Arnold Pinnock – Unapologetically sharing our stories of strength and resilience

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The Black experience is about love, joy, collective memory, and inclusion. It is also about trauma, pain, and discrimination. February is Black History Month, and it’s a time to centre and reflect on the rich tapestry of experiences that make up the lives and stories of African Caribbean’s.

The truth is that the only way to fill the gaps in African Caribbean history is to be completely authentic. We cannot shy away from the lived experiences that inform the way that stories are created and shared, the channels we engage with, and how the message resonates.

As a writer, I have to be honest; when interviewing my Classic Man, I had to come to terms with the parts of our history that I don’t know, and this step was harder and uncomfortable. After our dialogue, I had to educate myself on a topic that I thought I was versed in, but it is all a part of the process. I sat back and listened, reflected on what mattered so that I could share this information with you.

I had the honour of sitting down with Arnold Pinnock, the Co-creator, Executive Producer, and writer behind the ground-breaking original series The Porters. Arnold plays the character “Glenford” in the country’s biggest Black-led television production that is inspired by real events. Set in the 1920’s, it presents untold stories of Black Canadians, including Black train porters and Black Cross Nurses, their dreams and ambitions, and their essential role in forming many Black communities across Canada.

Arnold began his career as a sketch comedian at Toronto’s Second City Mainstage. He has a burning passion for television and film, which has allowed him to build a career that spans over three decades. His acting credits include Exit Wounds (starring Steven Segal), Cold Pursuit (with Liam Neeson), and roles in TV series including Altered Carbon (Netflix), and Baroness von Sketch Show (CBC). He has been heard as the voice of the air controller on Paw Patrol and is best known for his role as Paul Greebie on the Canadian sitcom Life with Derek. He also has recurring roles on such series as The Listener and Billable Hours.

Born in an era of protests, the 1960s decade was dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, Cuban Missile Crisis, and saw the assassinations of US President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. His parents were part of the ‘Windrush generation’ – people from the Caribbean were brought to the UK after WW2 to fill the shortages in the labour market, and they played an important role in rebuilding the country. The unfortunate part about it all is that they were faced with prejudice, racism and discrimination.

Arnold and I sat down to discuss his love of family, Black history, and storytelling, his story so passionate that it stirred emotions in both of us.

“My parents are from Clarendon, Jamaica, and they migrated to England,” Arnold shares with me. “My mother was a nurse and my father worked at a factory in Birmingham. There were many trials and tribulations faced by Blacks during that time. Race riots in the 1970s forced my parents to look for a better country for themselves and the five of us. I happen to be the youngest of five.

In 1975, we moved to Canada. I was seven at the time. My parents moved to Scarborough, and we lived with my mother’s brother. They had four children, so it was a family of six, and we were a family of seven. If you can imagine a house full of kids, teenagers and adults – things got pretty crazy. We lived there until my parents eventually managed to afford to rent our own home.

There are some things about that time that I cannot forget, things that showed the strength and resilience of my family. I remember my mom telling a Caucasian woman off at a grocery story, because the woman was being disrespectful. To this day, I look up to my mother for that. I can’t forget my Uncle Papsi! Whenever you spent time with him, even if it was for a car ride, you never ended off the same way as you started when hanging with Uncle Papsi!”

Arnold speaks of his challenges moving from the UK to Canada. He spoke Brummie dialect, which as he explains, is sometimes hard for people from other parts of England to understand, and in Canada, it became an even more serious barrier to communicating with others. The family turned to each other for strength during these difficult times.

“We had to put money in the television (yes he took it there). We used to sit around it as a family. We were pretty poor,” he explains, “and we obviously had really difficult times, but when we sat around this little apparatus we called ‘the tele’ to watch comedy, sports, drama. It was our family moment, and it was when we felt happiest. I used to say I wanted to be on tele, because it made us laugh, it made us cheer, it just brought so many emotions to us.”

“After that I was drawn to the arts. I came from a lineage of storytellers. We would hear all these stories when we were younger, so when it came time, I really got into drama. I wrote a story about people emigrating from the islands to Canada and the community loved the show because it represented them. I unapologetically shared our stories and put it on stage.

This is my 36^th year as an actor, and I have worked on many projects. When it comes to putting the lens on us, I was given the opportunity to manifest. I have run into situations where racism is very real, but then I always think back to what my parents went through. That is the stock that I come from. I told myself that I would make my way through this, around this. Racism is not a barrier for me. I would not let down my parents. I refuse to let down what they sacrificed.”

When Arnold speaks of his family, he does it with such warmth, and although members of his family are no longer with us, he shares with me stories that will always remind him of his time with them.

“I remember bringing my mom, my dad, and my aunt and uncle to a show that I was doing. My mom asked me to bring them some tea, so I asked someone to get it for them. My mom brought me right back down to earth, You think you are too high and mighty to make your mother some tea!’ The director looked at me like, you’re on your own. I will never forget that day.”

Pinnock believes that telling these stories, stories like The Porters, will empower immigrants and their children, make them feel proud of their origins and inspire them to pursue their dreams.

“We come from a stock of strong people, and our younger generation needs to know that.”