::OTHER NEWS::   
LE Newsletter - March 10, 2005

 
  Eager To Leave A Lasting Legacy
Excerpt from The Toronto Star - Trish Crawford, Life Writer

 (Mar. 7, 2005) When Ebonnie Rowe was studying English literature at the University of Toronto in the '80s, her life took a sudden twist.  Rowe, the daughter of a Barbadian diplomat and the youngest of three children, was shaken to the core when a friend killed herself by jumping in front of a subway train.  Realizing that life may be fleeting, Rowe left school to make her mark in the world.  "I became crazed with the notion that I had to have a legacy, a reason for being on the Earth," Rowe says in an interview. "I felt I had to do something, to accomplish something."  From that point on, she has worked tirelessly to help young people realize their dreams.  While employed as a legal secretary, she devoted her spare time to creating a mentoring program for black students called Each One Teach One. Founded in 1992 in reaction to negative images in the media, Rowe lined up black professionals to act as role models and mentors to young people. At this time, she also changed her name from Bonnie, adding an "e" at the beginning to reflect support of her black culture. Her name is pronounced like "ebony."  In 1995, she formed PhemPhat Productions, an all-female production company showcasing women interested in urban music. Picking a name that reflected street cool, Rowe helped showcase women as artists, DJs, engineers, managers and promoters. One of the many women to benefit from PhemPhat programs is singer Nelly Furtado.

For these accomplishments, Rowe has been named one of eight recipients of the YWCA's Women of Distinction Award for 2005. She is honoured in the arts and entertain category. The list is to be officially released at a news conference tomorrow, which is International Women's Day.  The list includes, for the first time, a posthumous award to feminist lawyer Dianne Martin who died suddenly last year. Other winners and the area for which they are being honoured include:

Sylvia Chrominska (corporate leadership). The first woman executive vice-president of Scotiabank established the Advancement of Women initiative at the bank and also founded the Sylvia Chrominska Award at the Richard Ivey School of Business to help a young woman entering first-year business studies.

Beth Jordan (social justice). The former director of the Assaulted Women's Helpline and member of the team providing recommendations to change law enforcement policy around sexual assault investigations following the Jane Doe case, Jordan is the principal of Abode Consulting, which specializes in feminist and anti-racist training.

Sister Ellen Leonard (religion and education). A Sister of St. Joseph since 1951, she taught elementary school and was a school principal before returning to university and earning her PhD in religious studies. As a member of the faculty of theology at St. Michael's College and the Toronto School of Theology, she linked faith and women's struggles for equality and dignity. Retired, she is professor emeritus at St. Mike's and the Toronto School of Theology.

Margaret Norrie McCain (philanthropy and volunteerism). The former lieutenant governor of New Brunswick has funded and organized programs for women and children, including the Family Violence Research Centre at the University of New Brunswick and Beatrice House, a child development centre for at-risk mothers, in Toronto. She is co-author of Ontario's The Early Years Study and a recipient of the Order of Canada.

Dianne Schwalm (mentorship). The senior vice-president of Warner Bros. Canada was the first woman field director at 20th Century Fox and the first woman in management at Warner Bros. The mother of three children urged Warner Bros. to institute a maternity leave policy and had leadership roles in the organizations Women of the Motion Picture Industry and Canadian Women in Communications. She has sponsored internship and mentoring programs to give young women opportunities in the industry.

Tonika Morgan (young woman of distinction). Born to teenage parents whose marriage dissolved when she was 14, Morgan has gone from the streets to shelters to independence and has become a youth advocate working on the Toronto Youth Cabinet, the Task Force for Socially Isolated and Homeless People and the Toronto Summit Alliance. She is an aspiring urban artist.

Dianne Martin (Special Award, posthumous). A criminal lawyer who graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1976, she was a feminist leader who successfully fought for the establishment of midwifery as a profession, reform of sexual assault laws, a citizens' review of police and the defence of the wrongfully convicted. Nominated by lawyer Marlys Edwardh for whom she articled.

In honour of the 25th anniversary of the awards, there will be a special essay contest, sponsored by the Star and the University of Toronto. The Inspiring Young Women to Achieve Essay Contest asks young women to write about real women who inspire them. The authors of the top 25 essays will receive two tickets to the awards dinner held on May 31.  The awards dinner is the major fundraiser for the YWCA, which uses the proceeds to support programs reaching 50,000 people a year. As it is a special year for the awards, past recipients will also be part of the celebrations.  In the audience will be Emily Mills, the Ryerson University journalism student who nominated Rowe for the award. When she was a teenager participating in the Each One Teach One program, Mills picked Rowe to be her mentor. Later, Mills joined the Sista to Sista program designed to empower young black girls. (The one for boys was called Brother to Brother).  "I was an active kid and looking for something to do," Mills says of her introduction to the programs being run by Rowe. She was particularly affected by a trip to New York that Rowe arranged for some of the Sista to Sista members.

"Ebonnie is a tough cookie. She demanded excellence of us," says Mills, who attended an Essence Magazine awards dinner with Rowe and the other girls as well as visiting magazine and music producers involved in urban music. These influences were part of Mills' decision to study music at York University and journalism as well as continuing to work at volunteer at PhemPhat productions.  "Ebonnie has affected the careers of many women. She has helped transform the whole entertainment scene."  PhemPhat runs an annual concert to showcase women performers in many music genres, produces a magazine profiling artists and behind-the-scenes workers, and has produced a CD called Honey Drops. Rowe says she wanted to create a place where women could be creative in their own way.  She has attacked negative cultural stereotypes head-on. After young girls complained to her that they were being called "hos," even by their little brothers, Rowe raised a few hackles in the black community for criticizing the misogyny of hip-hop.  She doesn't buy the explanation that it is just lyrics. "Sometimes, you have to speak frankly," Rowe says.  She also took on the issue of teenage motherhood and irresponsible fatherhood when she formed the Sista to Sista and Brother to Brother programs.  "None of this is tied in to great role models," Rowe says. "You are dealing with low self-esteem. Girls think having a baby will mean they have someone who will love them forever.  "I tell them, `Get a hamster.'"

Rowe, who is single, has accomplished all of this in her spare time, as she has continued to support herself as a legal secretary while working nights, days and weekends on her labours of love.  "I don't know how to drive a car," she says, laughingly vowing to take a course, learn another language and read some books for leisure in the near future.