Pan Africanist Peter Paul was active in the community
July 8, 2020
Pan-Africanist Peter Paul has died after a lengthy illness.
The Dominican-born community stalwart passed away in hospital on May 29 after battling a blood infection.
He was 80.
Paul served with the British West Indies Regiment in Jamaica post-World War II prior to coming to Canada nearly 50 years ago and becoming actively engaged in the community.
Superior Court Judge Dr. Irving Andre said Paul’s exceptional commitment to his community stands out.
“This is evidenced by his involvement in a number of organizations,” he pointed out.
Paul co-founded the Black Action Defence Committee (BADC) and the Organization of West Indians & Africans in Canada and was a member of the Sisserou Cultural Club of Ontario and United Achievers Club of Brampton.
He also chaired the Black Coalition of Canada and represented this country at the Second World Black & African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977.
“We must rejoice because here was a man that had an extraordinary commitment to the cause of Black upliftment,” Andre noted. “Here was a man who would have taken utmost pride at witnessing what is going on in the world today because that was very much in his DNA. He was almost like a breath of fresh air in our community.”
Andre and Paul met shortly after the Judge moved to Brampton in 1988.
“Peter loved playing dominoes not just for the pleasure, but for the sport’s ability to bring disparate parts of our community together,” he added. “So typically on the dominoes table, we would, in a very deep sense, break the bread of friendship and of community.”
Paul was a schoolmate and close friend of Dominica’s Prime Minister Rosie Douglas who died in October 2000. Douglas’ political consciousness took shape when he came to Canada in the 1960s and became immersed in the civil rights movement after attending a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lecture at the University of Toronto.
He switched from Agriculture to Political Science studies and led more than 100 students in what began as a peaceful demonstration in 1969 at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) before escalating into a riot that led to Douglas and other protestors’ arrests. He served 18 months of a two-year sentence and was fined $5,000.
Paul accompanied Douglas, who had close ties with late Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, on one of his trips to the North African country.
“Peter was one of the people that was part of Douglas’ defence committee,” recalled retired Ryerson University School of Social Work Director Dr. Akua Benjamin. “His work in the community went into another gear with Black Workers Alliance that fought for Black workers rights in the workplace. He supported those fighting anti-colonial issues and if you had issues around education and policing, you could count on Peter to be there. His work expanded from Canada to the Caribbean and Africa. He was an all-round Pan-Africanist and anti-racist. There isn’t a movement that I can think of in Toronto that Peter wasn’t part of in the last 50 years. He is a fabric of this community.”
Paul, recalled BADC member Dari Meade, was bold and courageous.
“We met in the difficult days when we were all walking through to find consciousness and to move Toronto forward to include Blacks as people and to fight for equal rights,” he said. “Peter was right there with us. Outside of the struggle for equality and human rights, he enjoyed himself and in so doing reminded us that, despite racism, we still have to find a way to press on and have fun.”
Peter Paul (r) with the late Milton Blake (l) & Dudley Laws (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Retired teacher and community organizer Lennox Farrell said Paul was a steadfast foot soldier.
“Peter was always present when there were demonstrations, community meetings and whatever and there was a constant smile on his face,” he pointed out. “He was very dependable.”
Bestowed the honour of delivering the eulogy at her father’s virtual funeral on June 21, Father’s Day, was special for Ngozi Paul.
He chose the name ‘Ngozi’ because the Nigerian word means blessing.
“When he travelled to Nigeria as a Pan Africanist, he met someone there who said if he named his daughter Ngozi, she would be blessed,” said the award-winning stage and screen actress. “He was such an inspiration to me and the work that I do. My dad helped me with a speech, ‘The State of the Black Race’, that I did when I was like 14 years old in Grade Nine. After I delivered that speech, a teacher apologised for holding me back a grade. When I think of all of the work I do and have done, it all stemmed from my dad who I accompanied to protests and rallies when I was a teenager.”
An immigration consultant for many years, Paul is survived by his wife of 48 years, Ena Daniel Paul, and seven children, including Annamie Paul who is running for the Green Party of Canada leadership.
