Awards celebrate the legacy of Reverend John Holland
March 20, 2023
You know your hard work in school is paying off when your community recognizes you.
Grade 12 student Olivia Purnell was beaming with joy after being named the recipient of the Tune in Foundation bursary presented at the 27th annual John Holland Awards banquet in Hamilton on February 18.
“Just to be nominated means your accomplishments are seen,” she said. “That is huge.”
Purnell has been studying piano seriously for the last two years.
She has auditioned with Humber College to enroll in their Piano Performance & Composition program.
“I enjoy playing the piano because it is the base of music,” said Purnell. “Everything revolves around it and it is the instrument where I can best express myself.”
American jazz pianist/composer Bill Evans is her favourite artist.
“I love jazz and his improvisation is dreamy,” she noted. “I could listen to him all day.”
The teenager’s dream is to play in a Broadway band.
Purnell, who is in Glendale Secondary School arts program, grew up around music.
Her father, Aiden Purnell, is a singer/guitarist/pianist.
Olivia & Aiden Purnell (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“Though I am musically inclined, Olivia has taken it to the next level,” he said. “I do a lot of solo work and she joins me on shows. Since age two, she couldn’t walk by a piano without touching it. I am very proud of her.”
Founded by Dejehan ‘Luckystickz’ Hamilton in 2015, the Tune In Foundation provides a platform for creatives to display their potential.
For Esther Goombs who was raised in Hamilton, Lincoln Alexander was a name she heard a lot.
“My mom often talked about his significance to the community and we sometimes drove down the highway named after him,” she recalled. “She also told me about the impact he had on the political scene and that is one of the reasons why I chose to study Political Science & Public Administration.”
The fourth-year University of Ottawa student was the recipient of the Lincoln Alexander ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ scholarship.
Alexander, Canada’s first Black Member of Parliament, federal minister and Ontario’s first Black Lieutenant Governor, died in 2012 at age 90.
In 2020, Goombs did a placement with Ottawa ACORN working in the Vanier community.
Esther Goombs (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is a national multi-issue, membership-based community union of low- and moderate-income citizens.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Goombs reached out to residents facing evictions and informed them of their tenant rights.
“Landlords were taking advantage of some of these people, many of whom are vulnerable,” she said. “I was just doing my best to get a sense of what they knew about their rental rights and, through information sessions, point them to resources where they could gain more knowledge.”
As Vice-President of Equity & Activism in her university’s Political & Policy Studies Student Association, Goombs helped to increase diversity and inclusion within the student body by organizing events focussed on the rights of vulnerable groups, including Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, racialized and students with disabilities.
The product of immigrants from Tobago and Jamaica plans to pursue a Master’s in Public Policy and/or Public Administration or go to law school.
A total of 22 bursary/scholarships were awarded.
The other winners were Alice Okpere, Chanice Olokesusi, Serenity Thompson, Suzanne Abdullah, Adelusi Omowonuola, Cynthia Oyogo, Mofiyinfoluwa Saka, Devlyn Tagoe, Abraham Oroma, Cyrena Hamilton, Yasmeen Elkheir, Laila Hampson, Kiyara Millwood, Ademide Abogunrin, Khairiya Haji, Joshua Cote, Keionna Cousins, Josiah Bowen, Derron Alleyne and Shante Paddy.
Black History Month Legacy Poster creator Robert Small was presented the HBHC Award of Merit.
Robert Small (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“To get an award from an organization outside Toronto that has been around for nearly three decades is very satisfying,” he pointed out. “You can’t help but notice their approach in supporting young people are pursuing higher education and giving back to the community through the large number of bursaries and scholarships they are handing out tonight.”
In 1997, Small started the Legacy series, highlighting outstanding Black Canadians and individuals who have contributed to Black history.
The first one featured women’s rights advocate Kay Livingstone who headed the Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CANEWA) and was the driving force behind the first National Black Women’s Congress in Toronto in 1973, Peter Butler III who was Canada’s first Black law enforcement officer, Delos Davis who was admitted to the Bar in 1866 and became the second Black man to practice law in Canada after Robert Sutherland and abolitionist and political activist Harriet Tubman who led many enslaved persons to freedom in Canada through the Underground Railroad.
Three years ago, the self-taught visual artist was appointed to the Order of Canada that’s one of this country’s highest civilian honours created in 1967 to coincide with the Canada’s Confederation centennial.
KinkyCurlyYaki founder Vivian Kaye received a Business & Professional Achievement Award; sisters Ashleigh, Aby and Alexandria Montague, who started an Instagram account to celebrate and showcase Hamilton’s Black-owned businesses, were the recipients of a Community Service Award; award-winning choreographer Esie Mensah was honoured with the Jackie Washington Arts & Culture Award that celebrates the legacy of the Canadian Jazz & Blues Hall-of-Famer who passed away in 2009; Ainara Alleyne, who launched a bookshelf on Instagram a few years ago, was recognized with a Rising Star Award and former YWCA of Hamilton Chief Executive Officer Denise Christopherson was presented the Vince Morgan Ally Award.
Leaving Jamaica at age 10 and residing in England before coming to Canada in 1964, Morgan worked in the steel industry, rising to Supervisor at Dofasco’s Electrical Repair department. He died in 2011 at age 69.
Since 1996, Hamiltonians and other Ontarians who have made significant contributions in the arts, business, community service and youth engagement have been recognized with awards bearing Holland’s name.
Born on Christmas Day 1882 to a runaway slave who came to Canada through the Underground Railroad in 1860, Holland was a railway porter for 33 years, the pastor at the historic Stewart Methodist Church founded by fugitive slaves and free men and women and the first Black Canadian to be honoured for humanitarian service with Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year Award in 1953. He died a year later.
