INVISIBLE NO MORE
AFRICAN AMERICAN SETTLERS FACED DISCRIMINATION IN ALBERTA
People of Lethbridge and surrounding areas have the opportunity to take a deeper look into the history of black settlers in Alberta and Saskatchewan in the early 1900s, and learn about the obstacles and discrimination they faced, with the documentary, “We are The Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies.”
The film was first shown during Black History Month in Edmonton, and since has gone on to win several high-profile awards, including the Elizabeth B. Mason Project Award, and the Oral History in Nonprint Format awards from the Oral History Association, the Heritage Awareness award from the Alberta Historical resource Foundation and the 2018 Governorl’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programing.
The project of hidden history was the creation of Deborah Dobbins, president of Edmonton’s Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots. She teamed up with Jenna Bailey, a history professor and senior research fellow at the University of Lethbridge, and David Este, a professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary.
“I felt that there was a need for the history of African American Canadian Albertan's and Saskatchewan to be recognized,” says Dobbins.
“We have been invisible in all of the history and educational books and it was time for someone to take a stand and make sure that our history is recognized, recorded, celebrated and honoured as creating and developing Alberta since the early 1900s.”
During the making of the film, Bailey and Este interviewed 19 second- and thirdgeneration individuals from the families of original settlers who left the United States to come to Western Canada between 1905 and 1912. Between those seven years, around 1,500 African Americans made their way to make a settlement in Canada, mostly settling in the small rural areas of Alberta such as Amber Valley, Campsie, Wildwood, and Brenton and Maidstone in Saskatchewan.
“The land was taken up on an opportunity provided by the Canadian government where you could own 160 acres of land for $10, and the film talks about the move that they did and how they settled these different communities,” says Bailey. “We talk about the life in the city because several individuals and families moved to Edmonton and we focus on how much discrimination they faced living in the city and how it was particularly difficult there and about the school life and working life in the city."
Moving up to Canada was a wonderful opportunity for many pioneers, but for African American pioneers, they were not only faced with the same hardships that other settlers faces, they were also heavily discriminated against, especially in the cities. Work was hard to find, and men often had to start their own business or worked as railway porters and women worked as housekeepers.
“For Black Canadian history, I think a lot of Canadians are not aware of the existence of African Canadian history and this DVD adds a great contribution especially to what has transpired in Alberta,” says Este.
“It is really enriching to hear the voices of the 19 participants describing not only what their parents or grandparents have experienced while they were living in Alberta, but as well as their own experiences living in different parts of northern Alberta.”
The documentary has sparked conversation in not only the black community, but within the educational system and the Canadian government. Dobbins says that more areas are starting to recognize the other side of Canadian pioneer history, and the discrimination that African American settlers faced when arriving and living in Canada. She says that more needs to be done, but it is a good start in recognizing the true beginning of our nation.
“Now we are no longer invisible,” says Dobbins.
“People and the government are starting to recognize it. We are out there now and that is a great start. Now we can do the hard work of getting out history into the educational system, which is so important so that our children and grandchildren can be proud. There is so much negativity and our youth are struggling for identity and there are very few people that they can relate to so now this is a start and we hope to continue the journey to bring it all together.”
“We are the Roots” will be shown in partnership with the Lethbridge Public Library, Main Branch, in the Theatre Gallery today, beginning at 2 p.m.
A question-and-answer session with the three creators of the film will follow the screening. If you are unable to attend the screening today, the documentary is available online at BaileyandSoda.com.