Remember Black hero in schools, teacher urges

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This article was published 05/03/2024 (557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s heritage ministry is poised to raise the public profile of Lee Williams, a late civil and labour rights activist, in response to a teacher’s request to have all local students learn about the Black icon’s influence on his home province and country.

Seven Oaks teacher Syd Korsunsky said he wants to see photos of Williams — his former neighbour who died in 2002 — included in every school’s annual display for Black History Month, starting in 2025.

“I’ve been walking through all these schools and I’m seeing all these recognized Black figures, representatives of Black history, and 90 per cent of them are American. There’s very few Canadians and certainly, very few Winnipeggers,” said Korsunsky, who visits city schools to support early-career educators as part of his teacher-mentor role.

“We’ve got a real great Black hero who lived in Winnipeg for almost his entire life, and I would love for kids to know the role he played.”

Korsunsky grew up a few doors down from Williams and his wife Alice, and befriended their three children, Sharon, Len and Valerie.

McAdam Avenue playdates resulted in him becoming privy to the human rights advocate’s fight for the fair treatment of Black employees at the Canadian National Railway, now known as Via Rail.

Williams was born in the southern U.S. in 1907, but the majority of his life as a railroader, community leader and church deacon took place on the Canadian Prairies.

When he was a child, his family made a home on a farm in North Battleford, Sask. The local train station was an entertainment and people-watching hotspot; it was where he first became intrigued by the Black men on board who appeared to have meaningful careers as sleeping-car porters.

Williams moved to Winnipeg in 1930 for a job at CNR — one of the major employers of Black men in Canada between the late 1800s and mid-20th century.

“We’ve got a real great Black hero who lived in Winnipeg for almost his entire life, and I would love for kids to know the role he played.”–Seven Oaks teacher Syd Korsunsky

Porter duties involved greeting travellers, stowing baggage and shoe shining and they were expected to attend to overnight passengers’ every need in exchange for poverty wages, substandard meals and few breaks, according to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

In a 1992 interview, Williams told the Free Press he initially attempted to do his job and clock out.

“I wanted to leave it at that,” he said. “But not only were we treated as third-class citizens by management, we got the same treatment from white workers.”

Williams became determined to improve working conditions for Black employees, who were not eligible to be union members or get promoted, and allow them to move up the ladder at CNR. He leveraged his relationship with John Diefenbaker, a regular train passenger who would become Canada’s 13th prime minister, to pave a path for change.

Heritage Minister Glen Simard said he was unaware of Williams’ legacy and upon learning about it via a recent letter from Korsunsky, he felt an urgency to take action.

“I can’t think of a better time to get this done at the end of Black History Month. It’s important to recognize everyday people who are the true leaders of the province,” said Simard.

As a first step, the minister indicated he is putting together a statement about the late Winnipegger’s accomplishments to read aloud in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The new session is scheduled to resume Wednesday.

“He stood up when everyone else was afraid to, and that takes courage. He was committed. He was absolutely committed. He didn’t take no nonsense and he did not back down,” said Valerie Williams, who works as an equity consultant because of the values her father instilled in her.

“He stood up when everyone else was afraid to, and that takes courage … He didn’t take no nonsense and he did not back down.”–Valerie Williams

The youngest of three said her father, who was 94 when he died, left his family with “a legacy of being proud of being Black.”

The same year he died, Williams received an honorary degree from Toronto’s York University in recognition of his successful lobbying efforts during Diefenbaker’s tenure and subsequently, when Lester B. Pearson took office.

Korsunsky, a career teacher, said he has always been puzzled by the fact his former neighbour’s home province and its public schools have not done more to share his story.

The human rights leader’s youngest daughter echoed those comments, adding her father’s accomplishments belong in Canadian history books and year-round social studies lessons.

Williams is credited for leading the charge in filing a complaint under the Canada Fair Employment Practices Act on behalf of Black porters and applying pressure on Ottawa to enforce the legislation.

The federal government’s decisive action, which resulted in the dismantling of segregated employment on Canada’s railways, had a ripple effect.

“The publicity campaign opened up a lot of eyes and not only was then it a fear of violating (the act) but (employers) realized that Blacks were capable of doing (higher-level) jobs … all across the country,” Williams said in The Road Taken, a 1996 documentary about porters’ labour struggles.

He became one of the first Black porters to be promoted to a conductor position and later, a supervisor on the trains.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca