By Christine Hamelin
with photography by Bernard Clark
Martha Williams has journeyed from being a biracial child in a world that failed to reflect her to becoming an advocate shaped by years of education and community work. Pedal Works Café and Studios, which reflects her vision of inclusion, creativity and connection, merges her various passions and is a gathering place for many people. Martha has found power in making space not only for herself but for others seeking to belong.
Her Quebec-born mother, Karen, met her Liberian father when they both attended a college in Maine. “In the United States in the 60s, it was illegal to be a biracial couple, so they got kicked out of school,” says Martha. Their plan was to move to Liberia and do mission work, but Martha was born first, in Cleveland. Then the little family moved to Liberia and stayed until Martha was four. “When my parents separated, my mom and I moved back to Canada.”
Karen’s parents, who had a farm in Inverary, gave her some land, and she built a little house for Martha and her brother; they later moved to Kingston. “I went to Perth Road Public School and then Winston Churchill and KCVI.” Karen, a nurse, and her sister and mother all worked at Sunnyside Children’s Home for kids with behavioural problems.
As a biracial child, Martha had a tough time and struggled to fit in. . . .
