Tuesday February 2, 2016

​Reception: 6:00PM
Storytelling: 7:00PM

Bram and Bluma Appel Salon,
Toronto Reference Library
​789 Yonge Street, Toronto

Evening Host:

Marci Ien
Co-Host, CANADA AM

Marci Ien is Co-Host of CANADA AM, CTV News’ national morning program. Already a familiar face in the mornings, Ien was CANADA AM’s news anchor from 2003–2011.
 
A graduate of Ryerson University, Ien was appointed distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University’s Radio & Television Arts (RTA) program. Selected among 22 notable alumni in January 2015, Ien guest lectures and participates in workshops and presentations with students and faculty, offering insight on the latest developments in television.

 In 2014, Ryerson University Radio and Television Arts (RTA) bestowed upon Ien the distinction of having an award co-named in her honour by the RTA School of Media. The Marci Ien and Dwight Drummond Award celebrates students from under-represented and marginalized communities who show great potential in any of three of RTA's programs. In 2013, Ien was inducted into the RTA Wall of Fame for her significant contributions to the field of media.
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Her career in television spans over three decades and has taken Ien from Halifax, where she joined CTV National News as a reporter in 1997, to Vancouver, where she was the News Anchor for CTV’s OLYMPIC MORNING at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
 
Ien’s charity work has seen her travel the globe. In 2008, she travelled to Sierra Leone on behalf of Journalists for Human Rights, where she met with reporters and led training workshops. She also works with World Vision, for whom she traveled to Sri Lanka to report on the situation following the 2004 Tsunami. 
 
Before joining CANADA AM, Ien was a reporter based in CTV News’s Atlantic bureau from 2001-2003. Prior to this, she reported for CHCH-TV in Hamilton. In 1995, Ien began reporting at Queen’s Park, covering daily political news for CHCH-TV's regional newscast, as well as its British Columbia-based evening show CANADA TONIGHT. Ien’s first television job was on the Canadian children’s television series CIRCLE SQUARE at the age of 10.
 
Ien currently resides in Toronto with her family.
 
Follow Marci on Twitter: @MarciIe

Speakers:

We are delighted to announce the speakers for the evening, a tour de force of Black Canadians who
​will each share a story:

Jully black
CANADA’S QUEEN OF R&B/SOUL

From opening for Kanye West in Singapore to being hand-picked to perform for the Queen; from performing on the same bill as Céline Dion at the 2012 Jamaica Jazz Fest to being the main act for Canada Day celebrations in London, England, Jully Black has perfected her explosive live performance that showcases her unique and powerful voice as well as her ability to engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds. 

Jully consistently and effortlessly exceeds expectations, leaving fans inspired, entertained and awe-struck by her commanding yet endearing presence and the ability to create a personal connection with those who witness her in her element. She has brought tens of thousands of people to their feet in venues around the world and has received extraordinary reviews from critics and fans alike. A Jully Black performance is, without question, an experience like no other. 

A force to be reckoned with, this Canadian-born triple threat loves to share her talents and has an unparalleled enthusiasm for music. Her charming attitude and charismatic personality have helped her reach incredible milestones in her career: winning multiple Juno awards, penning songs for the likes of Nas and Destiny’s Child, as well as performing alongside artist such as Elton John, Etta James, Jay-Z, Sean Paul, and Alicia Keys. There is no question as to how she has achieved the status of “Canada’s Queen of R&B,” a title given to her by her fans and peers. 

Her highly anticipated fourth album, “Made In Canada,” has been described as “The New Motown Sound.” Traditionally, Jully is from the school of R&B, with influences like Etta James and Tina Turner. She has combined these sounds with the rhythmic and eclectic musical stylings of the album’s producer, YoungPete Alexander, from Atlanta, GA. The songs on this album span the music genre spectrum, incorporating elements of Soul, R&B, and Pop. Collectively known as “The Officials”, the two have been able to create a musical masterpiece to which the world can relate.

