A strong advocate for Black underdogs in Toronto succumbs to cancer
sean white/toronto star file
Laws was born in Jamaica in 1934 and arrived in Canada in 1965 after living in England. He worked as a welder until the early ‘70s, and then ran a printing company before becoming an immigration consultant, a job he held until he was hospitalized.
His son, Robert Laws, says his father didn’t let his illness slow him down. Days before he was hospitalized, Laws was counselling inmates at Joyceville, a federal prison near Kingston, Ont. And Laws wrapped up a meeting with the Black Action Defence Committee in his hospital room just hours before he died.
“He was like my brother, my father. He was a mentor to me,” said Hewitt Loague, current president of the BADC. “I watched the way he dealt with people, just his overall handling of situations. Because of his work, changes (in policing) were made.”
Dudley Laws leaves behind his wife, Monica, and five children. A public funeral will be held, with arrangements still to be finalized.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/960014–black-activist-dudley-laws-dies-at-age-76?bn=1
the immigrant 