Hamilton's Afro Canadian Caribbean Association marks 45 years, honours founding members

A group of immigrants who arrived in Hamilton in the late '50s and early '60s have laid a strong foundation for Black people to retain their culture while contributing to the wider Canadian society.

On Saturday, the Afro Canadian Caribbean Association (ACCA) — which was formed by those immigrants — marked its 45th anniversary with a ceremony at the Hamilton Convention Centre, honouring four of its founding members. 

They are:

• Lloyd Turner.
• Nina Turner.
• Melvin Blackwood.
• Maurice Collins.

Lloyd Turner, a Jamaican national who came to Canada via the Bahamas in 1966, said he and a small group of Black immigrants launched the association on Jan. 10, 1979. The inauguration was held in September that same year, and by then they had 280 members, Turner told CBC Hamilton.

"It feels good to know that you've participated in putting something together and watched it grow over the years," Turner said.

"You'll have your setbacks and you have your milestones and what have you, and to see it … doing fine and helping a lot of young people, which is what it was designed to do, so that they can accomplish what they need to accomplish, I feel really good about that.

"I'm satisfied that the good people [who are] running things now are doing a very good job," Turner added.

Evelyn Myrie, ACCA's president, has been at the helm of the association for eight years. 

She said that as part of the anniversary celebrations, the ACCA presented the Vince Hall Memorial Scholarship to Hamilton youth, David Okhimame. 

The $1,500 scholarship is named after one of the association's founding members, and recognizes a blend of community service and academic excellence.

Also honoured Saturday night was the Stewart Memorial Church — a Black church founded back 1835. 

"When the Caribbean immigrants arrived in Hamilton, they were the people who received them and also provided space for the birth of ACCA," Myrie said.

"So, ACCA's early meetings were held in their church hall and the church played a very instrumental role in the establishment of the organization."

Myrie said the early immigrants who founded the ACCA are to be credited for its longevity and success.

"Those early immigrants who came were doctors and lawyers, they were working in welding, they were working at [ArcelorMittal] Dofasco and all these places. They were hard working men and women," she said.

Faced with rejection when they tried to rent, Myrie said they came together and acquired two properties —  a banquet hall and an administrative office building. 

"That infrastructure helped us maintain our presence. While many organizations have come and gone over the years, the fact that we have infrastructure helped us to have a place from which we can plan, strategize and take action. 

"We want to build on the fact that we have a place where we can offer programs. We need to do more outreach to the young people … to bring them in so they could build on the leadership and really develop strong succession planning for the organization," Myrie added.

ACCA 'super important,' youth member says

At 26, Chanelle Thomas has been involved with the ACCA for as long as she can remember. 

She said her grandparents and parents are members.

"As a child, I was always brought to events and participated in various [activities]," she said. "ACCA has always been in the background of my life as I developed as a young person."

Thomas says the ACCA continues to play an important role in the community.

"I think that associations like this are super important. I think that in Canada we associate ourselves with this idea of a cultural mosaic — there's so many different ethnic and cultural groups. But I think that it's important that there are groups in which people can have their community, can see other people that look like them, speak like them, are from the same places as them," she said.

"It's not just enough to say that we're diverse, but there has to be some sort of tangible items like in groups within our communities and ACCA is one of them."

Thomas said the association helped in shaping her focus on "community service and dedication to the broader Afro-Caribbean community that I'm a part of."

Thomas is hoping to see "a resurgence of the younger members" in the association, adding that this is necessary to keep the ACCA around for another 45 years.

"It's going to require people that are my age or younger to sort of keep it going," she said.

"A significant portion [of the current membership] is older and aging, and so I think that to move forward, I hope that, you know, young people like myself become even more involved and are able to sort of keep the torch going for the next generation."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.