The Caribbean Diasporic Bridge.
90-minute documentary.
Canal Stories is about connecting our people. The importance of Panama in the lives of many Caribbean descendants, our focus will be especially on those living in Canada. This story, like many, is being lost to time as our elders become ancestors.
Original idea: Linda V Carter & Jessica Carter
Produced by: Linda V Carter & Jessica Carter
Toronto 2023
With the support of the Black Screen Office and the Rogers Development Fund.
Synopsis:
“A people without the knowledge of their past history origin and culture is like a tree without roots” Marcus Mosiah Garvey
Canal Stories/ The Caribbean Diasporic Bridge, is about connecting our missing family members. The importance of Panama in the lives of many Caribbean descendants, with a focus on those living in Canada.
The building of the Panama Canal was about connecting Worlds.
This story like many is being lost to time as our elders become ancestors.
As people of African descent due to the ravages of slavery most of our roots are shallow. Panama represents an opportunity for many families to potentially reconnect with family they never knew.
(Told through the Lens of a great-granddaughter of a former Canal Worker)
Jessica Carter will retrace the steps of her great-grandfather, connecting pieces of his Migrant worker life in Panama. His life represents thousands of Migrant workers who left the English-speaking Caribbean to build the famed Panama Canal.
The economic migration started around 1881 and peaked close to 1914, at the beginning of the Great War. This is considered the first labour drain and economic migration since the end of the enslavement of African peoples in the Caribbean.
Panama is one of the smallest geographic regions in Latin America and the Caribbean. A natural land bridge that connects North and South America, the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. A bridge that also connects peoples of the African Diaspora.
The Panama Canal is a man-made wonder of the world. Carved, with pick axes and dynamite through a snake-infested jungle brimming with yellow fever, many of our ancestors from the English Caribbean answered the call to build the canal. Men left Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Kitts and Grenada in droves.
Leaving their families behind, in hopes of economic improvements. Considered an economic boom for African people they headed to Panama in droves. Our ancestors were promised a huge sum of ten cents/hour rather than the usual five cents/hour the Citrus companies paid in their home a.countries and Cuba.
The Americans took over the construction of the canal in 1904. After the dismal failure of the French builders and the death of over twenty-six thousand men, many because of Yellow Fever.
But the economic windfall came at the great price of American-style racism. Black men were paid in Silver for the most dangerous jobs. While their White counterparts were paid in Gold.
The indelible mark Afro- Antillians left on Panama is felt in the cultural fabric of the entire Country. Souse, fish cakes and bun & cheese at Easter are all Panamanian staples, also typically seen in Caribbean households in Canada.
The music of the Caribbean is heard across the country from old-style Mento Music to the Panamanian fusion Reggaeton, which originated in Panama. Black history month is celebrated in May and it is recognized and enjoyed by all nationalities.
Our Why:
The first and only person I am aware of in my family who went to work on the Canal is my grandfather John William Carter. John was fifteen when he left Barbados to work on the Canal, an avid reader he left Barbados with his famous trunk of books.
How long did John stay in Panama, this is an unanswered question? Did he have children there? Did more of his family go to Panama? The name Carter is popular throughout Panama, including in the cemetery where the English-speaking canal workers are buried.
As the story goes my Grandfather later returned to Barbados. He then went to Glace Bay, Cape Breton, and like many Bajans he worked in the Steel mills. Finally on to Toronto where we pick up his story. Grandpa went on to be married and fathered 14 children. His oldest, George, became Canada’s first Canadian-born black judge. The documentary “The Making of a Judge” tells his story.
Our story begins with his first great-granddaughter going to Panama to put together the unknown pieces of our family history.
Meet our Characters
Jessica Carter: My daughter is the person who piqued my interest in Panama. She was the first person to become aware of the familiar connections between Panama, the islands and Canada. https://youtu.be/OYb8E80l2nM
At a chance encounter at the Waldorf in Panama, she met a man working at the bar there and in conversation asked him about his background. He said he was from Bocas Del Toro, (the islands bordering Costa Rica) she said he looks like people she knew in Toronto. It turned out his mother is a Ford, the resemblance was unmistakable, to our next character Bunny.
