Seaman family videos : Celebrating Halloween in Laval, Quebec

Description

Item consists of a Black-Canadian family’s home movie featuring children in costumes, joking around, waving to the camera, entering and exiting a home, and showing off their treats. Donor(s) and project contributed description follows: "The Seaman family moved to their second family home on 100th Avenue in Chomedey, Laval, Quebec in the mid-1970s. In this particular footage, Heather recalls getting ready for Halloween and dressing up in homemade costumes. Heather recalls doing a multitude of different activities as a child, and explains that they weren’t limited as children. For example, her brother, Herbert, played hockey at a high level and played guitar, while she and her sister Hazel figure skated, took piano lessons, and dance classes. "We were the only Black family in the neighbourhood and an interesting story is when we first moved there, people were shocked to see a Black family with two cars!" In Laval, while living at their fourth family home, back on 100th Avenue in Chomedey, Heather’s mother, Althea Joseph Charles Seaman, started the ‘Laval Black Community Association’ in 1983 to bring together Black people from different cultural backgrounds. The intention was to create a support system, but also a space for people to learn about each other’s cultures and share their achievements and heritage with the wider Canadian community. Her mother also developed an annual Black History Month celebration where people showcased their artwork, music, writing, spoken word pieces and dance performances. Business people, clergy from various faiths and politicians from all levels of government were always in the audience – no matter their race or whether they were English or French speakers. "The organizations that our mom created were to give us a sense of our heritage" and to share that with others."