{"id":3397,"date":"2021-09-24T15:12:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T20:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dayo.ca\/stories\/?p=3397"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:41:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:41:17","slug":"generation-x-marks-the-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dayo.ca\/stories\/generation-x-marks-the-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Generation X marks the spot on shifting Black Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What four Gen X\u2019ers did to activate and<\/strong> co-create a new kind of Caribbean-Canadian culture in Toronto<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Full Audio Documentary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Writer and Director: Dayo Kefentse<\/sup><\/em>
Research Assistant: Jonsaba Jabbi<\/sup><\/em>
Audio Producer: Adam Power<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

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When English rockers The Who\u2019 released their hit \u201cMy Generation\u201d, they knew who they were talking about. It was the fall of 1965, and Baby Boomers like them were coming of age — taking over the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It was in that same year though, 1965, that Generation X made its debut.
Described by the Pew Research Centre as a demographic distinguished by people born between 1965 and 1980, this group, like most, share some common experiences.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI mean, when about Generation X I think, like the technology, I think about is like the microwave, VHS cassettes, The Cosby Show. In terms of world politics, the Reagan era. Mulroney. Two working parents, latchkey kids\u201d.\u00a0 Heather Infantry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cApple computers! The car phone\u201d, Shawne Gray interjected. \u201cPager, Pagers\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cRap music\u2026is our generation!\u201d said Infantry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Maestro Fresh Wes – Canadian Recording Artist<\/em><\/sup><\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

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Bobby Brown – American Recording Artist<\/em><\/sup><\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

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Heather Infantry and Shawne Gray were comparing notes on what connects Generation X. On a sunny day in May, they were joined by Charles Senior and Darren Baptiste who now likes to be referred to as Dee.\u00a0 They met with DM&C Founder and Managing Director, Dayo Kefentse, to reflect and reminisce about their younger days.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re now in their 40s and 50s. But back in the day, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they were part of a growing group of young Caribbean-Canadians who were coming into their own and creating a distinctly unique Canadian culture.\u00a0 This whole group was serious about making a change.<\/p>\n

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On the radio during a time when Canadian music rappers like Maestro Fresh Wes were hot, Heather, Shawne, Charles and Dee were part of the Black Action Defense Committee. They were on the youth team. A generation of kids of Caribbean parents who came up to Canada in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

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Borders were opening wider due to labour shortages and changing immigration laws. A \u2018points\u2019 system was put in place as a scheme to boost Canada\u2019s labour shortage. Domestic servants, car porters and young professionals were arriving from the Caribbean and other Commonwealth countries to build a new life.<\/p>\n

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For Caribbean-Canadian kids who were either born in Canada or those who arrived in Canada as children, the concept of \u2018home\u2019 could get a little confusing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA number of people my age or with my circumstance, say the Gen X\u2019ers who were born here, is that we believe we can go back home, right? We believe we are Jamaican. And even a lot of the Gen Y\u2019ers believe they\u2019re Jamaican, and we can go back home not realizing that ain\u2019t nobody looking at you as Jamaican, right?\u201d Charles laughed. \u201cWe have almost a false sense of who we are, where we belong, or where we\u2019re accepted, maybe. Maybe that\u2019s better. But we\u2019re really situated here. Our roots have started someplace else and then we are replanted here. But the follow-up to try and understand that, is a little bit different, right? It takes a little bit of time for a lot of us.
As much as it took me a long time to admit I\u2019m Canadian, right?. I\u2019m Canadian with Jamaican background, and I\u2019d say that acknowledgement didn\u2019t happen till probably into my late 20s, mid 30s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As Gen Xers we swing between three different types of realities: we are Canadian citizens, who are also uniquely connected and rooted to our Caribbean culture through our home base. We are also acutely influenced by the media powerhouse that is the United States.
And that U.S. culture? When Gen Xers were growing up it came in waves, both good and bad.<\/p>\n

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Michael Wade Lawson – Image courtesy of\u00a0 C. Graham<\/em><\/sup><\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

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Michael Wade Lawson was driving a car that was reported to be stolen. A few hours later, he was shot in the back of the head by police.<\/p>\n

He was just 17-years old.<\/p>\n

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News reports would later reveal that the bullet that killed him was a type that was banned for use by police in Ontario.<\/p>\n

This was one of many details that the youth of the Black Action Defense Committee (BAD-C), started to dig into.<\/p>\n

Nothing though could be done without the blessing of the organization\u2019s elders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One being Dudley Laws:<\/p>\n

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\"Dudley<\/figure>\n

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