“Canadian Pacific Railway porters in union hall, Calgary, Alberta”, [ca. 1941-1942], [PA-3439-6], Courtesy of Glenbow Archives, Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary.
Members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, with their families.
Back row, L-R: P.T. Clay, Wilbur Milton, Jeff Bowen, Willis Richardson, “Doomy” Hicks, Embert “Amos” States, Melvin Crump. Middle row, L-R: Peaches Coleman, Willa “Gotchie” Sneed, Louella Bellamy, Ethel Kay, Alex Kay, Rachel Walton, Charlie Walton. Front row, L-R: Ray Williams (holding Judy Williams), Odelle Holmes, Mr. Blanchette, Helen Braithwaite, Cordie Williams.
Note: Most of these interviews were conducted by Donna Coombs-Montrose for ALHI
Tarik Accord
Somalia-born Tarik Accord worked in several cleaning firms. Injured on the job at one of them, she helped form a union at Bee Clean and served as a union steward, emphasizing education of members regarding their legal rights with regards to occupational health and safety.
Stella Ajuzieogu
Stella Ajuzieogu, a Nigerian-trained registered nurse/midwife, earned her Nursing degree in Australia, and has served as an RN at the University of Alberta Hospital, and an AHS Community Care Case Manager.
Ruth Alexander
Ruth Alexander was a long-time ICU and community nurse in Edmonton and UNA activist who faced workplace discrimination as a Black nurse.
Brian Alleyne
Arrived in Canada in 1969 with medical training from London, England and had to redo his postsecondary studies; Alberta’s first epidemiologist; conducted Health & Safety research in Alberta’s meatpacking plants. President of Cariwest for a number of years.
Aisha Amin
Journeyperson welder; she contributed her welding skills to the festival community for many years by producing large frames for the annual Cariwest street parade.
Jason Beckles
Jason Beckles trained as a pipefitter in Trinidad and worked a variety of oil company pipefitting jobs internationally before coming to Canada to perform similar work in 2008, initially as a temporary foreign worker.
Pauline Cardinal
Pauline Cardinal fought wage exploitation through CUPE union advocacy and training.
Desmond Francis
Desmond Francis is a veteran pipefitter/foreman, building trades union official, and community advocate.
Cecil George
Cecil George was a master dragline electrician in Alberta who started CARIWEST and the steelband movement in Edmonton.
Tanya George
Tanya George has made community health nursing, with emphasis on the relationship between family health and the health of entire communities, the focus of her nursing career.
Gwen Hooks
Black settler community in Breton, Alberta; became a teacher, and then principal of a special education school; president of a local Alberta Teachers’ Association chapter; opened a museum in Breton.
Simon S. Hosein
Simon Hosein is a Caribbean-trained welder who owns his own mobile welding unit and services rural and remote locations.
Selwyn Jacob
Born in Trinidad, he came to Edmonton in 1969 to study drama and film production at the U of A; president of Cariwest; award-winning producer and director at the National Film Board of Canada, creating over 50 films and documentaries.
Deb Jamerson
From Winnipeg with roots in the Black settler communities of Amber Valley and Maidstone. Union activist helping to lead the struggle against discrimination in wages towards Black health care aides; opposed privatization of homecare in Manitoba.
Peter Jany
Peter Jany is a South Sudanese origin refugee in Canada who played a key role in the UFCW union organization campaign at Lakeside Packers in Brooks in 2004-2005.
Mohamed Kanu
Refugee from Sierra Leone who studied in Cuba before taking up residence in Red Deer. UFCW-appointed Safety Representative at a meat processing plant who upholds union advocacy and training.
Peter Kokaram
Trinidad-trained Peter Kokaram was a project manager at Syncrude in Fort McMurray, managing several million dollars’ worth of projects.
Bertram T. Leslie
Bertram Leslie is a Caribbean-trained heavy duty mechanic who commuted weekly from Edmonton to Fort McMurray.
Yvette Lynch
Born in Barbados, arrived in Calgary via Montreal. Worked as a laundry worker at the Calgary General Hospital and participated in the 1995 Laundry Workers Strike.
Cyriline Lynch-Parker
Worked as a laundry worker at the Calgary General Hospital; union activist who participated in the 1995 Laundry Workers Strike.
Wesley Mapp
Born in the Black settler community of Amber Valley. One of Alberta’s first insulators, active as a union steward and focused on health and safety.
Marion McKenzie
Marion McKenzie is an active UNA Ward Rep and RN in nephrology at the University of Alberta who describes both her activism and racial discrimination on the job.
Stennie Noel
Stennie Noel, welder/fitter and union activist in Operating Engineers Local 955 and Boilermakers Local 146, has experienced racism as he worked as a tradesperson for a variety of Alberta employers.
Sam Nuako
Sam Nuako is a Ghanian-born labour relations officer for UFCW who focuses strongly on diversity issues and on encouraging members to always speak up about their concerns.
Daisy Plenderleith
Daisy Plenderleith, a nurse of Dominican origin, experienced racism both at Bonnyville Hospital and in several units of the Royal Alexandra through a long nursing career in Alberta.
Hazel Proctor
Of African-American heritage and strong community roots in AAACP and other organizations. Highlights her father’s Sleeping Car Porter’s job as the best available for black men with women confined to cleaning and household employment in the 1950s and 1960s.
Chips (Charles) Reid
Chips (Charles) Reid is a veteran drilling engineer who developed many industrial innovations.
Cecile Sangster-Locker
Cecile Sangster-Locker is an RN and midwife who played important roles in all the nursing strikes in Alberta to date.
Monica Santiago
Monica Santiago, who joined her husband Frank in Fort McMurray in 1967, describes the harsh conditions of family life in the early days of the establishment of the oilsands industry.
Beryl L. Scott
Beryl Scott, RN, has been a lifelong advocate for equal treatment for marginalized groups within the healthcare system and society in general.
Risi Shokoya
At the time of this interview, Risi Shokoya was a recent graduate from Athabasca University’s Bachelor of Nursing program at Mount Royal College who was working in general medicine and palliative care nominally part-time but almost full-time hours at Rocky View General Hospital in Calgary.
Beryl Stelmach
Jamaican-born English trained nurse who specialized in different areas of her field. In Canada, employment was mainly federal – in hospitals and penitentiaries.
Constance Thomas
Constance Thomas is a veteran nurse, midwife, and UNA activist who has experienced many instances of racism in both her work and community lives, including denials of promotions at work.
Mojo Williams
Calgary-born gemologist and musician, was long-time grievance officer for the Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, beginning in the late 1960s. He dealt with cases that
included discrimination in housing, workplaces, schools, and nightclubs.
Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson is a pressure welder and journeyman welder who has served as a job steward and business agent for the Pipefitters Union.
Milton Elsworth Zaiffdeen
Milton Zaiffdeen is a veteran oil and gas senior operator with extensive experience in operations around the world.