THE ROOM All her life Kubet Weston has stood out. Now she's speaking out about diversity and inclusion, and what it was like to break the colour bar in Canadian rowing. T H E O N L Y O N E I N L ouise Umoessien was driving home dodging potholes when
“Nigeria was a nation in turmoil,” she says. “When we moved to Tillsonburg, we were able to just be kids. We didn’t have to worry about violence. But at the same time, there was no getting away from the fact that we were different.” “When people heard we were from Africa, many assumed we were famine victims like the ones they saw on television,” Kubet explains. “Others thought we were orphans who had been rescued from a life of poverty by the nice white woman who took us to the park.” In truth, they were none of those things. Kubet’s father was a respected PhD scientist. Her mother had a bachelor’s degree in home economics. Both were graduates of the University of Toronto, where they met and married. In Nigeria, her parents weren’t poor; they were working professionals living amongst other working professionals.
she heard voices. Suddenly men with machetes were climbing onto her car. Terrified, she threw the transmission into reverse and stomped on the accelerator. The vehicle hurtled backward, sending the men reeling. She swerved left, then right, then back again. Only when the last attacker fell away did she dare look back at her three young children—Allen, Kubet and Serina—cowering on the floor behind her. As an expatriate working for the Nigerian government, Louise knew political tensions were high. But an armed attack on her family? She wasn’t about to let her children die in a military coup. Not tonight. Not ever. And so, though it broke her heart to do it, Louse took the children—ages seven, five and three—and fled to Canada. Her Nigerian-born husband stayed behind in Africa.
“My mom gave up her marriage and the life she had built when she left Nigeria in 1980, but what we gained in Canada was safety,” her daughter Kubet recalls. Now a mother herself, Kubet has nothing but compassion for the impossible choices her parents faced. Louise Umoessien and her children Kubet, Serina and Allen just prior to leaving Nigeria in 1980.
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"I had a lot of great teachers and coaches and others who believed in me when I was growing up in Tillsonburg. But it all started with my mom. She refused to accept the idea that brown skin was ‘less than’ and taught everyone around her to do the same.”
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What’s more, Kubet’s family had deep roots in Tillsonburg. Hermother was born and raised in the community. Her grandfather, Jack Weston, was the town’s land surveyor. Her great grandfather, Dr. R.E. Weston, was a former mayor and school trustee. His father, J.E. Weston, was part- owner of Weston Stoves, and operator of a produce market on Broadway. All were active volunteers and contributors to community life. And yet none of these facts seemed able to keep Kubet from encountering the implicit racial biases of the era. As a kindergarten student at Rolph Street Public School, for example, she was sent to
a classroom for children with physical and developmental delays. When her mother asked the school why she was there, she was told Kubet had a speech impediment. “She doesn’t have a speech impediment she has an accent!” Louise countered firmly.
When the school suggested Kubet’s standardized test scores were also low, Louise asked to see the test. It didn’t take long to diagnose the problem. In Nigeria, Kubet learned British vocabulary and vernacular. Trash went in a bin, and luggage in a boot, for example. “The test asked questions about books I’d never heard, and used language I wasn’t familiar with,” Kubet explains. In short, it wasn’t a fair test. When a more culturally appropriate assessment was done, Kubet promptly skipped a grade. “I was fortunate to have a mother who advocated for me,” she says. “Without her intervention, my education could have been different right from the get-go.” Kubet was also fortunate to be a gifted athlete. “Kids can be harsh with their words but I found being good at sports was a nice way to overcome those challenges,” she says. As a little girl on the playground, Kubet found power in winning contests to see who could jump the farthest, and run the fastest. “It was nice to be able to stand out for something positive rather than things I had no control over,” she says. Kubet gained even more confidence when she joined the Tillsonburg Legion Track and Field Club. Her natural athletic ability mixed with the club’s high-quality coaching proved to be a powerful combination. She spent countless hours training at
(Above) The Weston family produce market and store located at 128 Broadway.
(Top) Kubet Weston with her mother Louise in Nigeria.
(Right) Louise Weston and husband Stan Umoessien in 1971 on their wedding day at the University of Toronto
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the Annandale track, and by the end of her first year of high school had found the podium at the provincial and national level. She even set a new OFSAA record in triple jump. “I started to think that maybe I could get a full-ride scholarship at a U.S. college, or even compete in the Olympics,” she confesses. But in the fall of her grade 10 year, a devastating knee injury put Kubet’s athletic dreams on ice. She spent months waiting for an MRI, then two years waiting for reconstructive surgery. “It was hard not being able to be active,” she says. “But the upshot of getting hurt was I discovered physiotherapy. I did a co-op placement at the clinic where I was a patient and ended up working part time until I graduated.” In her spare time, Kubet hung out with friends or watched her brother row on Lake Lisgar. “One day he asked me to come out and join him,” she says. “I found rowing didn’t injure my
That encounter prompted Kubet to attend an indoor training session where she shocked everyone—including herself—by pulling a top ERG score on the day. She not only made the team, she went on to become the first black female rower to represent Canada at the world championships. chance Over the next two years, she won four world championship medals—two silver and two bronze. She even punched her ticket to the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Although a stress fracture kept her out of competition, watching her teammates on the women’s eight crew win a bronze medal was thrilling just the same. Canada's eights power to second place in their repechage heat to advance to the semi-finals in Women's Eights at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Ont. on Aug. 25, 1999. Kubet Weston is fourth from the left. (CP PHOTO/Frank Gunn)
knee so I stuck with it for a season. I just did it for the joy of it, really.” When it came time for university, Kubet was offered a rare direct entry into the physiotherapy program at the University of Toronto. Arriving on campus in 1993, her days as a track star and aspiring varsity athlete seemed like a lifetime ago. But then came the conversation that would change everything. “This friendly girl came up to me in the athletic centre and said, ‘You’re tall. Would you like to try rowing?’”
