RBC Social Change Award for Sylvia Parris-Drummond
December 18, 2020
Some jobs are naturally more fulfilling than others.
Sylvia Parris-Drummond found her sweet spot five years ago when she was appointed the first Chief Executive Officer of the Delmore ‘Buddy’ Daye Learning Institute (DBDLI) in Halifax.
She’s among seven recipients of this year’s RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards that shine a spotlight on exceptional leaders.
There were over 8,600 nominations from across the country.
An advocate for social justice and social change, Daye passed away in 1995.
Though she didn’t get the opportunity to meet Nova Scotia’s first Black Sergeant-at-Arms, Parris-Drummond is humbled to be acknowledged with the Social Change Award while working with an institution bearing his name.
“I really feel like we have a sense about what he was like because that’s embedded in how we do things and how we have even established where we are at,” she said. “We are physically located in the geographic area where he would have grown up, there’s lots of connections with his family and with people who did have a chance to engage with him and a photograph of him is proudly displayed in our office. He was a community person. He was on sidewalks and in people’s houses finding out what they needed and what needed to be done and he took that knowledge into his position as Sergeant-at-Arms to influence the decision makers. I feel like he’s flowing in the air that goes through our office space.”
Daye was a giant in the African Nova Scotia community.
Raised by foster parents, he rose to prominence as a boxer, winning 17 of his 28 professional fights in a 13-year career that ended in 1966.
After two unsuccessful attempts for the Canadian featherweight crown, Daye captured the junior lightweight title in 1964 and was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1981.
He, however, made his mark outside the ring fiercely advocating for his community and playing a leading role in the establishment of several key organizations in Nova Scotia.
Established eight years ago, the DBDLI is named after Daye who ran for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the 1967 provincial elections and co-founded the Black Learners Advisory Committee that was commissioned in 1991 to conduct a comprehensive study of the major issues affecting African Nova Scotian learners.
Emerging from the study was 46 recommendations, including the setting up of an Afrocentric Learning Institute to assist in curriculum development that reflected African Nova Scotian perspectives and experiences and provided province-wide professional development among things.
As its mission, The DBDLI aims to improve educational experiences, opportunities and outcomes for Nova Scotian learners of African ancestry.
The organization has evolved in the last five years with Parris-Drummond at the helm.
“We are mindful of a couple of things,” she said. “We do our best work collectively, so it’s important for us to be a team. Growing the team from what we had as our founders to where we are at now with various positions focused on research, community engagement, youth and some of the practical things you need to have in place were important. We are still looking at what we need in terms of our vision and growing our programs. We do publishing and are now emphasizing what Afrocentric publishing program could be like. Nurturing young illustrators and authors is a big part of what we do in our work.
“We can have a great influence here and we are, but we also want to change Canada and the world. Out of the appreciation of this recognition is it goes towards that ambition I have which is that we are able to help bring the fullness of the contributions of people of African descent who have been here historically and who have journeyed in different ways into all aspects. So, let’s make sure our history is a full one and accurate, let’s make sure our economic contributions are known and valued, let’s make sure that social inclusion isn’t something that is about an add-on, but that it is seen as paramount and impacts how private and public sectors work.”
To mark the day – November 8 – 74 years ago that Viola Desmond was refused to sit in a New Glasgow theatre balcony designated for Whites, the DBDLI launched the ‘Viola Desmond Community Talks’ three-part docuseries.
“These are interesting times in that we not only have a health pandemic, but the Anti-Black racism pandemic,” she said. “This series is part of a number of initiatives we have done to try to give voice to the community around those issues. We are able to talk in a very affirming way about a Black woman who took a stand at that time. We needed to be talking about her as a Black businesswoman in those days, as an educator in the public school and post-secondary system, a lifelong learner, as a community engaged person and the mentorship she provided. We need to talk about folks in their fullness.”
The second part of the series in February will focus on Desmond as an entrepreneur while the third instalment next June will be on her life’s education component.
After a few minutes conversing with Parris-Drummond, it’s evident she has an unbridled passion for serving her community.
“It’s grounded in who I am as an individual,” she said. “I am a proud Black African Nova Scotian and I learnt from my parents about the importance of community. The inter-generational approach we take here too is not by chance. It’s a delivered one because I know the importance of recognizing who came before us and the shoulders on which we stand. While acknowledging the importance of the learning we get from those folks, it’s crucial to validate a new current perspective that young people bring.”
Sylvia Parris-Drummond (Photo contributed)
The holder of a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics & Education from St. Francis Xavier University, a Master’s in Lifelong Learning from Mount Saint Vincent University and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies from St. Mary’s University, Parris-Drummond – who was born and raised in Mulgrave -- was a school teacher for 18 years before relocating to Halifax where she was a Consultant with the Nova Scotia government and Manager of the African Nova Scotian Affairs Integration Office before being recruited by the DBDLI.
Her father, Joseph Parris, and paternal uncle William Parris were members of Canada’s first and only Black battalion, No. 2 Construction, which was formally authorized as a unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force 109 years ago.
Joining the battalion at age 17, Joseph Parris didn’t share his military experience with his children.
It was through the late Calvin Ruck’s book, ‘The Black Battalion 1916-1920: Canada’s Best Kept Military Secret’, that Parris-Drummond learnt of her father’s military service.
He died in 1972.
“My experience is that a lot of people don’t talk about that,” said the cousin of retired Royal Canadian Air Force member George Borden who died on November 29 at age 85. “It’s something they survive, I blame the education system for not telling the full story about what happened in World War I and the contribution of the No. 2 Construction Battalion. As a young person in school, I should have been able to learn about that and go home and ask my daddy about that. I had to go out and learn that on my own and then dig deeper into it.”
Viola Parris passed away at age 50 in 1975 while her daughter was in Grade 12 and enjoying success as a distance runner.
“My parents were hard workers who instilled in their children the importance of community,” said Parris-Drummond who likes reading, dancing, walking and spending time with her grandchildren. “Faith was primary in their lives and they were respected in Mulgrave.”
She has three adult children.
