UNews - Deborah Dobbins

History professor Bailey to be honoured with national award

trevor.kenney — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 18:13:04 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge adjunct history professor Dr. Jenna Bailey will receive the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming for her work with Edmonton’s Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots (SCMR).

Dr. Jenna Bailey

Bailey, who is also a filmmaker and senior research fellow at the U of L’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT), collaborated with SCMR president Deborah Dobbins and Dr. David Este, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary professor and expert on immigrant and refugee experiences in Canada, to produce the award-winning, hour-long video “We Are the Roots: Black Settlers and their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies”.

The group used voices of today to preserve the history of African American settlers who immigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. The award, which recognizes innovative projects that encourage communities to explore and share unique aspects of the past, will be presented by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada on January 28, 2019, at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa.

"Working on this project was an incredible learning experience for me,” says Bailey. “It was a privilege to have the opportunity to collaborate with wonderful colleagues and interviewees in order to record and preserve this important part of Canadian history. Having our efforts recognized by the Governor General's History awards is both a thrill and an honour and speaks to the significance of the stories shared by the descendants of Western Canada's black settlers."

The documentary shines a light on the struggles and successes of African American settlers – from the demanding land they fought to farm and the discrimination they faced, to forming the foundations of their communities: the churches, schools, and businesses, and the relationships that connected them. The video shares century-old memories of marginalization, reflections on resilience, and explores the question, “What can be done to end discrimination?”

Funded by the Alberta Human Rights Education and Multicultural Fund, the video has been shown at community churches, libraries, and universities, and is available online at baileyandsoda.com. The film was first shown in Edmonton in February during Black History Month and 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, as well as the Heritage Awareness Award from the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.

“It is with deep appreciation and gratitude that we receive this award,” says Dobbins. “The Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots is humbled by this honour that acknowledges our human-rights struggle is an important part of history that needs to be brought to light.”

“With this documentary video, the Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots has connected past and present, giving a voice to stories that enrich our understanding of Canada,” says Janet Walker, President and CEO of Canada’s History Society.

The Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming is administered by Canada’s History Society and comes with a $2,500 prize.

Award-winning documentary about Alberta’s African-American settlers comes to Lethbridge

caroline.zentner — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 16:30:31 +0000

Audiences in Lethbridge and southern Alberta have the opportunity to learn about the discrimination experienced by black settlers in Alberta and Saskatchewan in the early 1900s when the documentary, We are the Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies, has its Lethbridge premiere on Sunday, Oct. 21.

The film was first shown in Edmonton in February during Black History Month and 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 Resources Foundation and the 2018 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming.

Deborah Dobbins, second from left, and Dr. Jenna Bailey, third from left, accept the Elizabeth B. Mason Project Award from the Oral History Association's director, Todd More, and president-elect, Natalie Fousekis.

The history project was the brainchild of Deborah Dobbins, president of Edmonton’s Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots (SCMR). She teamed up with Drs. Jenna Bailey and David Este. Bailey is an adjunct history professor and senior research fellow at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT). Este is a professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

“It is with deep appreciation and gratitude that we receive these awards,” says Dobbins. “SCMR is humbled by these honours that acknowledge our human-rights struggle is an important part of history that needs to be brought to light.”

“We are pleased to bring this film, which highlights a little-known but important part of Alberta’s history, to Lethbridge,” says Bailey.

In making the film, Bailey and Este interviewed 19 second- and third-generation individuals from the families of the original settlers who left the United States to come to Western Canada between 1905 and 1912. Between 1,000 and 1,500 African Americans came to Canada, largely settling in the small rural Alberta communities of Amber Valley, Campsie, Wildwood and Breton and Maidstone in Saskatchewan.

“It’s a fascinating history,” says Bailey. “I learned a lot about discrimination in Alberta. What comes through in their stories is resilience. One woman said ‘It’s just a part of who we are; it’s part of our daily lives.’”

