McGill School of Architecture MSoA — ARCH673
People
by Sally Abd-Ali, May Bi, Katia Broz, Madeleine Lachance & Teagan Vincent“The lived experiences of any place are important, but the situated experience of living incommunities marked by structural classism and racism provides its residents with uniqueknowledge that cannot be understood from outside observation”
Immigration Waves
Black immigration timeline (1)
The Bruneau, Philip, Llewellyn family
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Suzanne: ‘Me coming to the community and trying to connect them with their glorious past came out of my trauma. We suffered serious racism.’
Ethel: ‘I come from Harlem. Harlem people, that crap [racism] don’t get to you.’
Majiza: It’s also because you were around a lot of other black people. Mom grey up around a lot of white people.
Ethel: I never thought of that because
Majiza: Because you were surrounded by so many balck people.
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The Bruneau, Philip, Llewellyn family has been part of the Little Burgundy community since the arrival of Ethel Bruneau in 1953. You’ll come to discover through the following testimonies the importance of tap dance in the heritage of this family and the many meanings that hide in practicing ‘hoofing’.
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Ethel Bruneau has been and continues to remain active through a myriad of roles in the community, many of which relate to tap dancing. While building friendships, teaching, and performing, Ethel also strongly values and passes down the important generational values in tap dancing. She takes pride in her heritage and she plans on teaching no matter what challenges life brings on.
Figure 3: Biography of Ethel Bruneau
Suzanne Bruneau, Ethel’s eldest child and only daughter grew up in Brossard, Quebec. She recalls experiencing severe racism. Suzanne would turn to her mother and to tap dancing to affirm her identity as a black child. Like her mother, Suzanne continues to feel a deep connection to practicing and teaching tap dancing. She finds in this art a means of connection to her ancestors, healing her trauma and peacefully protesting against systemic racism.
Figure 4: Biography of Suzanne Bruneau
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Majiza Philip, daughter of Suzanne and granddaughter of Ethel grew up in Little Burgundy in the 1980s. She remembers attending a few community events at the NCC in her early childhood. Having Ethel and Suzanne as mentors, Majiza started tap dancing at the age of 3. She quickly learnt the multigenerational value found in hoofing. Having strong family ties and a strong sense of community shaped the woman she is today. After experiencing police brutality in 2014, Majiza still struggles with the mental and emotional challenges resulting from the violent attack. She nonetheless remain resilient and always strive to do more.
[Warning] Graphic description of police brutality experience.
Figure 5: Biography of Majiza Philip
Demographics
Current demographics of Little Burgundy will be presented alongside this mural, Hommage à La Petite-Bourgogne, created by MU and Roadsworth in 2016, commissioned by Hydro-Québec. The colourful mural displays the rich history of the neighbourhood in a fresh and vibrant style.
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The area of study is bound by Guy Street, Atwater Avenue, the Ville-Marie Highway, and the Lachine Canal. Although Little Burgundy officially includes an additional area adjacent to Guy Street and the Lachine Canal, which has been excluded from the study as the Statistics Canada’s defined area exceeded the neighbourhood boundaries.
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Diversity in Little Burgundy is recognized as a unifying and learning opportunity by its residents. At the community workshop, many expressed their desire for inclusive cultural spaces for all.
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Although the youth make up a smaller portion of the neighbourhood, the community is driven to provide them with spaces to fuel their creativity and growth. Better housing, mobility, socializing opportunities, and participation in activites for the current and future older population is also an important goal for the community.
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In Little Burgundy, about 4 out of 10 children live in a one-parent family and most one-parent families have a mother rather than a father. Single parent families are considered to have a social disadvantage. The community has relentlessly demonstrated its solidarity in providing services whenever support is needed.
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About 50% of Little Burgundy residents resort to cars, trucks or vans to commute to work. This suggests that many people need to leave Little Burgundy to work and to meet their needs. At the community workshop, participants wished for better economic opporutinities within their neighbourhood. Creating businesses catered to the residents and owned by members of the communty was one of their top aspirations.
The area of study is bound by Guy Street, Atwater Avenue, the Ville-Marie Highway, and the Lachine Canal. Although Little Burgundy officially includes an additional area adjacent to Guy Street and the Lachine Canal, which has been excluded from the study as the Statistics Canada’s defined area exceeded the neighbourhood boundaries.
Diversity in Little Burgundy is recognized as a unifying and learning opportunity by its residents. At the community workshop, many expressed their desire for inclusive cultural spaces for all.
Services & Amenities
Service and amenities map
Bounded by the Ville-Marie Highway to the north, Guy Street to the east, the Lachine Canal to the south, and Atwater Avenue to the west, Little Burgundy contains many services and amenities within its small footprint. A high concentration of community services and groups exist in the northeast sector of the borough, including Youth in Motion and Tyndale-St. George Community Centre. In the southern sector of the neighbourhood, several restaurants and retail spaces line Rue Notre-Dame Ouest.
Figure X: Coloured Womens Club Profile
Figure X: Tyndale-St. George Community Centre Profile
Figure X: MDJ L’Escampettes Profile
Figure X: CEDA Profile
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Figure X: DESTA Black Youth Network Profile
Figure X: Youth in Motion Profile