'This is my home': Family chronicles immigration journey for Black History Month

A Black St. Albert woman is sharing her father’s journey of bringing his eight kids to Canada for a better life.

Marilyn Neil put together a digital story called The Caribbeans Go North chronicling how her dad, Elmar Neil, ventured from his native Jamaica to the British Isles, eventually emigrating to Toronto in 1966 before settling in Edmonton in 1969.

Marilyn recalls her father feeling at home when he decided to head west and reunited with his family.

“He had a lot of children, had to provide for eight and you follow the money,” Sharon Neil, the youngest daughter, said.

Elmar Neil. (Source: Marilyn Neil)

According to the Neils, making the move from England to Edmonton was a shock to the system.

The sisters distinctly remembered how cold it was when they arrived in March and how “different” they felt.

“It just felt like an absolute deep freeze,” Marilyn recalled.

Janet Neil remembers thinking, “Where is everybody?” she laughed.

Sharon remembers her and Janet being dressed in matching pink pant suits and pink bonnets, noting it was the first time they wore “slacks.”

“When we arrived at the EIA, in those days you could actually stand and see the planes coming in and then we saw our dad and when we got to that particular place we ran towards him,” she said.

'YOU DON’T FIT'

Westmount was the first neighbourhood the family moved into. Marilyn said for the most part the community and their neighbours were quite welcoming — but they didn’t always feel comfortable.

“Coming to Canada, Edmonton and not seeing a lot of Caribbean people or people of colour, it was different,” she said.

“You know when you enter a room? Some people just don’t know how to relate to you. It’s like an awkward moment for them and for you because you don’t fit,” Janet added.

Janet recalled an encounter with a stranger while playing outside their family home with one of her siblings.

“This man blew the horn and stuck out his tongue and I’m like, ‘That’s weird, why did he do that?’ I remember saying that to my father and he was really upset about that.”

The Neils were a very close-knit family and Sharon said their dad, Elmar, always taught them to be best friends with their siblings.

Mavis with three of the kids. (Source: Marilyn Neil)

The four eldest siblings. (Source: Marilyn Neil)

They had friends outside the home as well, and while they encountered some racism, Sharon said she often viewed those instances as teachable moments.

One day, she was walking home from school with a white friend when the pair passed a Black woman.

Sharon remembers her friend asking, "Aren't you going to say hi?"

Sharon asked why, as she didn't know the woman.

Her friend said, "Well, she's Black."

Sharon responded, "Well, the next time you see a white person, I want you to say hi."

"Oh, I get it," the friend said.

While all three women had a similar story to share, they didn’t discredit their time in Alberta.

“What I do recall though is my father being such a strong person in our lives helping us to be able to cope with that so we wouldn’t feel inferior,” Marilyn said.

“We instil certain values and let them know they’re worthy,” Sharon said in reference to raising her own children in Alberta.

'THIS IS MY HOME'

Looking back on their memories together, Janet felt this was the right time to tell their story for Black History Month and feels grateful the community has their back.

“It’s a celebration of life and everybody does it differently so this is how we wrote it; this is how we are writing it,” she said.

“I think the story needs to be told and should be told and I want it to be told,” Marilyn added. “It’s part of our history, part of our lives and now I'm a senior and quite proud of the life that we have been able to hand to the next generation.”

“This is my home and you work towards making it become your home.”

All eight siblings with their mother Mavis. (Source: Marilyn Neil)

The Musée Héritage Museum in St. Albert will have the photo gallery of  The Caribbeans Go North on display for the rest of the month.

“It’s not just for the month of February it’s something that we want to incorporate throughout because Black history is Canadian,” Marilyn ended.