Her roots are Japanese; her passion is black history
Her family lost its language. Its farm and property. Its traditions. And the very culture that made them unique.
Alexis Spieldenner, 25, is a fourth generation Japanese Canadian.
Her great-grandparents came to Canada in the early 1900s, and built a life for themselves on a berry farm just outside of Vancouver. Then one day, it was all taken away.
In the weeks, and months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Canadians of Japanese heritage were forced out of their homes and businesses, and sent to internment camps.
After several re-locations, her great-grandparents and their children ended up at a camp called Tashme, east of Vancouver. It was little more than a collection of wooden shacks and barren land.
Japanese Canadians had their homes, farms businesses and personal property sold, to pay for their detainment.
Even after the end of the Second World War, they were given two choices by the Canadian government: move to Japan, or go east.
And that’s how Spieldenner’s grandmother ended up in Toronto, where she met and married her husband.
And for the rest of their lives, they assimilated into Canadian culture. A Japanese proverb – the nail that sticks up will be hammered down – taught them not to stand out, not to be Japanese. From then on, they spoke only English. Changed their names from Ryuko and Tsugeo, to Ricki and Bob. And forged ahead, to rebuild their lives.
“They lost everything they had worked for,” said Spieldenner.
Despite all that, they remained proud to be Canadian, she said.
Spieldenner has been awarded a Lincoln M. Alexander Award for her work to end racial discrimination and promote positive social change. She is one of three recipients in Ontario.
Spieldenner founded the North Star Freedom Festival, an event which celebrates the experiences and contributions of people of African descent in Niagara.
When she moved to Niagara-onthe-Lake nearly five years ago from the U.S., she was drawn into the stories of black history. And with the injustices in her own family history in the back of her thoughts, she was determined to give voice to another unrecognized history.
The North Star Freedom Festival started in 2015, with support from local black historian Wilma Morrison. It featured classical, jazz and blue performances that included Canada’s Nathaniel Dett Chorale, outreach to schools, and a Freedom River Cruise which included blues singer and Motown legend, Harrison Kennedy, as well as historical reenactments and a performance as people sailed on the Niagara River.
The festival is held every second year, and this September the featured musician is Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman who will perform her Songs of Freedom.
The festival is offered through Bravo Niagara, a not-for-profit organization started by Spiel den n er and her mother, Christine Mori, to bring Canadian and international musicians to Niagara. Their vision is to celebrate the region’s rich history, and foster intercultural understanding.
Mori is a classically trained Juilliard pianist, and for 30 years she was the principal pianist for the Florida Orchestra in Tampa Bay.
Spieldenner began studying the harp at age five, and served as the principal harpist for the St. Petersburg Opera Company for five years.
Music is engaging and accessible. And it allows for discussion of difficult issues, said Spieldenner.
“There is power in the arts as a universal language,” she said.
“It was learning about my family’s experience that inspired me and made me more committed to giving voice to stories that aren’t always part of the common narrative.
“Black history is Canadian history. It’s something every Canadian needs to know,” she said.
“There are so many stories that are vitally important to our shared history.”