“I am a third-generation African-American Canadian,” says Dobbins. “My parents were born in Alberta and they were both African-American Canadians. Our grandparents didn’t want to talk too much about how they got here because it was terrible. The reason they came to Canada wasn’t a positive one. They left because of mistreatment. Whenever Roots or anything like that came on TV, my dad said he couldn’t watch because it just made him so angry.”

While life in Canada may have been an improvement for the pioneers, the African Americans not only faced the same hardships other settlers faced, they were also discriminated against, especially in the cities. Work was scarce; men often started their own businesses or worked as railway porters and women worked as housekeepers.

“For me, what stood out is that most Albertans have no idea about this history and these communities that helped build Alberta,” says Bailey. “In general, I think Canadians like to think that we’re not very racist or a discriminatory nation. And the number of discrimination stories that come through in the interviews through all the age groups is pretty significant.”

We are the Roots will be shown in partnership with the Lethbridge Public Library, Main Branch, in the Theatre Gallery on Sunday, Oct. 21, beginning at 2 p.m. A question-and-answer session with Dobbins, Bailey and Este follows.

A trailer is available on the COHT Facebook page.

U of L oral history project commemorates Alberta's African-American settlers

caroline.zentner — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:49:03 +0000

After more than a year in the making, a film documenting the lives of black settlers in Alberta and Saskatchewan and their experiences with discrimination will premiere in Edmonton during Black History Month.

We are the Roots: Black Settlers and Their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies was the brainchild of Deborah Dobbins, president of Edmonton’s Shiloh Centre for Multicultural Roots (SCMR). After securing funding from the Alberta Human Rights Commission, she teamed up with Drs. Jenna Bailey and David Este. Bailey is an adjunct history professor and senior research fellow at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT). Este is a professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

Dr. Jenna Bailey, along with Dr. David Este, interviewed 19 individuals, descendants of the original settlers who came to Canada to escape racial discrimination in the United States, to create 'We are the Roots.'.

“Here we are 18 months later and it has been amazing,” says Dobbins. “The people we interviewed told wonderful stories and their experiences focus on the positive, but there’s lots of adversity, too. Through it all, we’re here and able to celebrate our accomplishments.”

Bailey and Este interviewed 19 second- and third-generation individuals from the families of the original settlers who left the United States to come to Western Canada between 1905 and 1912. Between 1,000 and 1,500 African Americans came to Canada, largely settling in the small rural Alberta communities of Amber Valley, Campsie, Wildwood, Breton and Maidstone in Saskatchewan.

Deborah Dobbins secured funding to create 'We are the Roots' to educate and make people aware of black settlers who came to the Prairies.

“What seems to come through in the interviews is the subtle discrimination that people are experiencing on a daily basis,” says Bailey.

Even though they weren’t overtly welcomed to Canada, some African Americans joined the Canadian military to serve in the First and Second World Wars. They helped develop Alberta by building schools and churches and clearing the land. A brother of one interviewee was among the group of musicians who established the Yardbird Suite jazz club in Edmonton.

Dobbins relates a family story about one of her aunts, Velma Carter, who was a teacher. Carter had signed a contract with a small town to be their teacher. When she arrived, she was told it was a mistake and her services weren’t needed after all. She told them that was fine; she’d go back home and they could pay her for the year.

“They couldn’t afford to do that so they kept her and, of course, she was an excellent teacher and they all loved her,” says Dobbins. “She went on to be a principal after she moved back to the United States. Then she came back to Canada in the 1970s and wrote three books about our history.”

We are the Roots will be shown at the Shiloh Baptist Church located at 10727 114 St. NW on Feb. 24 beginning at 6 p.m. Following the premiere, the film will be available on Bailey’s website at baileyandsoda.com.

“We are hoping that it will lead to more discussion, awareness and education,” says Dobbins. “We’re small in number but we are representing our people and if we don’t do it, who’s going to do it? So, we’re going forward however we can to make sure our story is told.”

UNews - Deborah Dobbins

History professor Bailey to be honoured with national award

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