Grizzle began his career in 1940 as a sleeping car porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), one of the only jobs available to Black men at the time. This work came with inherent indignities, including the widespread practice of white passengers referring to all Black porters as “George,” a humiliating erasure of personal identity.

Labour Leadership: Grizzle quickly became a dedicated unionist. He was elected president of the Toronto CPR division of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in 1946. His advocacy efforts, detailed in his memoir My Name’s Not George (1998), successfully pushed the CPR to institute fairer practices, including providing porters with name cards to combat the demeaning custom.

Wartime Service: His commitment to Canada was demonstrated during World War II, where he served in the Canadian Army in Europe and attained the rank of corporal. He later used his experiences with racial prejudice in both the military and the railways to fuel his lifelong fight for social justice. Advancing Policy and Public LifeGrizzle’s activism broadened in the post-war era. He was a prominent figure in the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance, lobbying the provincial government for anti-discrimination legislation.

Political Trailblazer: In 1959, he made history by becoming one of the first Black Canadians to run for election to the Ontario legislature as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party.

Government Service: In 1960, he became the first Black clerk hired at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. His public service career culminated in 1978 when he was appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau as a Citizenship Judge, again breaking barriers as the first Black Canadian to hold that judicial post. Grizzle’s work directly contributed to foundational changes, including the end of race-based discrimination in Canadian immigration policy. He received the Order of Ontario and was named a Member of the Order of Canada for his relentless battle for civil rights