With a grant given through our Musagetes grant program, The Guelph Black Heritage Society has been creating a historical video series, Change Starts Now: Our Stories. Our History. Our Heritage. This project features five short videos that highlight the stories, struggles and triumphs of Black community members from the 1800s and early 1900s.
The drive behind this series is a way to address the absence and erasure of Black history in Guelph, Wellington County by working to change the prevailing narrative and create resources for the community. The individuals highlighted lived in southwestern Ontario and helped build the Black community, but their stories are unknown to many. These videos help amplify their voices and gives roots to the current experience and heritage within our shared understanding of local history.
The two videos in the series which have been published thus far have had hundreds of views by people online through YouTube, and many in person, as teachers from local schools have been showing the videos in their classrooms. The resources created by this project are useful learning tools to be used year round beyond Black Heritage Month.