They Call Me George
Cecil Foster
A historical work of non-fiction that chronicles the little-known stories of black railway porters the so-called "Pullmen" of the Canadian rail lines. The actions and spirit of these men helped define Canada as a nation in surprising ways; effecting race relations, human rights, North American multiculturalism, community building, the shape and structure of unions, and the nature of travel and business across the U.S. and Canada.
Drawing on the stories and legends of several of these influential early black Canadians, this book narrates the history of a very visible, but rarely considered, aspect of black life in railway-age Canada. These porters, who fought against the idea of Canada as White Man's Country, open only to immigrants from Europe, fought for opportunities and rights and won. (FromBiblioasis)
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From the book
As I travelled on the train, I thought of all the train porters who came beforeRokhaya Ndiaye, and who left a legacy of social change in Canada as part of theCivil Rights Movement and indeed the entire Black experience in the Americasand beyond. But nobody is more deserving of recognition than Stanley Grizzle,whose tireless efforts for change make him effectively the hero of this book.Following the Second World War, Stanley Grizzle and his fellow porters foughtto create a new Canada by embodying a citizenship that reflected the entire diver-sity and dignity of humanity itself. The train porters battled to make normal what isnow socially routine, and even taken for granted, in our daily living: Black workers'ability to hold a wide range of jobs and to be hired and promoted in the civil service; and for Black people from Africa and the West Indies to immigrate and be-come citizens of Canada.
We should always remember this was not a fight they were guaranteed to win.We should also not forget that Canada wasn't originally intended to be a multicultural society. Official multiculturalism in Canada was a fluke of history. Somethought of multiculturalism as democracy gone wrong. Against great odds, thesleeping car porters sacrificed themselves and all that they had to put a stick in thewheels, figuratively speaking, that were driving Canada toward a different destination. The train porters turned Canada black, brown, and a host of other shades.Yet this important piece of Canadian history has yet to be fully told.
From They Call My Georgeby Cecil Foster2019. Published by Biblioasis.
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