Rosemary Brown, PC OC OBC (1930 - 2003)
Rosemary Brown (née Wedderburn) was born in Kingston Jamaica to a middle class family and a legacy of strong, educated, political women. She moved to Canada in 1950 to pursue her studies in Social Work at McGill University in Montréal. Rosemary was not prepared to encounter the racism and discrimination she faced in her first years. Canadian girls rejected her as a roommate in the dorms and few people - only a handful of caucasians and others from the West Indies - would talk to her at the dining hall. When she sought private residence in her second year, landlords discriminated against her; employers rejected her when she searched for jobs.
She moved to Vancouver to marry Bill Brown in 1955 and worked to support him while he finished medical school. In the next twelve years, Rosemary was able to accomplish many things: she started her career in social work; she had three children; she was an original founder of the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, and; in 1967 she received her Master of Social Work. Dedicating herself to social issues, Brown also appeared in a national television program called “People in Conflict,” produced in CTV’s Vancouver studios in the 1960’s.
Feeling conflict of her own in being a woman and a person of African Descent, Brown explained in a speech given at the BC legislature in 1973 that, “…for me, not to participate in the Women’s Liberation Movement would be to deny my womanhood, and to be Black and female in a society which is both racist and sexist is to be in the unique position of having nowhere to go but up!” This is also one of the first times that a Canadian brought up the concept of intersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.
She was a founding member of the Vancouver Status of Women Council and became its volunteer ombudswoman. When her council was urging women to run, she took up the challenge and ran for the BC Legislature, with the intention of raising awareness. She was elected to the Vancouver-Burrard riding in 1972 and became the first African Descent female to be elected. At the same time, Emery Barnes became the first African Descent male to be elected as an MLA in Vancouver-Centre. Brown would go on to serve as MLA for fourteen years. During this time, Rosemary achieved some great things: she fought to eliminate sexist language in textbooks; introduced bills to eliminate discrimination based on sex or marital status, and; she challenged Ed Broadbent in the NDP federal leadership race in 1975. She came a close second, but it was a first: she had become the first African Descent person to run for a federal leadership race and the second female to do so.
Once she retired from politics, Rosemary Brown went international. She became the Executive Director, then Special Ambassador of MATCH International Centre, a non-governmental organization focused on women’s rights in developing countries. She later was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She also became a professor of women’s studies at Simon Fraser University and was conferred fifteen honourary doctorate degrees by Canadian universities. Brown also received numerous awards and honours, some of which are the: Order of British Columbia, the Order of Canada, Government of Jamaica Commander of the Order of Distinction, and the United Nations Human Rights Fellowship.
Rosemary passed away in 2003. In 2005, the City of Vancouver named a park after her in her former riding of Vancouver-Burrard and Canada Post commemorated a postage stamp in her honour in 2009.
She moved to Vancouver to marry Bill Brown in 1955 and worked to support him while he finished medical school. In the next twelve years, Rosemary was able to accomplish many things: she started her career in social work; she had three children; she was an original founder of the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, and; in 1967 she received her Master of Social Work. Dedicating herself to social issues, Brown also appeared in a national television program called “People in Conflict,” produced in CTV’s Vancouver studios in the 1960’s.
Feeling conflict of her own in being a woman and a person of African Descent, Brown explained in a speech given at the BC legislature in 1973 that, “…for me, not to participate in the Women’s Liberation Movement would be to deny my womanhood, and to be Black and female in a society which is both racist and sexist is to be in the unique position of having nowhere to go but up!” This is also one of the first times that a Canadian brought up the concept of intersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.
She was a founding member of the Vancouver Status of Women Council and became its volunteer ombudswoman. When her council was urging women to run, she took up the challenge and ran for the BC Legislature, with the intention of raising awareness. She was elected to the Vancouver-Burrard riding in 1972 and became the first African Descent female to be elected. At the same time, Emery Barnes became the first African Descent male to be elected as an MLA in Vancouver-Centre. Brown would go on to serve as MLA for fourteen years. During this time, Rosemary achieved some great things: she fought to eliminate sexist language in textbooks; introduced bills to eliminate discrimination based on sex or marital status, and; she challenged Ed Broadbent in the NDP federal leadership race in 1975. She came a close second, but it was a first: she had become the first African Descent person to run for a federal leadership race and the second female to do so.
Once she retired from politics, Rosemary Brown went international. She became the Executive Director, then Special Ambassador of MATCH International Centre, a non-governmental organization focused on women’s rights in developing countries. She later was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She also became a professor of women’s studies at Simon Fraser University and was conferred fifteen honourary doctorate degrees by Canadian universities. Brown also received numerous awards and honours, some of which are the: Order of British Columbia, the Order of Canada, Government of Jamaica Commander of the Order of Distinction, and the United Nations Human Rights Fellowship.
Rosemary passed away in 2003. In 2005, the City of Vancouver named a park after her in her former riding of Vancouver-Burrard and Canada Post commemorated a postage stamp in her honour in 2009.
