Charles 'Spider' Jones to be recognized with Harry Jerome Lifetime Achievement Award
April 19, 2023
After a rough start in life, Charles ‘Spider’ Jones has accomplished a lot and is still going strong in his golden years.
Nine days after his 80th birthday on April 20, the former radio talk show host will receive a Harry Jerome Lifetime Achievement Award for his positive initiatives to empower young people in the Greater Toronto Area.
In 2004, the motivational speaker and Seneca College Radio & Television Broadcasting graduate started a youth advocacy organization, Believe to Achieve, that provides after-school development and mentorship programs for young people at Spider’s Web Youth Empowerment Centre on Chalkfarm Drive.
“It is humbling when people in your community honour you for things you love to do and mine is working with young people through my youth empowerment centre so they can get to the corporate world with strong minds and believe in themselves,” said Jones who is a Premier of Ontario Award winner. “I don’t want them to be like me when I was young.”
A gang member and convicted felon trapped in the criminal justice web without an education and employable skills for much of his youth, Jones turned his life around at an advanced age to fulfil his dream of becoming a broadcaster.
Encouraged by his wife, Jackie Robinson-Jones, who bluntly told him he would work for ‘chump change’ the rest of his life if he did not secure a decent job, the Grade Five dropout returned to the classroom at age 30 and became an honour student.
“When my wife told me I had to go back to school, I was frightened to death because I had been an academic failure from Grade Three onwards,” Jones, a Guardian Angels honourary member and vocalist, once recalled. “I just didn’t think I had it in me. I have a learning disability that doesn’t allow me to process information as quickly as the average person. I thought I was dumb and stupid. I looked at my life like that and lived that way. The only thing I learned in jail was how to read.”
The three-time Golden Glove boxing champion went on to become a talk show host, motivational speaker, author and Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.
Charles ‘Spider’ Jones (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
As the only Black radio personality in the 1990s with his own prime time show, ‘The Spider Web’, on the Fan 590, Jones hired George Stroumboulopoulos as his producer. The young man, who he also mentored, hosted ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ and is an Apple Music Radio program host.
In 2020, Jones was appointed to the Order of Ontario.
Had it not been for a kidney infection in his first year of Theology Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus in Jamaica, Rick Gosling might have been an ordained priest deeply ensconced in the ministry rather than a community leader and outspoken youth advocate.
Against the wishes of his grandfather who was an Anglican clergyman and his father, who ran a vibrant youth group in the city, he changed course by making service to community his priority.
Gosling is the recipient of the Harry Jerome President’s Award.
“Rick has been a stellar contributor to our community and an unsung hero,” said Black Business & Professional Association (BBPA) Chief Executive Officer Nadine Spencer. “We want to shine a light on individuals doing exemplary work that are going under the radar.”
Rick Gosling & Nadine Spencer (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Four decades ago, Gosling established the Toronto Children’s Breakfast Club that provides nutritious meals to young people from some of the city’s priority neighbourhoods. In the past few years, he has taken hundreds of youths from the city’s priority neighbourhoods to Parliament Hill during Black History Month.
The former City of Toronto Community Capacity Building Manager also co-founded Community Unity Alliance to assist community-based immigrant and ethnocultural groups and the Second Chance Scholarship Foundation that provides scholarships for young people who have been in conflict with the law or who are from challenged neighbourhoods and are pursuing post-secondary education.
“When I was asked to do a video shoot for this year’s Harry Jerome Awards ceremony, I told them I don’t believe that my photo should be the only one featured,” said Gosling who was the Don Mills Liberal representative in the 1995 provincial elections and a 2010 municipal elections candidate. “I said it should be a collage of individuals from the Black community who have supported me in the last 40 years. I am talking about people like Denham Jolly, Jean Augustine, Zanana Akande, Cecil Foster and the late Austin Clarke.”
Deborah Richardson, the first Indigenous woman to serve as Deputy Minister in the Ontario Public Service in 2015, is the Diversity Award winner.
Deborah Richardson (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“It is a real honour to receive this award,” the breast cancer survivor said. “My whole life, I have been an advocate for First Nations people. I think there is so much commonality between the Black and Indigenous communities. As I ascended to more senior levels in my career, I started to advocate for equity and justice. I have five children, two of whom are Black, and I want them to know that they can be strong Mi’kmaq Black women in society and have their rightful place.”
The former Native Centre of Toronto Executive Director has been an Ontario Treasury Board Secretariat Deputy Minister since July 2021.
With her daughter, Lauren Osbourne, in the audience when this year’s winners were announced on March 31, Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN) Executive Director Rosemarie Powell said she didn’t have to look far for inspiration.
