As Tamara Wallace sifted through the country's catalogue of unsung and overshadowed minority heroes, she settled on telling the tale of Rosemary Brown as the subject matter of her award-winning essay.
The Grade 12 Cochrane High School student earned herself a $5,000 scholarship from RBC for first place in the national competition for her essay: Rosemary Brown: Opening Doors, focused on the first black Canadian woman to be elected to a provincial legislature.
With nearly 300 essays submitted in the 10th annual RBC Black History Month Essay Competition, this marks this first time an Albertan has won the competition.
"I was researching influential African American women and I came across her ... I thought she was really cool because she pushed the boundaries," explained Wallace, who was struck by Brown's inclusive approach to feminism and how the late Jamaican-born MLA made her mark as the first black Canadian woman to be elected to a Canadian legislature.
Brown served as an NDP MLA in British Columbia from 1972 to 1986. Her unsuccessful 1975 vie for the federal leadership of the NDPs was a close second to Ed Broadbent, also making her the first black woman to run for the leadership of a Canadian federal party.
Following politics, Brown went on to teach women's studies at Simon Fraser University, named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1996.
Wallace laughed that she "couldn't believe it" when she learned of her national win last week. And even though she will be heading off to the University of Calgary in the fall to study computer science – and not English literature – the win has inspired her to keep working on her writing chops.
But the win is of little surprise to Cochrane High principal Ed Polhill.
"Tamara is an outstanding student at the school ... I like the angle that she's a computer scientist," he laughed, noting that she is a "well-rounded" student and the the school is proud of her accomplishments.
Bringing these stories to light is what inspired Canadian sprinter and Calgarian Sam Effah to sign on as one of the judges for the contest.
"I think it's super important to understand the accomplishments of black Canadians because sometimes they don't get as much airtime," said Effah, whose parents emigrated from Ghana, West Africa.
The fourth fastest Canadian sprinter, following a recorded 10.06 seconds for the 100 metre in July 2010, Effah has his sights on the Olympics and as a black athlete himself, he looks to inspire other minority youth.
Effah also commended the RBC competition for awarding not just first place, but the top 30 essay submissions – with second place taking home $2,500, third bringing in $1,500 and 27 recipients of $500.
Students who wish to submit essays in the annual competition that is looking for stories on how black Canadians have helped Canada's heritage must be enrolled high school students applying to Canadian universities of colleges.
Learn more at rbc.com/essay.
