Kathleen "Kay" Livingstone (October 13, 1919 – 1975) was a social activist, actor and broadcaster. In 1973, her efforts led to the first National

Congress of Black Women of Canada The Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC) / , which began in 1973, is a national non-profit organization that "is dedicated to improving the lives of all Black women and their families in their local and national communities." It arose to organi ...

. The daughter of James and Christina Jenkins, she was born Kathleen Jenkins in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. Her father was an assistant judge in the local juvenile court and her parents founded a newspaper ''Dawn of Tomorrow'' aimed at the black community. She studied music at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario and elocution at the Ottawa College of Music. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she worked for the

Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Dominion Bureau of Statistics was a Canadian government organization responsible for conducting censuses. It was formed in 1918 by the Statistics Act, but was replaced by Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique C ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. In 1942, she married George Livingstone; the couple had five children. While in Ottawa, she became the host of her own radio program, ''The Kathleen Livingstone Show''. When the couple moved to Toronto, she hosted radio shows for several stations, including a CBC affiliate. In 1951, she founded a Toronto social club then known as The Dilettantes; it was soon renamed to the Canadian Negro Women’s Club, later the Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CANEWA), and Livingstone became its first president, serving from 1951 to 1953. The association began providing scholarships to encourage Black students to stay in school. CANEWA later organized the Calypso Carnival, which later became known as

Caribana The Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a pan-Caribbean Carnival event and has been billed as North America ...

. She also performed in amateur and professional theatrical productions and was referred to as "one of Canada’s leading Black actresses" during this period. Livingstone served as president of the

United Nations Association in Canada The United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is an historic, national charitable organization providing the leading policy voice on multilateralism in Canada. Established in 1946, UNA-Canada was a founding member of the World Federation of ...

, as regional chair of the National Black Coalition, as a moderator for Heritage Ontario and as a member of the Appeal Board of

Legal Aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

. Just before her sudden death in 1975, she was working as a consultant for the Canadian

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

, helping to organize a national conference for visible minority women. Livingstone is credited with first using the term "

visible minority A visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connect ...

Legacy

Following Livingstone's death,

Carrie Best Carrie Mae Best, ( Prevoe; March 4, 1903 – July 24, 2001) was a Canadian journalist and social activist. Biography Carrie was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of James and Georgina Aubergine Prevoe. In 1925, she ...

formed the Kay Livingstone Visible Minority Women's Society. The Kay Livingstone Award is given to Black women in Canada to encourage them to "improve the lives of other women of colour and their families". In 2011, Livingstone was recognized by the federal government as a

Person of National Historic Significance Persons of National Historic Significance (National Historic People) are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the re ...

. A plaque reflecting that status was erected in 2017 near her Toronto home. In November, 2017, the postal service announced Livingstone would appear on a postage stamp in 2018, as part of its ongoing series marking

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

in February.Lincoln Alexander, Emergency Responders, and Women in Winter Sports among new stamps to be issued in 2018
Canada Post news release, November 13, 2017 The stamp was issued on February 1, 2018, in London, Ontario, her birthplace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, Kay 1919 births 1975 deaths Canadian activists Actresses from Ontario Canadian radio personalities Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Black Canadian women Canadian women activists African-Canadian feminism