Rustum Southwell is a passionate leader and tireless advocate for economic diversity and capacity building. Originally from the Island of St. Kitts in the British West Indies, Rustum Southwell has called Nova Scotia home for over 30 years. As one of the first Black franchise operators in Nova Scotia, Rustum understands and appreciates the entrepreneurial landscape in Nova Scotia.
Rustum is a recognized and respected leader in the business community with strong connections in the public and private sectors. As the Black Business Initiative’s ; (BBI) CEO, he is accountable to the Board of Directors and responsible for the management and leadership, strategic planning, and implementation of a loan program, development fund, consulting arm, business summit, and training department.
The Black Business Initiative (BBI) is a Province-wide business development initiative committed to fostering the growth of businesses owned by members of the Nova Scotia Black Community. The BBI places priority on educating Black business owners in the operation of their business – from marketing to budgeting to securing funding.
The BBI is committed to growing the Black presence in a diverse range of business sectors including high-tech, manufacturing, tourism, and the cultural sector.
If you would like to find out more information about the Black Business Initiative, please go to their website at http://www.bbi.ns.ca/index.html.
If you would like to contact Mr. Southwell directly:
We had the opportunity to speak and share with Mr. Southwell via the telephone. He talks about various subjects such as how he adjusted moving in 1972 from St. Kitts to Nova Scotia, how the BBI started, success stories of Black entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia to providing advice to those Black men are interested in starting their own business. Enjoy!!
Please feel free to email us at info@blackcanadianman.com.
Sandra Subner is a person who is not afraid to live her dreams. Ms. Subner was born in Great Britain. Her family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. After finding out that Winnipeg is a little cold, her family moved to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. After graduating from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. She then continued her studies in London, England. Believe it or not, Sandra has been living in Singapore for the last fourteen years. Ms. Subner is the Senior Manager – Medical Board at the Singapore General Hospital.
We had the opportunity to speak and share with Ms. Subner this past weekend. She talks about her life and provides us a unique look at Singapore, a country most Blacks only pay attention to where they hear about it on the news, from the Black person’s view. Thanks to Colin Jobe of “Colin’s Edge” on Blog Talk Radio for setting up this interview. Enjoy!!
Feel free to email us at info@blackcanadianman.com. If you live in North America, you can leave us a voice mail at 1-866-280-9385 (toll free).
Jamaican born Playwright, Producer and Actor David Heron has been called one of the most successful Caribbean artists of the last decade.
He first came to the attention of Jamaican theatre audiences as a playwright, with the runaway success of his first play “Ecstasy”, which ran for two years and toured three continents, emerging as one of the most popular Jamaican plays ever.
Since then he has penned five more stage plays, all of which have earned him great commercial and critical acclaim in his homeland and internationally- “Intermission” , “Against His Will” , “Love and Marriage and New York City”, “Redemption” and “4PLAY” .
Heron is the recipient of five International Theatre Institute Awards including Best Producer and Best Script for “Intermission”, and Best Production, Best Drama and Best Script for “Against His Will”.
His biggest international success to date has been his romantic comedy, “Love and Marriage and New York City”, which has toured regionally in the USA as well as throughout Great Britain in both 2002 and 2003, playing to packed houses and excellent reviews, and prompting British critic Terry Grimley to christen Heron “Jamaica’s own Neil Simon.”
The 2006 revival of the show at The Billie Holiday Theatre in New York was nominated for the prestigious AUDELCO Award, New York’s highest accolade for Off Broadway Black Theater.
That production then triumphed as an Official Selection of the 2007 National Black Theatre Festival held in Winston Salem North Carolina in August, 2007.
Heron is only the second Jamaican playwright, after Trevor Rhone, to have his work showcased at the festival, one of the largest in the world.
“Love and Marriage and New York City” went on to enjoy a highly successful limited run in Toronto, Canada in May of 2008, where Heron made the cover of PRIDE Magazine, of the nation’s foremost Black publications.
As an actor, Heron’s credits include “Ecstasy”, “Intermission”, “Love and Marriage and New York City”, (in Jamaica, Britain and Off Broadway) the US regional production of the Broadway hit “Cheaters and Redemption” (Jamaica and US regional tour).
