Thank you for stopping by the official website of Shadrock Porter: a biographic perspective of the life and times of a multifaceted and dynamic individual, the Dora Mavor Moore Award winner, playwright, director, singer, actor, author, and Master Teacher, Leader and Founder of the Israelite Nation World Wide Ministries.
The website hopes to assist Mr Porter in relaying his life story, and the interactions and experiences that have made his story such an interesting one, to say the least: taking quantum leaps from his youth in Albouystown, Guyana, during the 1950s, to his music career in the 1960s and 70s, all the way to his spiritual path and message at this present time.
Background
There are many defining moments in Shadrock Porter’s life, many of which you will read about on this site. One of them is relevant to our own lives today. Thirty years ago, Shadrock Porter wrote The Truth, the Lie and the Bible. The book identifies a pattern of 400 years, going as far back as 476 A.D. and the fall of the Roman Empire. (The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem took place in 70 A.D., followed by the persecution of its people; 400 years later, Rome fell.)
Touching briefly on Portugal, Haiti, Cuba, Spain, Brazil, Holland and Jamaica, Porter showed a correlation between the rise and fall of these nations, which captured and sometimes enslaved a people known today as African-American, the descendants of Africans oppressed during the recent 400 years in the Americas.
“Let’s take a look in the historical container and search through the rubble of slavery and its 400 years and see what happened.”
Porter urged his readers to recognise the pattern, “for only with this knowledge would we be able to correct our mistakes, because this 400 year that we are in, is crucial.” (The Truth, the Lie and the Bible, third edition, 1995.)
#rememberthe400
Shadrock Porter is the creator of the #rememberthe400 initiative, an awareness campaign formed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans brought to the shores of Hampton, Virginia, in August 1619. He has worked diligently over the last few decades to educate and prepare those around him with this prophetic message, and to offer solutions for healing from this dark time in world history.
The arts
One of the many ways Porter found to tell the true story and identity of a forgotten people is by bringing history and culture to life through the arts. The Genesis Advance Performing Arts Society (GAPAS) became the hub for this message.
He is well known for Shadow of the Slaves, a theatrical play honouring Canada as a haven for slaves during the era of the Underground Railroad, which made its mark at the Harbourfront Theatre; for Freedom Fighters: In the Mind of a Child, an anthology performed by young people aged 6 to 15 as part of local schools’ Black History curriculum; and for The Journey, a sold-out musical production of song, spoken word and dance in New York, London and Toronto.
He won the Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1983 for playing Nick Bottom in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and is a full member of ACTRA, the Canadian actors’ union.
About this site
This website gathers the many facets, experiences and events, past and present, that are woven together into the journey we call life. Placing Shadrock Porter’s life into these pages is an ongoing project. Check in from time to time for updates and event information.