Clarence “Bunny” Ford was born and raised in Toronto he is a well known choreographer for “Cirque du Soleil”, and Olympic skaters. Bunny’s family is from Nova Scotia and Montreal, but his background is Bajan. Clarence has heard the rumours of a Panama connection but has yet to explore them.
Jason Barnes: ( Stage name Primitive) International Recording and Performance Artist. Born in Jamaica and raised in Liverpool England he has lived in Toronto, Japan, Sweden and Brazil. He knows he has family in Panama who worked on the Canal but knows nothing about them.
Patrick Gibson: Lives in Ottawa and has been working on his family tree and has found several branches in Panama.
Hon. Jean Augustine: Jean is 85 years young and vividly remembers her grandfather telling stories of his work in Panama and the conditions in which he survived. She also has fond recollections of items being sent home to Grenada from Panama which were proudly displayed in the family’s china cabinet.
Emi Wason: Translator and head of the Panamanian Cultural committee. She is a translator, community organizer and Canal worker descendant, part of her family left Panama after the Canal was built and there is a rumour that they headed to Glace Bay
Starr Jacobs: Starr is from Montreal and came to Toronto in her early twenties. She is a Costume designer and artist, working in the Toronto film industry. She recalls the story of her Grandparent’s meeting in Panama.
Her Grandfather was upset because her Grandmother was carrying a sewing machine on her head. He wanted her to get rid of it but like Starr, she was a seamstress and could make a living in Panama. Both of her grandparents were from Barbados. She is also aware of family in Panama but knows little about them.
Linda V. Carter: On one of my trips to Panama this year I went for Black History Month which is held in May. I was amazed at the depth of culture that is still on the surface there. Black history month is celebrated by everyone in Panama, not just by the Afro-Panamanians. African costumes are sold at regular stores and are worn by a wide cross-section of Panamanians.
Fantastic cultural events from fashion shows and dances to drumming are held and everyone participates. The foods like rice and peas, curry and souse!
Interviews with Panama Experts
Sheila Wilkenson: The resident Bajan in Panama. She is the head of the Barbados Panama Association, a regular visitor to Barbados and a tour guide of Panama when visitors come. She can trace her Canal Story background. She was born and raised in Panama, but her great-grandparents came to work on the canal from Barbados and stayed in Panama.
Zarik Rodrigues: Has worked on the canal for over thirty years, he is a Canal Historian and works as a Controller at head office. He was the person who kept the Canal open during the Pandemic. He remained on site for five months to keep the Canal running. He is Afro-Panamanian and has inside knowledge of the workings of the Canal, its history and behind the scenes access to the Canal.
Gerardo Maloney: Former Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago for Panama. Gerardo is an author, lecturer, filmmaker and cultural historian.
Dr. Leticia Thomas Bullen: Educator, who worked as a sociologist in New York and lectures on Afro-Caribbean culture. Lives between Montreal, New York and Panama
Dr. Agatha Williams Springer: Panama History Professor with a focus on Afro-panamanian history she is from Colon.
Our How:
We will be using Ancestry DNA, family personal histories and extensive records kept by the Canal and the former British Colonies where many of our character’s relatives lived. We have also reached out to famed genealogist/historian Henry Louis Gates
Our story will be brought to life using an array camera of techniques.
Animation will be one of the methods used to convey our story particularly to show the men digging through the canal.
Aerial photography to show the vastness of the Canal and jungle through which it was built.
In person interviews will take place in Toronto, Panama City, Colon City, (which used to be the Pearl of the Caribbean) and Bocas Del Toro, the islands between Costa Rica and Panama. We will possibly also travel to Montreal, Nova Scotia.
Jamaica, Barbados and St. Kitts.
Jason Barnes in Liverpool will be filmed via video conference.
Most of our interviews will be directed to the camera and interspersed with footage of the places being discussed in the interview.
We will incorporate walk and talks with our historians.
Music that represents the time periods being discussed will be part of the soundtrack.
While in Panama will be assisted by a film crew from the University of Panama.
We will explore the neighbourhoods where Afro-Antillean were forced to live and search the cemetery for familiar names.
Archival footage is important in telling our story. The Panama Canal tour and archival footage from the building of the Canal, plus a tour of the Canal Museum in Casco Viejo. Currently operated by an Afro-Antillean woman Nyasha Warren.
Narration and interviews conducted by Linda V. Carter. www.lindavcarter.ca
LINDA V. CARTER 