It's Harry Jerome time again

Awards for influential Canadians recognize creativity and achievement

BY: Austin Maxwell

The Black Business and Professional Association's (BBPA) annual Harry Jerome Awards (HJA) honour and remind us of the legacy of a true African Canadian hero: Harry Jerome.

As the premier Canadian track athlete of his time, Jerome garnered several significant medals for himself and his country. These successes were paired with scholastic excellence and social consciousness. Jerome used his influence in the sports world to acquire equipment for young athletes who couldn't afford it. He vocally opposed the misrepresentation of African Canadians on Canadian television, asking that licences be suspended if "stations could justify neither having blacks as on-air personalities, nor airing stories about the [African Canadian] community." Long before the phrase gained recent popularity, Harry Jerome's life told all African Canadians: "Yes, we can."

This year's celebration promises to continue in the tradition of excellence advanced through previous award ceremonies, while a stellar group of recipients headlines the 2009 edition of the Harry Jerome Awards.

"Some of the achievements of this year's nominees include being named to the Order of Ontario; winning a young entrepreneur award for achievements in technology from the African Canadian Achievement Awards and Black Enterprise Network; as well as one winner who has written a Dora-nominated play that has broken box-office records and received four NAACP Theatre awards," says Sandra Gabriel, BBPA communications director.

"It's so important, now more than ever, to show our young people that there is nothing they cannot do. We must encourage them to reach for the sky and beyond — to be the very best they can be, and realize their full, true potential. We need, also, to encourage and develop mentors in our community who will make the effort to begin nurturing and cultivating youth, so as to prepare them for their future."

The 27th annual BBPA Harry Jerome Awards Gala will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Road. For more information on the Harry Jerome Awards visit bbpa.org.