Migrating to the USA, he immediately received high praise for his role as Friday in the World Premiere production of “Robinson Crusoe” at the prestigious Orlando Shakespeare Festival in 2006, and played Hotspur in “H”, a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 at the Bric Studios, New York.
In 2007, he made his Shakespearean debut as Laertes in Take Wing and Soar’s critically acclaimed production of “Hamlet” at The Workshop Theater Off Broadway, and received excellent notices for his role as Prince in The New Federal Theater’s revival of Errol John’s classic Caribbean drama, “Moon On A Rainbow Shawl”.
In 2008, he earned further critical acclaim for his performance as The Messenger in the Off Broadway revival of “Medea” at the National Black Theater in Harlem, as well as in Othello and “The Taming of The Shrew” at The Virginia Shakespeare Festival.
In 2009, he appeared in the Off Broadway premiere of John Patrick Shay’s acclaimed drama, “Trickster At The Gate”, as Harlem Jazz musician Roy “Lucky” Luckwood.
In August of 2006, Heron received one of the highest accolades of his career when the City Council of New York honored him with a Proclamation and Award at City Hall, in recognition of his “Outstanding theatrical career and his invaluable contribution to the betterment of society.”
He is a proud member of the Actors Equity Association and The Jamaica Association of Dramatic Artists.
If you would like to see David performing live, he will be starring in the first play that he wrote, “Ecstasy” (directed by Douglas Prout and produced by Kingston 6 Entertainment), which is playing in a number of locations in the Greater Toronto area between October 15 – October 24 (see details below).
“Ecstasy” locations and showtimes:
October 15, 2010 (North York, Ontario):
Jamaican Canadian Association (995 Arrow Road) at 8:00 p.m.
October 16, 2010 (Barrie, Ontario)::
Georgian College Theatre (1 Georgian Drive) at 8:00 p.m.
October 17, 2010 (Mississauga, Ontario):
Glenforest Secondary School (3575 Fieldgate Drive) at 6:00 p.m.
October 23, 2010 (Ajax, Ontario):
J. Clarke Richardson College (1355 Harwood Avenue North) at 8:00 p.m.
October 24, 2010 (Brampton, Ontario):
Central Peel Secondary School (32 Kennedy Road North) at 6:00 p.m.
Ticket Prices:
$30.00 (In Advance)
$40.00 (Day Of)
Ticket Locations:
Loc’ N Twist: 49 Hillcrest Avenue, Brampton, Ontario – (905) 463-1747 and 14 St. Andrews Street, Toronto, Ontario – (416) 850-0336
Douglas Prout is one of the most experienced and versatile theatre practitioners of his generation. He established himself as a competent actor in his Montego Bay, Jamaica in the 1980’s before moving onto the larger audiences of Kingston, Jamaica. He is highly respected for his hard-work and boundless energy as an actor and for his sensitivity and attention to detail as a director.
Recently, we had the opportunity to speak and share with Mr. Prout. Currently, he is the director for the David Heron play, “Ecstasy”, which is playing in a number of locations in the Greater Toronto area between October 15 – October 24 (see details below). Enjoy!!
Set in the boardrooms, bedrooms and dancehalls of modern day Jamaica, Ecstasy is the romantic comedy that successfully launched the playwriting career of Jamaican David Heron. It also made a bona fide star of Jamaican leading lady, Deon Silvera. The story follows the turbulent relationship between two very different Jamaicans – Richard Foster-the handsome, light skinned, upwardly mobile advertising executive raised in wealth and luxury, and Jewel Brown – the sexy, ebony coloured nightclub dancer fighting for love and respectability. Written by: David Heron ; – Directed by: Douglas Prout – Produced by: Kingston 6 Entertainment – Starring: Deon Silvera, David Heron, Nadia Khan, Al St. Louis and Flower Pryce. For more information on “Ecstasy”, please go to http://ecstasy-theplay.com/. Please note “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content”.
“Ecstasy” locations and showtimes:
October 15, 2010 (North York, Ontario):
Jamaican Canadian Association (995 Arrow Road) at 8:00 p.m.
October 16, 2010 (Barrie, Ontario):
Georgian College Theatre (1 Georgian Drive) at 8:00 p.m.
October 17, 2010 (Mississauga, Ontario):
Glenforest Secondary School (3575 Fieldgate Drive) at 6:00 p.m.
