By Shaundra Selvaggi

In honour of the special Women’s Issue, hitting stands October 2, swaymag.ca takes a look at black women of influence – past and present.  Do you know your history?

• This Jamaica-born trailblazer moved to Canada in 1951 to attend McGill University
• A passionate supporter of women’s rights, she cited Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique as one of her biggest influences
• She was the first black woman elected to a Canadian Provincial Legislature
• The first black woman to run for the leadership of a Canadian Federal Political Party (NDP, 1975)
• On her work with MATCH International, “If you are surrounded by other countries where women have not achieved the same, then your achievements are at risk.”
• She served as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1993 to 1996
• Officer of the Order of Canada in 1996

Who was she? See full image below

She is none other than Rosemary Brown!