#9102 - Mar 1991

Digital Archiving Completed by the Ethnography Lab, A University of Toronto Anthropology Initiative
and Produced in Collaboration with David Perlman/Wholenote Media Inc between July-December 2015.
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16 COMMUNITY & ARTS The Kensington Market Drum, March 1991
Letter to An Unknown Girl
by Alma Penn
Hello.
I don't know your name or where you live. You are
about eight or ten years old.
One day just after school I saw you crossing
the road, wearing a pink snowsuit. You were crying
in a very scared sort of way. You were
with two grown-up people who were pulling you by
your arms so that your feet were off the ground.
There was a woman with you and a man. The
man looked angry and the woman looked scared.
The man was shouting at you about playing with
boys after school. He said you were a bad girl. He
said that you were going to grow up to be a bad girl
who gets into trouble. Many times he told you to
stop crying.
When you didn't stop he said' if you didn't stop
crying he was going to give it to you right there in the
street. And he said he was going to tell your old man
· about you. He said that your old man was going to
give it to you too.
He raised his arm up high like he was going to
hit you very hard.
So I am the person who stepped into the
· street. I had two children with me who stayed on
the sidewalk. And the man said that you were making
people stare at you. So I said that I was staring at
him, not you. Then he said did I think you should
play with five boys after school and I just said again,
I was watching him.
Then the woman said come on Jet's go, (:l.nd
the three of you disappearep into a bunch of big
buildings.
I don't know what happened to make the man
so angry. And I don't know what happened later.
But I'm very worried that he was hurting you, and
that he was going to hurt you again. And I was afraid
that if I tried to help you he would hurt you even
more. But there are three things I want to tell you.
1) Nobody has the right to hurt you. It doesn't
matter who they are. It doesn't matter what their
reasons are. If someone at school hits you or hurts
you, you have to let them know it's not ok. And to
ask for help if you need it. The same goes for that
man. It's not ok for him to hit you. You have the
right to feel safe, to feel happy, to go to school, to
have friends. And if he is hurting you, you have to
tell a grown-up person who you trust. And keep
telling them until you get some help.
2) If you feel like you don't know how to ~et
help here's an idea. Call the KIDS HELP PHONE . .
It's free. You can even call from a pay phone with no
money. If you call from home the call will not show
up on your phone bill. You have to dial 1-800-668-
6868.
You can call anytime day or night, 7 days a
week, as often as you want to. You don't have to say
who you are, or where you live. The people who
answer phone calls at the KIDS HELP PHONE are
good listeners. And they've talked to other kids with
lots of different problems. They're not going to do
anything themselves unless you ask them to. Mostly
they help kids figure out a way to solve problems for ·
themselves. ·
And the phone number is on milk boxes and in
the phone book under KIDS. ·
3) You don't have to grow up to be a bad girl
who gets into trouple. He can't make you bad by
calling you bad. You can g row up to be bra,ve and
strong and special. It's up to you, not him.
SUNDAY -MARCH 17, the
start of the City's annual spring
flower show in the rotunda at
city hall. This year's show is
called contemplations . on a
Japanese garden. The show runs
till March24, 9.00am to9.00pm
daily.
MONDAY MARCH 18, and
MONDAY MARCH 25: from
9.30a.m.-11.00pm(withbreaks .
for lunch and dinner): in the
ONT ARlO ROOM,
MacDonald Block, Bay and
Wellesley, 2nd floor, west side,
the public is invited to comment
on proposed changes to the
provincial environmental
assessment process. Call 323-
2669 (Environmental Assessment
Committee) for further
information.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 20:
7.00 p.m. Kensington Market
Area Task Force; committee
room 6, City Hall
Grange Housing Work
Group, 7.30 pm University
Settlement House
COMMUNITY OF SOUTH
AFRICANS/AZANIANS
FOR NATIONAL RECON­
CILIATION .
