Kay Livingstone (1919-1975)
February 2025: Racial Equality Trailblazers
Kay Livingstone
Kay Livingstone, born Kathleen Jenkins, was a leading activist, radio presenter and broadcaster, who is best known for her role in organizing the first National Congress of Black Women. Throughout her life, Kay was a voice for racial equality and social activism, fighting for the rights of Black women.
Kay grew up as one of eight children in the Jenkins family. Her parents - James and Christina - were active community members, as well as activists themselves. Together they wrote and published a newspaper for the Black community, entitled The Dawn of Tomorrow - which involved the whole Jenkins family - including the children. With this upbringing, Kay found her voice at an early age and continued that path, studying performing arts at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music and the Ottawa College of Music.
While based in Ottawa, and after working for the Dominion Bureau of Statistics during WWII, Kay started her first radio project - launching The Kathleen Livingstone Show. The radio program continued to be hosted across stations even once Kay moved to Toronto, including the CBC. She continued to grow her profile and her experience, working as a film and television actress alongside her radio work.
Living amongst Toronto society in the 1950s, Kay joined a new social club, ‘the Dilettantes’, which was aimed at middle class Black women and involved tea and garden parties. She became an active and leading member of the group - helping to shift its mandate and meaning to being known as the Canadian Negro Women’s Club. Under this new profile, Kay became the first elected president. The new stated goal of the organization was to ‘become aware of, to appreciate, and further the merits’ of Black Canadians. This organization would go on to host the first National Congress of Black Women in Canada in 1973 and would continue to organize events to celebrate Black History Week for years following.
The 1973 National Congress of Black Women was historic, trailblazing, and incredibly important. It involved over 200 Black women across Canada, bringing together national and provincial activists groups to create a new national network to discuss shared concerns, challenges and hopes. Across three days, a huge variety of topics were discussed through seminars and workshops. Its success led to its establishment as a national organization in 1980 with chapters across the country, and a supporting foundation created in 1992 - which fostered advancement, recognition, history, and education of Black women and their families’.
Kay continued to be a leading activist throughout her life - even during her later career as a consultant for the Privy Council of Canada. In 1975, Kay was the first person to coin and use the term ‘visible minority’ - a key part of our conversations today. Her role with the government involved engaging with women’s groups across the country, helping to facilitate events and conferences that created space to discuss racialized communities in Canada. Unfortunately, in the process of planning one such event, Kay passed away unexpectedly in 1975. Her legacy continues to live on through the Kay Livingstone Visible Minority Women’s Society and the Kay Livingstone Memorial Award scholarship - alongside the recognition of her strength and her determination in recognizing, celebrating and uplifting Black Canadians.
We hope you enjoyed this short profile on Kay Livingstone! For more information on her and other trailblazers, check out The Canadian Encyclopedia online, Historica Heritage Minutes and the Women of Impact Gallery.
Do you have a Canadian heroine you’d like to see featured in Voices & Stories? Have any suggestions for us? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment or a direct message on our Substack (or at any of our socials!).
You can also get in touch by email at communications@womenshistoryproject.ca