My grandfather was Judge George E. Carter – the first Canadian born Black judge in Canada. On August 21, 2025 my mother, Linda V. Carter and my uncle Evan Carter, blessed us with a beautiful event at the Montgomery’s Inn titled “An evening with the Carters,” which was a night of storytelling about growing up as the only Black family in Etobicoke in the 1950s and 1960s.
Etobicoke sits on Toronto’s western edge, west of the Humber River and is roughly 15 kilometres from the city’s downtown. Once Indigenous land and later largely farmland, the area underwent rapid suburban redevelopment in the 1950s and 1960s, shaping it into a series of large residential neighbourhoods, from Rexdale and Thistletown to the north, and Kingsway and Mimico-Queensway to the south; each community has played a role in Toronto’s cultural identity.
Becoming Judge Carter
Born in 1921 to immigrant parents, John and Louise Carter, who were from Barbados, Judge Carter, who was the eldest of fourteen children, was raised on Beverly Street in Etobicoke. Judge Carter’s parents, my great-grandfather, instilled the importance of getting an excellent education to all of their children.
My grandfather first attended Orde Street Public School (where I also attended briefly as a child), and by all accounts, he was a brilliant child. His elementary school teacher, Judy Gribble believed in him so much that she paid for his books throughout high school so that he could continue his education. He excelled academically, graduating at the top of his class from Harbord Collegiate Institute and he later went on to Trinity College in the University of Toronto where received a Bachelor’s degree. After graduation in 1944, George enlisted in the Canadian army and began military training in Ontario.
After the Second World War, Judge Carter pursued his passion to become a lawyer. He attended law school at Osgoode Hall and graduated in 1948. As a young Black lawyer in the 1940s, opportunities were few and far between. He got the opportunity to work with B.J. Spencer Pitt, Ontario’s fifth Black lawyer who was uncle to Justice Romain Pitt. Pitt was the first Black lawyer appointed to the Ontario Superior of Justice and died in 2020.
Judge Carter later went on to work with lawyer Sydney Harris, one of Canada’s foremost postwar Jewish community members, who was criticized for having my grandfather work for him because he was Black, but Harris, a staunch supporter of civil rights, stood his ground and together with Pitt, they both gave young Black lawyers a chance when no other law firms would hire them.
Early years in Etobicoke
In 1980, Judge Carter was appointed to the bench. From thereon, he helped to establish legal aid services for people who could not afford to hire a lawyer, and he supported the Committee for the Adoption of Coloured Youngsters, which was a coalition of advocacy groups that worked to find homes amid racial bias in welfare systems from 1964-981. One of George’s greatest accomplishments was his family. After marrying Kathleen Newton who was born in St. Kitts, they had four children, Linda – my mother – Evan, Jacquie and Ralph. Today, my uncle Evan is a stand-up comedian and my mother Linda worked for many years in television as a host, producer and model.
During the Montgomery’s Inn event, my mom and uncle Evan shared funny and dynamic stories, as the mic was passed between them. As I sat there hearing tales of their lives in Etobicoke, it put a lot of things into perspective. They shared stories of my grandpa’s struggles as a young man growing up but also how headstrong he was about becoming somebody so much so that he refused to let people’s racist behaviour stop him from succeeding. One oral history that they shared was about when they first moved to Etobicoke and a white lawyer, who was their neighbour, sent around a petition to other white residents to “get the coloured folks out” of the neighbourhood—an example of redlining in Ontario. Despite the discrimination, my family was determined. They remained in Etobicoke on Great Oak Drive for another 60 years, and after that lawyer left, the remaining neighbours became lifelong friends to my family.
Keeping the Carter legacy alive
My grandpa, Judge George E. Carter was a treasure trove of wisdom, history and lessons. He was a gifted man who loved to learn and loved to share his wisdom with the next generation. Seeing the need to protect this wisdom, my mother Linda V. Carter created a documentary on grandpa’s life in which many other great figures of his time spoke and shared their own knowledge. Sadly, many of these people have passed on and are now ancestors, but in this way their stories are now preserved.
The Montgomery’s Inn event was one of those special moments that allowed people to understand the challenges and the triumphs of a Black family in 1950s and 1960s Etobicoke. Anti-Black racism was very real, and while Toronto has changed a lot since then, it is incredibly important to know about people like my grandfather and other Black Canadian communities because Canadian Black History is Canadian History!
We stand on the shoulders of so many great men and women who paved the way for the next generation to flourish. It is important to remember these stories and to have respect and gratitude for their passion and vision for a better tomorrow. Like the Adinkra symbol the “Sankofa”, from Ghana’s Twi language which means “to go back and get it” – to look to the past for wisdom and to bring it to the future – as the bird looks backwards, it carries a precious egg in its beak, yet its feet face forward. This term symbolizes the importance of looking back and carrying the wisdom from the past into the future with us.
I am incredibly grateful to have had so much time with my grandfather. He was funny, brilliant and so passionate about the law and learning new languages. It is inspiring to now see students do projects on grandpa during Black History Month in many of the schools I’ve taught in, and I am always happy to share his story and his documentary because who knows, his life might just inspire the next generation of Black lawyers and judges.
About the author
Micah Nelson is a holistic health practitioner, yoga instructor and artist. She is also an elementary school teacher, actor and bestselling author. Nelson is the owner of Balance First Workshops, which raises funds for children’s charities close to her heart and showcases the work of female artists, empowering both creators and beneficiaries.