MEDIA RELEASE
On Thursday, March 21,1991,
at the St. John's Lutheran
Church, 274 Concord Avenue
_(west of Ossington Ave:, and
south of Bloor St W.), in
Toronto, at 7 p.m., the
Community of South Africans/
Azanians For National
Reconciliation invites the
Media and the Public toaD A Y
OFPRA YER to commemorate
those who died in Sharpeville
and other Cities and Townships,
in 1960, when the South African
police and army opened fire on
unarmed civilians, killing many
people, wounding and maiming
many others including women,
the old and children.
Joining us will be the Rev.
Maurice Ngakane, exile in
United States. He brings with
him a message that will challenge
all of us.
The 21st MARCH,
ADOPTED BY THE
UNITED NATIONS as the
INTERN A TIONALDA YTO
END RACISM,and dubbed by
Blacks as SHARPEVILLE
DA Y,isanimportantlandmark
in the history of the struggle of
the African people against
apartheid and racism.
FOR FURTHER INFORMA­
TION CALL: REV. L.
PAYNTER (416) 282-6073.
SUNDAY MARCH 23:
BUNNYMANIA RETURNS
TO NATHAN PHILLIPS
SQUARE
Hippity-hop down the bunny
trail Saturday, March 23 for all
the egg-citment ofBunnymania
IlonCityHall'sNathanPhillips
Square. Hare-raising fun for
kids 10 and under, from 1 to 4
p.m.; the Laura Secord Easter
Bunny, the secret Bunny Trail,
Bunnymania maps, tailtwitching
Bunny Tales, a
warren of wacky wabbits, ears
and nose-making, rabbit-style,
with puppeteer Jeff Esery,
Magic Mike and Bunny Magic.
THURSDAYS: Scat Cabaret
at Scadding Court: free coffee,
free child care (under five),
starts at 7 pm, pay what you can.
Music and a bit of theatre.
Phone 588-8580 for info.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
DATES TO WATCH
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG
CITY: History of Electricity in
Toronto
Electric lighting arrived in
Toronto in 1879 when two arc
lamps were turned on at
McConkey's Restaurant at 145
Yonge Street. Things would
never be the same.
The trexpendous impact of
electricity and the ways it
changed how people in
Toronto worked, played and
organized their homes is presented
in Bright Lights, Big
City: The History of Electricity
in Toronto, a free exhibit of
archival photographs,
documents and artifacts on
view at the Market Gallery of
the City of Toronto Archives
from March 2 to June 23, 1991.
Electrifying stuff!
From the beginning, T AAG
was determined thatthe exhibit
should extend beyond the
Market Gallery venue. This
objective is being accomplished
through the production of an
exhibit catalogue, written by a
local historian, and the production
of educational kits for primary
and secondary schools.
The Market Gallery is located
on the Second Floor of
the historic South St. Lawrence
Market at 95 Front Street East.
Admission is free. For more
information, or to arrange
group or school visits, please
telephone (416) 392-7604.
THERE IS LIFE BEFORE
DEATH! TheN ew Intelligence
Lectures given by Jan Cox,
author of "The Death of
Gurdjieff in The Foothills of
Georgia" are screened Sundays
at 6:30 p.m. at 1044 Bathurst
Street. 652-0099
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
JULY 12-14 at CITY HALL
More than 400 artists
More than 80,000 visitors
30th annual exhibition.
Applications to display are
invited from professional and
amateur artists.
Call Ms. Tracey Capes, Coordinator,
967-6149 (answering
service) for information.
outdoor art mart
in kensington
Call for artists, multicultural,
interested informing -
open air art market in
Kensington.
call 921-0738.
Ski.n. II t.y Re.nee. Long
RENEE LONG
ALMA GALLERY
APRl L 6 -28. 1991
~
Opening-Saturday April6. 3pm
Wednesday to Saturday 12 - 5pm
588 Markham St. o 2nd Floor o Toronto
~
~
588-2978
~
DRUM IS ALSO
photographers
advertising + editorial
industrial + portrait
still life + location
post production
videographers
inquire 416-599-drum
~
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