEWA). She served as the group’s first president. CANEWA’s new purpose was to raise awareness and appreciation for Black Canadians and help them advance. The organization founded a scholarship program for Black Canadians, held fundraising events, and hosted Negro History Week, which became Black History Month.

Among its events was the Calypso Carnival, which in modern times is the Toronto Caribbean Festival, a festival of the arts. After several years as an evening of dinner and entertainment, in 1967 it became a three-day event. Later it expanded to three weeks.

CANEWA’s influence was extensive. It joined the National Black Coalition of Canada (NBCC) and worked with regional and national organizations including the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, B’nai B’rith, the United Way, and the Women’s Section of the United Nations Association of Canada. It held fundraising events for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, supplied wheelchairs for children, and hosted a reception for new Canadians in Toronto. In 1962 it sponsored Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech in Toronto. The organization became defunct after initiating its enduring legacy, the National Congress of Black Women of Canada.

National Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC): Members of CANEWA recognized that they needed a national voice and in particular a way to address political and social issues. They felt that male-dominated organizations were not addressing the concerns of Black women, and White feminists were not focused on the issues of race and racism. They decided to organize a national event.

Livingstone organized the first Conference of the National Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC) in Toronto in 1973. The three-day event, which was sponsored by CANEWA and intended to create a national network of Black women, drew two hundred attendees from across the country. It was the first national meeting of Black women. In 1980 the CBWC became a national organization with chapters across Canada. It established a national executive council composed of officers and representatives elected from each province. Among the organization’s issues and concerns are human rights, fair and affordable housing, health and health care, child development, and education.

The CBWC uses the cactus as its symbol. The reasoning is that regardless of the adverse conditions in which it exists, the cactus survives, flowers, fruits, and multiplies.

Bibliography

“Canadian Negro Women’s Association and the Calypso Carnival.” University of Toronto Libraries, fisherdigitus.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/blackhistory/twentiethandtwentyfirst/social-groups-and-community-ev. Accessed 6 June 2023.

Congress of Black Women of Canada. Circa 1987. Available online at riseupfeministarchive.ca/activism/organizations/congress-of-black-women-of-canada-cbwc/cbwc-informationbooklet/. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Henry, Natasha. “Racial Segregation of Black People in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 8 Sept. 2021, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/racial-segregation-of-black-people-in-canada. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Hill, Lawrence. Women of Vision: The Story of the Canadian Negro Women’s Association, 1951–1976. Umbrella Press, 1996. Print.

“The Legacy and Impact of Organizations Led by Black Women in Canada.” Government of Canada, 1 Feb. 2023, www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month/legacies-institutions.html. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Wharton-Zaretsky, Marcia. “Foremothers of Black Women’s Community Organizing in Toronto.” Atlantis, vol. 24, no. 2, 2000, pp. 61–71, journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/1590. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Yarhi, Eli. “Kay Livingstone.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 5 Mar. 2019, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kay-livingstone. Accessed 7 June 2023.