The Legacy

Edith Osei Tutu was born an only child and is the second cousin to the Ashante King. Inspired by rebellious romantic notion, her parents rejected the gods’ wishes for their sixteen-year-old child to become the second wife to the Ashante King. Desperate to escape family traditions, they were willing to sacrifice both royalty and wealth in favour of their only child, carving her own dynasty. They entered a long period of self-imposed exile in Canada. At the age of eighteen, after living a sheltered life in Oakvillie, Ontario, Edith attended the University of Toronto. The city of Toronto is among Canada’s largest cities. Edith thought Toronto was ‘too big’ and scattered, she felt that Toronto had a certain simplicity that she adored, and she was right. She met journalists, actors, musicians, lawyers and young idealists as well as intellectual exiles, like her parents, from different parts of the world who had also moved to Canada to start a new life with their families. The blend of multi-culturalism in Toronto was different from what Edith knew. Edith’s first and second years at the University of Toronto were quiet, and she attained success in all-of her classes. In her third year, however, a feeling of emptiness surrounded her and the need to ‘do more’ than just study. In 1960s, she had often seen students endlessly campaigning for African solidarity and for the liberation of South Africa from the white settlers’ rule. Many of the black students at the University could relate to African nationalism, as could the whites, but not Edith. She did not fully understand their cause and often thought that they could use their time to study and do something more worthwhile instead of constantly campaigning, and attempting to recruit any black person they met into their challenging political struggles over colonial transition. During her post-graduate years at York University, Edith met a political activist named Brendan Knight. She found Brendan to be a very charming conversationalist and an excellent speech maker. Brendan was a shy man, yet ambitious and very persistent when it came to politics and world history. He knew it all; African, European, North and South American politics, and knew them very well. He loved sharing his knowledge with Edith, who was starting to fall in love with Brendan as well as politics. Together, they were a hardworking, caring and energetic couple, and after four years of being together, Edith and Brendan got married at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Toronto. Eleven months after the wedding, Edith lost her father to cancer. This loss was hard for her and so she began relying on work for comfort. After doing research and piles of paperwork, she opened a law office in downtown Toronto with Brendan, but his political ambition never died. Brendan’s dream of becoming a member of parliament became a reality when he won the Dundas, Ontario MP for the Liberal party in June of 1980. For seven years, he lived his dream of being a politician before passing away in a serious car accident, which left Edith devastated. Edith found the strength and ability to communicate with people through their six-year-old son, Jaden.