In and around 1910, approximately 1,500 African-Americans left their homes in Oklahoma and other places in the south, fleeing targeted violence and enforcement of the segregationist Jim Crow laws. The families migrated north to the ...See moreIn and around 1910, approximately 1,500 African-Americans left their homes in Oklahoma and other places in the south, fleeing targeted violence and enforcement of the segregationist Jim Crow laws. The families migrated north to the Canadian Prairies in search of refuge and better opportunities. When the migrants arrived, they built homes, schools, and churches; they also faced hostility and violence from many settlers who reacted to the growing Black population on the Prairies with anger and prejudice. In Saskatchewan, the group of migrants became known as the Shiloh People and lived in a small rural community outside of Maidstone (57 km east of Lloydminster). Shortly after they arrived, the Shiloh People built the Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetery, a place for the community to worship, gather, celebrate, and bury their ancestors. The film, For Caesar, explores the beginnings of the Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetery and its significance to the Shiloh People and their descendants.
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