Canada's first Black Director of Education Harold Brathwaite dies on his 80th birthday
May 31, 2020
Canada’s first Black Director of Education has died after a being diagnosed recently with colon cancer.
Harold Brathwaite passed away on his 80th birthday in hospital on May 31.
Close friend and former Toronto City Councillor Gordon Cressy nominated Brathwaite for a Vice-Chancellor Award that was to be presented at the 11th annual University of the West Indies (UWI) Toronto Gala on April 4.
The event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Harold earned the award a long time ago,” said Cressy. “Simply said, it was time to make it official. He was not just a distinguished educator, but a UWI graduate which is something he was very proud of as was his Bajan roots. To me, a UWI Award made sense to go to someone who went to UWI, grew up in the Caribbean and made enormous contributions in Canada not just in education, but in other areas.”
Cressy and Brathwaite were among a group of high profile Torontonians that signed a petition to end carding five years ago.
“Harold was someone who cared about his community,” added Cressy who played a leading role in the establishment of the Trinidad YMCA 56 years ago. “He asked me how many times I was carded and I said ‘never’. He told me about an experience he had a few years ago when he was pulled over near his home in an upscale neighbourhood late at night. After the cop went through his routine, Harold said the officer asked him, ‘What are you doing driving through this neighbourhood?’ His response with a smile was ‘I live here’. He could use humor, but he could be very strong.”
In 1994, Brathwaite made history as the Director of the Peel District School Board.
In recognition of his remarkable contributions, a school bearing his name was launched in 2003 in Brampton.
“Harold was a leader in education who paved the way for so many of us,” said 2018 Vice-Chancellor Award recipient Dr. Avis Glaze, a former York Region District School Board (YRDSB) Associate Director of Education & Superintendent and Director of Education with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
“He challenged the status quo, he was true to his values and he cared deeply about the education of children in general, but of Black children in particular. He has left a legacy for all of us to see what is possible when you prepare yourself well and you have the skills that are necessary to lead, especially in challenging times.”
The Harold Brathwaite school in Brampton
Had there been a UWI campus in Barbados prior to 1963, Brathwaite would have stayed home to pursue his undergraduate studies.
He spent three of his four years at the Mona campus in Jamaica, completing a French degree 55 years ago after doing his third-year studies in France.
It was while in France that Brathwaite met a Canadian teacher who encouraged him to look at Canada as an option to do postgraduate studies. A male student, who he had met at UWI, became friends with and was residing in Canada, agreed and Brathwaite came here in 1968.
Having an older half-brother who was a teacher that lived in the family home in Barbados fueled Brathwaite’s interest in the profession.
There was also another compelling reason to go down that path.
“I knew only three Black men with cars who lived in big homes at the time,” he recounted in an interview with me in December 2019. “They were the family doctor, the undertaker and the Principal of St. Giles School where I completed my elementary education. I figured that becoming a teacher would be great as that would help me achieve those things also.”
Spending a year in St. Lucia where his mother was born and having a maternal grandfather who was from Martinique sparked Brathwaite’s desire for knowledge in French.
He attended UWI after graduating from Harrison College whose notable alumni were former Prime Ministers Grantley Adams, Owen Arthur and Errol Barrow who trained with the Royal Air Force in the Maritimes and was conferred with an honorary doctorate of Civil Law by McGill University in 1966.
Harold Brathwaite (second from left) and some of his UWI classmates
Rating his UWI years among the best in his life, Brathwaite’s university peers included former St. Kitts & Nevis Premier Kennedy Simmonds and late academic and political activist Walter Rodney who was on the same floor with him on Block 6.
“Rodney was quite the character,” Brathwaite said. “He was a very bright and militant guy who was always mobilizing. While I was doing my Master’s at McMaster University in 1968-69, Walter had already finished his PhD. and was at the university at the invitation of the Student Union. I was in the audience and when he saw me, he asked, ‘What are you doing here Brath and why are you not making a revolution in Barbados’?”
Brathwaite’s teaching career in the Greater Toronto Area included stops at a Catholic High School in the city for three years and almost four years at Aldershot School in Burlington where he was a Vice-Principal and Principal.
