Marlene Green (November 9, 1940 – October 31, 2002) was a Canadian community activist, educator, and NGO field worker. She is best known as the founder of the Black Education Project, a volunteer-run organization created to address racial inequalities in Toronto's education system.

Early life

Born in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

, Green immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the late 1960s, a time period that saw 64 000 people from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

immigrate to Canada, following the liberalization of the Canadian Immigration Act.

Activism

Toronto

In 1968, Green worked with black youth on social justice projects concerned with the liberation of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. A year later, in 1969, Green started the Black Education Project, which advocated for black students and protested against disparities in the education system and discrimination in public life, the workplace, and policing. The program was Green's response to high dropout rates and the disproportionate number of black children identified as requiring special education and behavioural need classes. The Black Education Project encouraging “revolution by transformation but from the ground up.” Applying this approach, the organization promoted black history and offered support and educational resources to parents of black youth. It also provided educational programs, including after school programs, summer camps, and evening and weekend tutoring sessions. Green's social justice work in the late 60s and early 70s involved socio-political movements. In 1969, Green raised funds for students involved in the

Sir George Williams affair The Sir George Williams affair (also referred to as "The Sir George Williams Computer Centre Incident") was a 1969 event at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, now a part of Concordia University (Montreal), Concordia Univers ...

, an event part of the Black Power Movement in Montreal. In 1970, Green supported projects that contributed to the Black Power Revolution in Trinidad. In the early 1970s, in addition to serving as a member of African liberation support committees, Green became the community relations officer for the

Toronto Board of Education The Toronto Board of Education (TBE; commonly known as School District 15), officially known as the Board of Education for the City of Toronto, is the former secular school district serving the pre-merged city of Toronto. The board offices were l ...

. In this position, she facilitated training programs and workshops focused on racism. In 1979, Green co-produced a report, the first of its kind, which identified problems, such as racially disproportionate educational outcomes that disadvantaged black students. In the 70s, Green also formed the Brotherhood Community Center Project, a space that was used by other social justice organization groups advocating for the needs of

black Canadians Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though ...

International

Over the next two decades, Green worked internationally, participating in activities that opposed

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and concentrated on community development. She took on a leadership role at

CUSO Cuso International (formerly CUSO, Canadian University Service Overseas) is a Canadian international development organization that connects communities around the world with skilled Canadians to help end poverty and inequality. Established in 1961 ...

, serving as regional coordination of the international development organization. In this role, Green supported projects in east, southern, and central Africa as well as the Caribbean. She remained CUSO coordinator in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

until 1983. Green was evacuated from the island nation of Grenada, after it was invaded by the United States following the execution of Prime Minister

Maurice Bishop Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Marlene 1940 births 2002 deaths Canadian people of Caribbean descent Canadian community activists Canadian women activists Activists from Toronto Dominica emigrants to Canada Black Canadian activists Black Canadian women