Stanley George Sinclair Grizzle, (November 18, 1918 – November 12, 2016) CM, O.Ont was a Canadian citizenship judge, soldier, political candidate and civil rights and labour union activist. He died in November 2016 at the age of 97, six days before his 98th birthday.

Early life

Stanley Grizzle was born to Theodore Grizzle and Mary Sinclair Grizzle in

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 ...

in November 1918. Grizzle had grown up in the area of Bathurst and

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

and was one of seven children in his family. Prior to meeting, Grizzle's parents had both immigrated to Toronto from Jamaica in 1911 and had later met in the city. Mary Grizzle had arrived to Toronto as a domestic worker, while Theodore Grizzle worked as a chef, before later establishing a successful taxi company, prior to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Within his book ''My Name's Not George'' (1998), Stanley Grizzle had provided details about his childhood, reminiscing about the jazz music he was exposed to, his participation in his community as well as his church along with his involvement in sports and annual celebrations for

Emancipation Day Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent. On August 1, 1985, Trinidad and Tobago became the fir ...

. Stanley Grizzle had been exposed to racism within the Toronto community at a young age. When Grizzle was only 10 years old, his father had come home with a bandaged face after being attacked while sleeping in his taxi cab.

Porter experience

At 22 years old, Grizzle began working as a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

in June 1940. During this time, working as a railway porter was one the main jobs available to Canadian Black men in cities such as Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver. Grizzle had explained that he got a job as a porter as he could not find any other employment and simply that he "did not want to starve". Black porters such as Grizzle were expected to tend to the needs of travellers at all times. Their job included carrying and storing luggage, cleaning toilets, shining shoes, setting up and making beds, pressing clothing, serving food and more. The work of a porter demanded long hours, but gave little compensation. Job security was another worry, as porters could easily be let go. Additionally, Black porters in Canada often experienced racism within their roles. One of the most demeaning aspects of the job was that travellers often called and referred to Black porters as "George", named after

George Pullman George Mortimer Pullman (March 3, 1831 – October 19, 1897) was an American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman sleeping car and founded a company town, Pullman, for the workers who manufactured it. This ulti ...

, the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car. This act of referring to porters as "George" often stripped Black porters of their identity. In Grizzle's book ''My Name's Not George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in Canada'' (1998), he had mentioned that many Black porters were "intelligent young Black men who had achieved a measure of education that should have guaranteed them a job befitting their academic achievements and in line with their training. They were denied those opportunities by a racist society, and instead had to go into a line of work that forced them into that demeaning role of servant".

Union experience

While working as a porter, Grizzle became active in the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railwa ...

(BSCP), a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

whose leader was the charismatic African American A. Philip Randolph. Upon his return to Canada after serving in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 ...

, Grizzle became more active in the union. He was elected president of his union local, and pushed the

(CPR) to open the management ranks to blacks. He also plunged into other causes and was a leader in Canada's nascent

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

era of the 1950s, working with the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance.

Political career

In 1959, Grizzle and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

were the first

Black Canadian 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 t ...

candidates to run for election to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

for the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

(the predecessor to the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

). In 1960, Grizzle went to work for the Ontario Labour Relations Board. In 1977 he was appointed a

Citizenship Judge The Citizenship Commission is an administrative tribunal within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The overall mandate of the Commission is to assess referred applications to ensure they meet the residence or physical-presence ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

Awards and acknowledgment

In recognition of his work with the BSCP and his civil rights work, Grizzle received the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

in 1990 from

Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Lincoln Alexander Lincoln MacCauley Alexander (January 21, 1922 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer who became the first Black Canadian member of Parliament in the House of Commons, the first Black federal Cabinet Minister (as federal Minister of Labou ...

. As further recognition, he received the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1995 from

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Roméo LeBlanc Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc (December 18, 1927June 24, 2009) was a Canadian journalist, politician and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation. LeBlanc was born and educated in New Brunswick, and also ...

. Additionally, Grizzle recently received the Stanley Ferguson Lifetime Accomplishment award and received a grant of 25 shares of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

stock. On November 1, 2007, a park on Main Street in Toronto's east end was dedicated the "Stanley G. Grizzle Park" in a ceremony hosted by Toronto Mayor David Miller. Writer Suzette Mayr consulted Grizzle's book ''My Name's Not George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in Canada'' as part of her research for her

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

-winning 2022 novel '' The Sleeping Car Porter''.Eric Volmers
"Giller-shortlisted Calgary author Suzette Mayr's long journey to The Sleeping Car Porter"
''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', October 22, 2022.

Family

Stanley was married in 1942 and later divorced in 1964 from Kathleen Victoria Toliver born in Hamilton, Ontario (deceased). Kathleen was a founding member of the Canadian Negro Woman's Association as well as a Canadian activist whose family today is still recognized as part of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. They had 6 biological children, Patricia Nerene, Pamela, Stanley Jr, Latanya, Sonya and 14 grandchildren.

Publications

*''My Name's Not George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters: Personal Reminiscences of Stanley G. Grizzle'', by Stanley G. Grizzle with John Cooper.

References

External links

Stanley Grizzle Biography
(Fonds 1, Series 1234, File 41) at th
City of Toronto ArchivesStanley Grizzle: Civil Rights Pioneer
episode of '' The Agenda with Steve Paikin'' (2019)
''Journey to Justice''
NFB documentary about Grizzle and five other activists who advanced the cause of Black civil rights in Canada (2000)
Oral History Interviews with Stanley GrizzleStanley Grizzle Monologue by Myseum of Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grizzle, Stanley 1918 births 2016 deaths Black Canadian politicians Canadian citizenship judges Canadian Methodists Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian civil rights activists Canadian trade unionists Trade unionists from Ontario Canadian anti-racism activists Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Ontario New Democratic Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Canadian military personnel of World War II Black Canadian writers