Dwayne is a Grade 6 student who came to Canada from Jamaica at the age of seven. Upon arrival in a new school Dwayne had to adapt to a new culture. In addition, Dwayne was identified as having severe behavioral problems and learning difficulties, and it was recommended within the first month of school that the boy be medicated in order for him to cope. His mother refused. Through interviewing Dwayne's mother and his teacher, a case study details Dwayne's experiences of schooling. The story of Dwayne illustrates how experiences of disablement are interrelated with experiences of migration and racialization.
"This article investigates the efficacy of community organizing by African Caribbean migrants in Toronto, Ontario. The author argues that community organizing was an instinctive initiative of African Caribbean people. Historically, Black community organizational agenda, although owing much to its own resourcefulness and fortitude, was intimately connected to the influence and strength of the larger White population. Racism and social exclusions were the major external factors influencing the majority of African Caribbean institutional building." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR];
"We shouldn't celebrate a scheme that brought women from the West Indies to Canada and kept many of them under domination and subordination by Canadian families," says Ms. [Antonia Sealy], a founding member of several community groups. "Personally, I regret making the decision to come on that scheme," she says. "I had a comfortable life in Barbados and a good job in the public service, but I was young and I wanted to travel and seek other opportunities. Had I known better I would have waited and sought out a commonwealth scholarship," she said. Ms. Sealy says that nothing she was told before leaving Barbados could have prepared her for the life of "subordination" at the homes of various families in Toronto.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
297 p., Begins with an introduction to the Caribbean region and the cultural and historical origins of its peoples. She focuses on the cultural practices that shape the community in Toronto, and the extent to which they facilitate or impede integration in Canadian society. Looks closely at such things as male-female relationships, forms of family organization, and patterns of religious practice, and shows that some cultural patterns have been maintained by members of the community whereas others have changed during the migration process.
