York University honourary degree for Itah Sadu
October 13, 2023
When Itah Sadu received a call last August from York University saying its President Rhonda Lenton wanted to speak with her, she was a bit apprehensive.
A few years ago, the Chief Executive Officer’s office called to instruct her to desist from putting flyers advertising community events in the glass cases across the campus.
“I thought those were the best spots,” said the community developer, entrepreneur, best-selling author and award-winning storyteller. “I remember asking, ‘How then do you know it’s me?’ Your telephone number is on the flyers and that’s how we found you was the response. I made a mental note not to include my phone number on future flyers.”
Sadu cannot be faulted for becoming a bit anxious when the office called again.
This time, the news was good.
Lenton relayed that the university had received an application to confer her with an honourary doctorate.
“She told me she and Chancellor Kathleen Taylor had reviewed it and felt I had crossed multiple disciplines, influenced Canadian literature and community development and impacted the lives of people here and abroad,” noted Sadu. “She said this was an easy decision”.
Itah Sadu & York University President Dr. Rhonda Lenton (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
In the presence of her 91-year-old mother Gloria Walcott who was among the first wave of Caribbean women to arrive in Canada from Barbados in 1955 under the West Indian Domestic Scheme (WIDS) program, husband Miguel San Vicente and their daughter Sojourner San Vicente, and close friends, Sadu was honoured on October 12.
Born in Scarborough and schooled in Barbados before returning to Canada in her mid-teens, she recounted the memories that flooded her heart when Lenton delivered the news.
“Memories of people who I met on the street, in the frozen section of the supermarket, on an aircraft and retold my stories,” she said. “The kids who never spoke in class, but sounded their voices the day I arrived at their school. The phone calls from around the world when people saw my work translated into languages and film. The imagination of Canadians attending the annual Emancipation Freedom Train Ride. And the excitement of students as they participate in the annual Walk of Excellence parade.”
As Lenton spoke, Sadu remembered watching her mother stare through the window on a perfect day filled with sunshine.
“Mom came from 96 degrees in the shade to a cold, cold, cold Ottawa winter,” she told the graduates in her convocation address. “These young women, like many of you seated here, were daughters, mothers, partners, teachers, nurses and secretaries. They came with skills to work in the homes of families, thereby freeing Canadian women to enter the workplace. These women built a foundation on which we stand today. They brought with them a work ethic, expectations to help their families back home and to build a greater society here in Canada for future generations. My mom, like so many of you, came to this country from far away and, like you as she stepped on Canadian soil, she knew that a day like today was possible.”
Sadu urged the graduates to give back generously just as the hundreds of Caribbean women who came to Canada under the WIDS program did.
“Don’t save up giving back, but rather demonstrate it every day,” she said. “When you see policies that are unfair, change them. That is giving back. When you see an injustice and speak up and out, that is giving back. When you share a word or a simple act of kindness, that is giving back. Giving back is altruistic and never, never transactional.”
Sadu instructed the new degree holders to live their lives not just by the rule of law, but by the rule of justice.
“Be kind and show kindness,” added the 2015 Pioneer for Change Award winner and popular Master of Ceremony “Walk in the power of grace. Let laughter and joy be your best friends. Clothe yourselves in the greatest gift of all, the gift of understanding. Remember that life is always under daily construction, so equip yourselves with the word ‘AND’. Be the door jams and jammers so others can pass through. And, in the words of the Barbados national anthem, write your names on history’s page with expectations great. And when this happens, in the words of philanthropist/singer Rhianna, you will shine bright like diamonds.”
York University Professor Carl James said Sadu’s recognition reflects her community.
“The community energy was very evident throughout the ceremony and her presentation recognizes the significance of community in creating her and her relationship to the community in bringing her to where she is,” said the holder of the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University. “Also, in talking about the legacy of her mother coming here as a domestic and what that meant for Canada, she is an example of that legacy and what it has created for us.”
Sandra Whiting has been a close friend of Sadu for nearly three decades.
“I am so joyful today,” said the raconteur and former Black Business & Professional Association President. “She is such an amazing person in our community and one who gives freely and is always ensuring our voices are heard.”
Itah Sadu with her mom Gloria Walcott, husband Miguel San Vicente and their daughter Sojourner San Vicente (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Sadu was destined to be her own boss.
Her maternal grandfather, Fitz Walcott, had seven fishing boats and was a master builder while his wife, Edna, sold ice, plants, oil and land.
Great great grandmother Amanda Rawlins had a bakery and sold bread in Barbados in the 1800s and her great grandmother, Amanda Phillips, owned three rums shops and a car in the early 1900s.
“Amanda’s stories taught me to be bold, daring and innovative,” said Sadu who worked with the Ontario government for four years and, with Trent University Associate Professor Marrie Mumford, designed the Fresh Elements program that became the Fresh Arts program.
With a few women, including educator Veronica Sullivan, she was part of a company, Fun Filled Tours, that took groups to Six Nations that is the largest First Nations Reserve in Canada. She also teamed up with Sullivan and Bev Bowman to create Concert Productions that brought artists to the city.
Sadu and her husband assumed ownership of A Different Booklist 27 years ago from Critical Race Intersectional Theorist Dr. Wesley Crichlow.
The name was later changed to A Different Booklist – The People’s Residence that transitioned last year to The Blackhurst Cultural Centre.
The non-profit centre and destination provide opportunities to experience the culture and history of Canadians of African and Caribbean ancestry and is located in the Bathurst St. and Bloor St. W. neighbourhood that has been home to many Black homeowners and businesses, including the defunct Contrast community newspaper, Mascoll Beauty Supply and a few barbershops.
The popular independent bookstore, which maintains its name, made history in 2016 by becoming the first Black-owned business to win an Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
A booklover, Sadu founded MY People Literary Awards and the Black Book Fair and has written several children books that local schools have adopted into their curriculum.
In addition, she has designed, developed and implemented programs for youths in Aboriginal and racialized communities in high-density neighbourhoods.
Over the last decade, York University has fully supported the Walk of Excellence celebrating high school students in the Jane-Finch community.