Cameron Bailey
Artistic Director, Toronto International Film Festival®

Cameron Bailey is the Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival®. He is responsible for the overall vision and execution of Festival programming, as well as maintaining relationships with the Canadian and international film industries. Toronto Life has named him one of Toronto's 50 Most Influential People three years in a row.
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Born in London, Bailey grew up in England and Barbados before migrating to Canada. Before taking up his current position at TIFF, he was a Festival programmer for eleven years, and a writer and broadcaster on film. He reviewed for Toronto's NOW Magazine, CBC Radio One and CTV’s Canada AM. He presented international cinema nightly on Showcase Television's national programme, The Showcase Revue, and has been published in The Globe and Mail, The Village Voice, CineAction!, and Screen. Cameron has curated film series for Cinematheque Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, and Australia's Sydney International Film Festival.

Bailey currently sits on the Advisory Council for Western University's School for Arts and Humanities and for Haiti's Cine Institute film school. He is also a board member of Tourism Toronto, and a member of the Toronto 2016 NBA All-Star Steering Committee.

Kandyse Mcclure
Actress

Multitalented, philanthropist, South African born actress, Kandyse McClure immigrated to Canada at a young age. It was during her debut theatre performance a few years later of Athol Fugard’s “Valley Song” that she was discovered by renowned Canadian actor director William B. Davis. Kandyse stars as Viola Desmond in Historica Canada’s newest Heritage Minute.

McClure went on to star in many notable films and television series including: Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, “Sue Snell” in the remake of Stephen King’s Carrie, “Elizabeth Munroe” on Showtime’s “Jeremiah,” NBC’s psychological drama series “Persons Unknown,” Fox Family’s teen drama “Higher Ground” alongside Hayden Christenson. From 2003 to 2009 McClure played ‘Anastasia Dualla’ on the SciFi Channel’s Emmy Award-winning “Battlestar Galactica” and in 2012 returned to the small screen alongside Bill Skarsgard, Famke Janssen (X-MEN), Lili Taylor (“Six Feet Under”) and Dougray Scott (EVER AFTER) in Netflix’s highly anticipated new original goth horror television series “Hemlock Grove” from executive producer Eli Roth. Kandyse will star alongside Nick Jonas, Paul Sorvino and Isabel Lucas in Troika pictures production “Careful What You Wish For” set for release this fall.
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Kandyse remains connected and inspired by the culture in which she was raised and in the one she know finds herself immersed in as she travels and works between North America, South Africa and the Caribbean.

Trey Anthony
Writer / Director / Executive Producer

​Award winning playwright, executive producer, actor, creator, and professional motivational speaker trey anthony, is known for the ground- breaking television and theatrical production ‘da Kink in my Hair. Critics have referred to anthony as The Oprah of the Canadian theatre scene! Trey was also the executive producer, co‐creator and writer of the hit television show ‘da Kink in my Hair for Global Television. In the series she was the outspoken, wise‐cracking, Joy, an audience favorite.

‘da Kink in my Hair, theatrical play, was Dora nominated and has received critical acclaim, and broken box office records wherever it has played. The play is also the recipient of four NAACP Theatre awards and was the first Canadian play to be produced at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Canada’s largest commercial theatre. It was named as one of the top ten plays in Canada’s theatrical history! ‘da Kink has been seen in California, in London, England and made its New York debut at Tisch School for the Arts at New York University in October 2010.