“My only child is my rock and she keeps me going every day,” the immigrant from Jamaica said. “I want young girls like her to know they can achieve whatever they want.”
Rosemarie Powell (l) & daughter Lauren Osbourne (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The TCBN is a community/labour coalition of over 120 member organizations that initiated successful Community Benefits Agreements for the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRT transit projects, West Park Healthcare Centre and Woodbine Casino expansion.
Considered one of Canada’s top fundraisers, Jennifer Bernard started her new position as SickKids Foundation President & Chief Executive Officer on April 11 after nearly five years in a similar role at Women’s College Hospital Foundation where she was proactive in ensuring that under-served groups get equal access to health care services.
She will be honoured with the Health Sector Award.
Jennifer Bernard (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“Receiving a Harry Jerome honour is so meaningful to me,” Bernard, who co-founded Women’s Health Collective Canada in January 2021, said. “I am thrilled to be recognized alongside so many great leaders and trailblazers and to be joining the legacy of excellence those awards stand for within the Black community and beyond.”
Prior to joining Women’s College, she was McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation Vice-President of Development for eight-and-a-half years.
In that time, Bernard played a pivotal role in developing new partnerships while doubling the annual revenue and extending the foundation’s philanthropic reach.
Award-winning actor/producer and 1996 Miss Black Ontario Ngozi Paul, the daughter of late Pan-Africanist Peter Paul, is the second member in her family to be honoured with a Harry Jerome Award.
Ngozi Paul (Photo submitted)
Older sister and former Green Party of Canada leader Annamie Paul was recognized in 1993.
“I was at that event and I have been back a few times,” said Paul who created the solo show, ‘The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely’, that was nominated for six Dora Awards. “I am extremely grateful to be receiving an award, that is the highest in our community, from an organization that has been around for over 40 years.”
She is an original member of the 2005 theatrical production, ‘Da Kink in My Hair’, and part of the original team that created Canada’s first Black sitcom, ‘Lord Have Mercy’, that was nominated for two Gemini Awards, including Best Comedic series.
CTV News Toronto anchor Andria Case, who hosted a Harry Jerome Awards ceremony years ago, is the recipient of the Media Award.
Andria Case (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“I have seen the pageantry and joy of those who attend,” said the Black Diamond Ball 2023 Trailblazer Award winner. “What’s great about the event is the diversity of the categories. Whenever I attend an event like this, it occurs to me that there is someone I can do a story on or they can be someone for a future story. I always share the program with our assignment desk. If they are looking for someone in a specific field, they can broaden their pool of people they can all on for interviews.”
Colleen Ward (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Other winners are MMH Technology Group Chief Executive Officer Emma Todd, financial industry executive Colleen Ward, University of Montreal Chancellor and Order of Canada appointee Frantz Saintellemy, entrepreneur Agunbiade Seum Richards, National Basketball Association guard Lindell Wigginton and CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals Executive Director Agapi Gessesse.
Frantz Saintellemy (Photo submitted)
The 41st annual Harry Jerome Awards ceremony takes place on Saturday, April 29, at Beanfield Centre, 105 Princes’ Boulevard.
Agapi Gessesse (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“The people we honour this year have not only made a difference in their communities, but they have served as role models for young Black Canadians,” said Spencer who was a 2016 award winner. “Their success and achievements are testament to the power of hard work, commitment and dedication.”
The BBPA administer the Harry Jerome Awards that honour the memory of Jerome who set seven world records in track and field and helped create Canada’s sports ministry.
Chosen to deliver the keynote address at a celebration to mark the outstanding performances of Black Canadians at the 1982 Commonwealth Games (three individual gold and one silver and gold and silver medals in the women’s 4x400-metre and men’s 4x100-metre events respectively), he passed away two days after the decision was made for him speak.
A bronze statue of Harry Jerome was installed in Stanley Park, British Columbia in 1988 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Since its inception, 483 Harry Jerome Awards (excluding this year’s group of 13) have been presented to individuals and three organizations – Eva’s Initiatives in 2005, Grace Foods Canada in 2019 and Little Jamaica in 2020 – for excellence in myriad fields.
Medical practitioner Dr. Dominick Shelton (1989 & 2019) and the late Bromley Armstrong (1990 & 2011) and Stan Grizzle (1987 & 2010), who were part of the 29-member delegation led by Donald Moore that went to Ottawa in 1954 to protest the federal government’s restrictive immigration policy that shut out Blacks and other visible minorities, are the only two-time winners.