“After my second year at Aldershot, I applied to be an Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent of Programs which was an opportunity to work in the Board office,” the once Art Gallery of Ontario Trustee said. “At the end of the second year, I was made Principal. When it was announced that I was leaving Aldershot after 18 months in that role to go to Toronto as a Superintendent, the Black students that numbered around 12 in a school population of nearly 1,500, came to my office trying to convince me to stay. They felt their school environment was very uplifting with me around.”
Harold Brathwaite and former provincial Ombudsman Roberta Jamieson in 2006
Brathwaite was the Superintendent for French Language Schools from 1984 to 1988 and Secondary Schools for three years before being appointed Associate Director in Toronto on his second try in 1991.
“I knew I didn’t get it the first time in 1989 for political reasons,” the former Nelson Mandela’s Children Fund of Canada Chair suggested. “I learnt that Toronto was a very polarized board in terms of the left wing and others who were more Conservative than Liberals. I was always of the opinion that as an administrator, I shouldn’t have any political affiliation. That was my Caribbean training, so I refused to be a NDPer (New Democratic Party) although there were a couple of people I knew at the Board who were NDPers or supporters. What I came to recognize was that for many of the NDPers, you were with or against us and that was unfortunate.”
United Way of Peel Black Community Advisory Board 2011 award honourees Harold Brathwaite (r), Michael Steele & Madeline Edwards
In his second year in the Associate Director role, he was contacted by a recruiting agency inquiring if he would be interested in becoming the Director of the York Region board.
“I declined and the agency came back to me saying the Peel Board was looking for a Director which I was aware of,” said Brathwaite who was a member and Chair of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Advisory Governance Council. “After initially thinking I wouldn’t be a good fit for the position, I got the job, but I knew that there was a segment of people there that didn’t care for me. I also discovered that there was a culture of bullying.”
Despite being subjected to racist messages scrawled in Black in a restroom at the Board’s office, Brathwaite – who started in February 1994 -- thrived in the position.
During his eight-and-a-half year tenure, the school board received two acknowledgments from the Sikh community for accommodating female Sikh students whose parents didn’t allow their daughters to go to night school for courses.
“Working with Jim Goddard who was in charge of our After-School program, we set up daytime programs at a Malton mosque so they could come in and do their courses,” noted Brathwaite who, in 1998, was part of a small group of Ontario educators that went to South Africa to advise the government on systemic education reform. “The first thing I did as Director because of the estrangement was go with Superintendents to the mosque, sit on the floor and let people talk to us. We also went to an Islamic temple in Burlington and a Jewish facility to engage with parents. I think that sent a message that I was willing to reach out to the community and I wanted them to have an input in the school system. I also encouraged them to come to Board meetings.”
On the day of the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Board’s swift and decisive response was greeted with kudos.
“A letter was drafted that went out to our school community and it said we regretted what took place in the United States, we have a responsibility to protect our students and our schools are safe environments,” said Brathwaite who served in many roles in Ministry of Education committees and on former provincial Premier Dalton McGuinty Transition Team. “Every student took home a letter that same day and we got good feedback for that.”
Retiring in 2002, Brathwaite went back to work six months later as Senior Adviser to the President of Seneca College. Beginning in September 2004, he was the Retired Teachers of Ontario Executive Director for almost 11 years.
Harold Brathwaite relaxing with his partner Christine Shain
After retiring for the second time five years ago, Brathwaite spent the winter months in Barbados and enjoyed watching Formula One racing.
“When I was a kid in Barbados, there was only one radio station and they carried a sports program I listened to that had the Grand National horse race and Formula One car racing from England,” he said. “That’s when I fell in love with Formula One.”
In May 2016, Brathwaite – who played cricket and soccer as a teenager -- was in Barbados at Bushy Park for the Festival of Speed, featuring six-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Harold Brathwaite (back row centre) was a talented soccer player
The Order of Ontario recipient is survived by his partner, Christine Shain, and two daughters.
Michelle Brathwaite is a United Nations National Human Rights Officer based in Barbados and Jennifer Brathwaite is an author residing in Mississauga.