‘da Kink in my Hair (girls in red lipstick) TOUR 2015 marks anthony’s debut as director. The tour was a sold-out success in the Northwest Territories, where it debuted in November 2015.
Trey is a professional motivational speaker and has participated in a prestigious TEDX talk and is currently a playwright in residence for 2015/16 at Horizon Theatre Company.
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www.treyanthonyspeaks.com 

d’bi young anitafrika 
 Canadian Poet of Honor | Artistic Director of The Watah Theatre​ ​

Canadian Poet of Honor and YWCA Woman of Distinction in the Arts d’bi.young anitafrika, is an internationally celebrated African-Jamaican dubpoet, playwright-monodramatist, arts-educator, theatre director and scholartist, whose trans-disciplinary work (dubpoetry, theatre, music, dance, writing & storytelling) explores themes of identity, gender, sexuality, divinity, the erotic, race, class and the human experience. She is the creator of the human development/oppression awareness framework – The Sorplusi Method – which has been employed by The Stephen Lewis Foundation, The Banff Centre, U of T, MaRS, and other institutions globally. For the last 20 years anitafrika has mentored countless artists in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, India and South America through her numerous world-wide arts-education projects.
 
anitafrika has performed and lectured extensively internationally, including a recent address at the United Nations, and has published four plays and two dubpoetry albums.  Founder and artistic director of The Watah Theatre and The Sorplusi Institute where she fosters the professional development of emerging to established artists through the Sorplusi Method, she is currently an apprentice dancer at Coba and a member of Obsidian’s Playwrights’ Unit.
 
A Recipient of two Doras, a KM Hunter Theatre award, a Mayor’s Arts award, a Vital People award and a Toronto Leadership Lab Fellow, anitafrika recently launched her new band – DBI & THE 333 –with Sudanese master musician Waleed Abdulhamid, and has published her 3rd collection of poetry entitled OYA. She is now completing The Orisha Trilogy featuring her latest triptych of monodramas, world premiering spring 2016 at The Storefront Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille. anitafrika resides by Lake Ontario in Toronto Canada with her children Moon and Phoenix.
 
dbi333.org | watah.org

Cauchy Muamba 
EDMONTON ESKIMOS, CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE ​

Congolese-born professional football player Cauchy Muamba and his family first immigrated to Québec in the late nineties, before making a permanent move to Toronto. Throughout his studies and professional career, he has had the opportunity to travel and live across Canada and in the United States.
 
Once he entered the Canadian Football Lease (CFL), Cauchy became increasingly aware of the importance of inculcating values such as hard work and discipline at a young age. Growing up, he was taught to strive for excellence and to always consider the impact of his actions on others, mainly because of his younger siblings who looked up to him.
 
Cauchy’s success is mostly due to his upbringing and to one of the most important values his parents instilled in him: discipline. In an effort to promote accessibility to positive role models, Cauchy started to volunteer within the community, partaking in mentorship programs whose aim were to encourage young people with disadvantaged backgrounds. Cauchy’s life experiences are relatable; anyone can easily identify themselves to him. His simplicity makes him approachable and easy to connect with.

Tiffany Ford
TDSB Trustee, Ward 4

Born and raised in the Jane-Finch community, Tiffany has an authentic perspective of what it means to be labeled an “at-risk” youth while striving beyond the stereotypes and stigma that marginalized people are faced with in Toronto’s York West community.

Attending all levels of education within the York West community, she went to York University, where she received a double honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and Sociology.
 
Tiffany is the founder of the Ford Global Group, a parent company of marketing communications firm Ford Publicity, and telecom company Pepeye Mobile. She was listed on the 2012 Top 100 Global Publicists and PR Firms for Social Media, won the Service Award at the 2013 African Entertainment Awards, and more recently received the 2015 Urban Hero Award by the North York Mirror Newspaper.
 
​On October 27, 2014, Tiffany Ford was elected as Toronto District School Board Trustee, Ward 4. Her platform for Better Schools, Better Education, Better Community resonated with the residents of York West, and in an eight-person election, she won by a landslide.
 
In May 2015, Tiffany founded registered non-profit Beyond 'at-Risk' Organization, which represents a growing movement of leaders dedicated to research and actions focused on empowering youth; dis-establishing stereotypes and harmful narratives that surround marginalized neighbourhoods. (beyondatrisk.org)
 
Website: TiffanyFord.ca