ESL students find common ground unearthing story of Black Canadian WWI soldier

When 15-year-old Khalid Abdi was asked to investigate the life of a Canadian soldier from 100 years ago, he wasn't super excited about the class project at first.

Growing up in Somalia, Abdi had always felt bored by history. But the English as a Second Language (ESL)student at Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawasoon realized he and this soldier had something in common.

"Pretty much, my life and his life [are] the same," said Abdi, who came to Canada with his family in December of 2019. Abdi soon discovered his own experience of Somalia's ongoing civil warhelped him relateto Harry Timothy Jones, a member of Canada's only all-Black First World War battalion.

For Abdi's teacher, Jessica McIntyre, it's a heartbreaking link that nonetheless allows many in her Ottawa class of international, refugee and immigrant students between the 22 students,they speak 12 languages to connect with an overlooked chapter of Canadian history.

It led toauthentic and powerful conversations about war, and heartbreaking conversations about the consequences.- Jessica McIntyre, teacher

"Some of them have lived through the Syrian war, the Somali war,"saidMcIntyre.

"It led toauthentic and powerful conversations about war, and heartbreaking conversations about the consequences."

McIntyre's ESLclassis one of 15 classes across Ottawa participatinginan initiative across the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board dubbed Project True North,which tasks students withsifting through archival documents to paint a picture of the lives of soldiers in the First World War.

• The story of Canada's WWI all-Black military battalion

The No. 2 Construction Battalionwas created in 1916 forBlack Canadians who wanted to enlist, but had been barred from serving. The battalionbuilt bridges and roads andremoved mines, and were considered a key support in the war effort.

"We really want our students to challenge accepted versions of Canadian history and share these stories the true stories of what Canadian history is,"said McIntyre.

Getting to know Harry

McIntyre's ESL classgot to know Harry Timothy Jones, a New Brunswick residentwho signed up for the war effort despite having a wife and four childrenat home (hisfifth child was born while he was in France, where the battalionwas predominantly based).

Medical records show Jones suffered a serious injury while in France's Lajoux forest, where he was cutting down trees that wouldbe used for railways. The injury left him paralyzed on his left side.Three months after arriving in France, he was on his way back home.

"These documents are hard for even archivists to understand," said McIntyre.

"I think it's incrediblethat these students who are learning English are able to piece together and lend their voices tothis soldier who's no longer able to share his experiences in the war. It's truly beautiful."

For the students, Jones's story has revealed a difficult chapter of Canada's past, when Canadians who wanted to serve their country couldn't because of the colour of their skin.

"IfI wanted to fight for my country, no matter what colour I am, I have to fight for my country. It's surprising that they said, 'No, because you are a Black man,' " said 17-year-old Hilal Abdi, Khalid's older sister.

McIntyre saidthe project has also given her students a chance to share their own experiences of discrimination.

"I'm Black, so I find people that hate my skin. I am a Muslim, I wear a hijab,so I find people hate my hijab. But at the same time, I find people that are happy about my colour and lovemy hijab," said Hajira Abdi, 14,Khalid and Hilal'syounger sister.

All three siblings are in the same class, and are taking part in the project together.

Sharing a soldier'sstorywith his descendants

McIntyre said her classbecame so emotionally invested in Jones's story that one student suggested theydrive to New Brunswick to tell people there about him.

Thougha road trip was not in the cards, they did take a journey through ancestry.com, obituaries and Facebook, where they managedto track down Jones'sgreat-great-grandson,James McCarty.

The classreached out and learned that McCartyknew nothing about his mother's side of the family, so theyshared Jones's story with him.

"He was so happy, it was so cool. We feel so happy that we can teach him," said Hajira.

"For us, I think it brings the whole project full circle,"said McIntyre. "We're able to make sure his legacy lives on. Harry's great-great-grandson has said that he's sharing Harry's story with his own family and how grateful he is for us sharing his story through our voices."

More than a history lesson

Over time, the goal of Project True North isfor students to uncover the stories of all 670 soldiers whomade up the No. 2 Construction battalion, and add them to a database.

• Federal government to apologize for treatment of No. 2 Construction Battalion members

For Cam Jones, one of the teachers who developed the project, it's a means of makingstudents fromdifferent backgrounds feel like their own stories are reflected in history class.

"I think in Canada we often pride ourselves on not being as 'bad' ...as other countriesin terms of race relations," he said.

Jones said this project is even more vital now that thefederal government has announced its intention to apologize to the descendants of the battalion.

"One of the things we have to acknowledge is that we have our own history that we haven't spent a lot of time talking about."

For McIntyre, Jones's story has becomemore than a history lesson.

"What we learn from these soldiers is that no matter how young or how old, sacrifice is sacrifice, and it's meant to be honoured. All of my students have said that they will never forget the life of Harry Timothy Jones."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.