The highlight of the Standing on Their Shoulders project will be a series of 20 youth-produced videos. For these 20 videos, we young black people are taking in the Black history of Little Burgundy and making it our own.
The twenty videos, produced by Great Things Studios, present a mix of drawing, painting, dance, performance, poetry, and monologues. For these documentary-style short films, we each chose to present a unique story about the Little Burgundy community and have worked hard to express their importance. Needless to say, we could not have done this without help.
Seniors have a wealth of knowledge to share about Little Burgundy, and have been generous with their time and their memories. During the filming process, we sat down to talk with influential people, all with a deep connection to Little Burgundy. They have shared their stories from Royal Arthur School, Union United Church, and Rockhead’s Paradise. They spoke about their experiences as Black people in Little Burgundy, growing up playing music, and other important aspects of their lives that our generation can understand.
Speaking to seniors first-hand, and recording and interpreting their testimony has been a large part of us becoming griots. We have come to learn, understand and appreciate Little Burgundy’s past through the eyes of our elders, and through our films we will carry this history forward to the next generation
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