October 23, 2010 (Ajax, Ontario):
J. Clarke Richardson College (1355 Harwood Avenue North) at 8:00 p.m.
October 24, 2010 (Brampton, Ontario):
Central Peel Secondary School (32 Kennedy Road North) at 6:00 p.m.
Ticket Prices:
$30.00 (In Advance)
$40.00 (Day Of)
Ticket Locations:
Loc’ N Twist: 49 Hillcrest Avenue, Brampton, Ontario – (905) 463-1747 and 14 St. Andrews Street, Toronto, Ontario – (416) 850-0336
During attending the first Toronto Sickle Cell Conference in Toronto (October 1, 2010 – October 2, 2010), we had the opportunity to speak and share with the new president of the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario, Zacharie Liman-Tinguiri. The Sickle Cell Association of Ontario is the oldest organization in Canada serving patients with sickle cell. Zacharie has his Master’s Degree in Economics and is currently employed as a financial analyst in the financial services field.
Zacharie shares some of his story with us and talks about the impact of sickle cell on his life and the plan that he has for educating society about sickle cell and his vision for the Sickle Cell Associaton of Ontario. Enjoy!!
We spent some time today at the first Toronto Sickle Cell Conference (October 1, 2010 – October 2, 2010). We met a number of wonderful individuals during the day. One of them was Neneh-Iye Bundu. We had the opportunity to speak and share some time with Ms. Bundu. She shares about the challenges she faces dealing with sickle cell, how she overcomes the challenges, her life changing trip to Africa and why she spends time sharing her story and the topic of sickle cell with others. Enjoy!!
Flower Pryce shares with us a story about her son overcoming a major physical injury. The world renown Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto played a major part in Flower’s son’s recovery. This has caused Flower to start an organization called “Perfect 10” whose goal is to help the many children that are in the Hospital Sick Children. Flower shares the “Perfect 10” story with us. Enjoy!!
“Perfect 10” is holding a fundraiser on Sunday, October 10, 2010 at the Ritz Caribbean Food at 77 Lower Jarvis Street in Toronto. For more tickets or event information:
Roger Dundas of Kingston 6 Entertainment and Ryan Singh of Ryan Singh Enterprises are presenting the play “Sex, Relationships and Sometimes Love” starting on Friday, September 24, 2010 at The Annex Live Restaurant & Live Music Venue (http://www.theannexlive.com/). We had the opportunity to speak with three of the cast members: Mary Goldman, Kelly-Marie Murtha and Gregory Cruikshank about the play, why they are so excited about doing the play for a second time and what they think audiences will get from the play. Please note that the play is for mature audiences only. Enjoy!!
For Robert Chambers, music is the one of the keys to his life and success. From he was four years old, he knew that music would lead him to higher ground. During this interview, Robert shares his story with us from some of the challenges growing up in a church family with six brothers and sisters, to working full-time and going to college full-time, to coming to the realizing the music would be his mission. He also talks about the importance about knowing about the business side of music. Robert has released two albums with two more albums scheduled for release next year. He also developed a revolutionary music program called, “The Any Key Music System” (http://www.anykeymusic.com/).Its focus is to equip anyone, who follows this system, to be able to Master the Art of Playing the Piano by Ear . He also plans to release a music book next year.If that is not keeping him busy enough, he also teaches music and has just celebrated his first wedding anniversary. By the way, he and his wife are planning to release a singles book on dating in February 2011. Does he sleep? Enjoy!!
If you wish to contact Robert, here is his contact information:
Wherever Black Canadian men are going, it is Black Canadian men are going to take them there.
One Black Canadian man that is committed to taking Black Canadian men to a better place is Michael Coteau. Michael was first elected in November of 2003 and re-elected in 2007 as the School Board Trustee representing Don Valley East in Toronto. He is running for a third term as School Board trustee for Don Valley East.
Michael shares his growing up years, experiences and thoughts with us from growing up in a challenging neighborhood, getting interested in politics as a junior high, being a Black man in Korea as a young man, working in the not for profit world, winning his first election at 30 years old and why education and Black men voting is so important.
If you would like to find out more about Michael, please visit http://www.michaelcoteau.com/index.html or you can contact his campaign office at (416) 750-0054.
Please feel free to email us at info@blackcanadianman. If you live in North America, you can leave us a voice mail at 1-866-280-9385 (toll free).
