Tracy Lee discusses Black history at high school presentation
MOUNT FOREST – Singer and storyteller Tracy Lee visited Wellington Heights Secondary School (WHSS) on April 10 to share her presentation, “And Then What Happened? Black Canadian History: The Untold Stories.”
WHSS principal Brent Block said Lee impressed students with an incredible story of her ancestors’ journey to Canada via the Underground Railroad to the Queen’s Bush area, where thousands of Black pioneers cleared the land and established a thriving settlement area in the 1800s.
Lee interacted warmly and enthusiastically with all Grades 9 and 10 students, and she delivered her message through stories, photos and songs that she sang with her smooth vocal styling that has been influenced by gospel, jaz, and R&B music, Block continued.
Lee has been compared to musical artists like Ella Fitzgerald, but she has a unique vocal style that combines the influences of many of the great singers of history, he said.
In addition to singing and explaining the meaning behind several well-known songs such as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Lee taught students about the Underground Railroad, and she shared stories of her own ancestors who helped to settle the Queen’s Bush Settlement near the hamlets of Floradale, Glen Allan and Wallenstein.
The guest speaker presentation was part of the school’s ongoing efforts to promote human rights education and to bring local Black history alive.
