Montreal is honoring the tragedy of the Little Burgundy Negro Community Centre. A memorial took place for the 12 Black children who drowned in the 1954 boating incident.
On July 13, mourners gathered at the Montreal park where the drowning happened. Seventy years prior, children traveled to the area for a day trip that would change their community forever.
An innocent boat ride turned fatal as a vessel capsized with multiple children on board, most not knowing how to swim. While some survived, 12 children never returned to the shore alive. Their descendants now honor their lives and legacy while speaking on how their deaths impact the community today.
“It was just this heavy, dark secret,” recalled Allison Saunders, an organizer for the event and relative of the deceased, to CTV News. “People were not allowed to talk about it or our families were kind of, you know, not allowed to go swimming or not allowed to be far from their parents, but never really knowing why that is.”
All of the victims’ names are now ingrained in a memorial plaque, serving as a reminder of the preventable drowning.
Saunders added, “I think it’s really nice to have it marked so that people can come and remember them and learn a little bit about this story.”
While the deaths led to boating regulations, the center’s advocates continue to push for mandatory swim classes in Canadian schools. Racism led to the historic barring of Black people from public pools in the country, confirmed by the University of Toronto. While the laws have changed, its systemic impact persists. However, the center’s members hope to dismantle the barriers in the victims’ names.
The memorial is more than a remembrance of those who drowned. It remains a call to action for all children in Canada to learn the life-saving skill.
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