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Yet as good as it felt to win, Kubet couldn’t help noticing she was still the only black girl in the boathouse. “I thought sure I’d see more diversity when I got to the international level of competition and I didn’t,” she says. “In my whole career, I didn’t compete with or against any other women of colour. Even amongst the coaches, staff and officials, there was very little ethnic diversity.” That lack of diversity in rowing is something Kubet has thought about a lot in recent years— but especially now that she’s serving on Row Ontario’s newly- created Diversity and Inclusion Committee. “Race wasn’t something I ever really talked about with anyone,” she says. “I always felt I should lead by example. But after George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter
movement, I started to reconsider that approach. I’ve had people say, ‘Well, you didn’t experience any issues or any racism,’ and it’s hard to know how to respond to that. It might not be something I’ve talked about, but it’s certainly something that I experienced.” “Tillsonburg was a fantastic place to grow up, with lots of opportunities and a strong sense of community,” she continues, “but even so, my siblings and I
Believing she might have less margin for error than her teammates, Kubet took great pains to distance herself from drama, and kept any struggles she was having to herself. “I had great teammates and coaches, but I always felt like I needed to be strategic in how much of myself I shared with people,” she says. “Sometimes I just needed space away from the scrutiny.” Kubet was also careful not to let her socio-economic status become an issue. Coming to Canada with little more than a suitcase, her family didn’t even have a car until Kubet was in high school. “I had to work while I was going to university,” she explains. “Some of my teammates could go nap between practices. I didn’t have that option. I’d go to practice in the morning, leave for work, then come back for evening practice. It was stressful, but I was careful not to complain or let my finances become a reason to give my place to someone else.” While many things have changed in rowing since Kubet retired from the sport in 2003, she says there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of removing potential barriers to participation—racial, financial or otherwise. “Talking about the issues is the first step,” she says. “But we need to get to a point where there’s measurable change as well.” While Row Ontario’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee is still in its infancy, Kubet is encouraged by the conversations that are being had. She’s especially proud
grew up knowing we needed to make smart decisions and stay out of trouble because fairness and justice weren't guaranteed." In university and at the national level, Kubet was even more vigilant. “When you row
at an elite level, you’re always competing for your seat on the boat,” she explains. “But as a person of colour, I felt even more vulnerable. I didn’t want to do anything that could ever cause someone to decide I wasn’t ‘a good fit.’”
(Above) Kubet Weston (far right) and her teammates at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
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to have had a hand in bringing the documentary AMost Beautiful Thing to the Canadian Sport Film Festival. Based on the memoir of Arshay Cooper, the film chronicles the development of the first African American high school rowing team, many of whom came from rival gangs on the West Side of Chicago. “It’s such a powerful film,” she says. “It explores what team members overcame to take part in rowing and how the sport helped them reimagine their future.” Kubet first became aware of Cooper’s story through her husband Craig McAllister, co- owner of Hudson Boat Works in London, Ontario. “Hudson donates boats to rowing clubs in non-traditional rowing communities to help make the sport more accessible to marginalized youth,” Kubet explains. “The boat you see in
the documentary is actually a Hudson boat.” Kubet and her colleagues on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee hope to see more outreach efforts take shape in Canada in the future. “I want everyone to have the opportunity to access the sport of rowing,” she says. Just opening the door to the sport as an athlete of colour isn’t enough. I need invite others in as well, and use my experiences to make the sport more welcoming and inclusive. As Arshay Cooper has said, ‘Talent is everywhere but access and opportunity are not.’” Looking back on her life, Kubet is proud of what she’s achieved, and thankful for the people who helped her get there. “I had a lot of great teachers and coaches, and other people who believed in me when I was in Tillsonburg,” she says. “But it all started with my mom. She
refused to accept the idea that brown skin was ‘less than’ and taught everyone around her to do the same.” After Kubet retired from competitive rowing, she worked with Rowing Canada, travelling as a physiotherapist internationally and working with elite athletes. Today, she’s the owner of Skye Health, an innovative health collective providing physiotherapy, massage therapy, and pilates classes to residents of London, Ontario. Her mother, Louise Weston, passed away in 2011.
(Below) Kubet Weston visits with some of the members of the Tillsonburg Rowing Club on the dock at Lake Lisgar. Learn more about community rowing programs for adults and youth at www.tillsonburgrowingclub.com
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