Rest in peace, Nerene Virgin, thank you
A tribute to a childhood inspiration
This week we lost a star from my childhood.
Nerene Virgin, also known as “Jodie” on the children’s television “Today’s Special”, passed away on January 15, 2024.
Nerene passed away on my late aunt Angela’s birthday. (Aunt Angela recently passed away, five days before.) To learn more about her, please visit this link.
Speaking of aunts, Nerene resembles another aunt of mine, Hilma aka Jenny, who passed away years earlier.
Although I’ve never met Nerene, I also had met her late father, Stanley Grizzle, many times. At one point, I’d occasionally see him walking in the neighbourhood when I lived in the Annex. I learned he lived there too, not having grown up far from there.
And even though I never met Nerene, it feels like another family member has passed. As a Black girl growing up in Toronto in the late 1970s through 1990s, seeing Jodie on one of my favourite television shows each week, made me so happy. It was comforting and at times I’d still tune into Today’s Special, even though I aged out of their target audience.
Jodie puzzled me too. Why didn’t she have an accent? Why didn’t she straighten her hair? Why was she so familiar (that is, Black) and yet different? Why were the white people on the show so nice to her even though she was always the only Black person that I could recall on the show? I had expected Jodie’s experience to mirror my own, a childhood impacted by racial stereotypes, exclusion and discrimination.
On August 30, 2023, I attended The Mr. Dressup to Degrassi: 42 Years of Legendary #Toronto Kids TV exhibit at the Myseum in Toronto.
There, I listened attentively to a video interview with Nerene Virgin and learned that she was always aware of her Blackness. In fact, as the show gained popularity and was eventually syndicated, she was surprised by the incredible impact that her role as a Black character had on thousands of viewers across North America.
Here’s another Interview with Nerene Virgin
I appreciate and look up to Nerene for the multifaceted woman she was— teacher, journalist, actress, and politician. I even learned that her heritage, descended of Underground Railroad refugees and Jamaican immigrants, placing her in the possibility of a relation.
Thank you, Nerene Virgin, for all you’ve done and for the path you’ve led for multi-hyphenates like me.
For 3 years, I taught in the Children’s Media program at Centennial College so many of my students work in children’s television. I’m a 21+ year elementary teacher, presenter, and musician. Plus, I write children’s books and I’ve been on children’s television, a childhood dream.
Malaika, Carnival Queen on CBC Kids video
Thanks Nerene Virgin for your legacy and the inspiration and for showing me what is possible.
"Shout it loud and clear!"
of Heroes of the World designed this gorgeous illustration.