Debbie Beaver

Debbie Beaver is a fourth-generation descendant of enslaved people who migrated to Canada. Beaver was born in Barrhead, Alberta, in 1952. Her great-grandparents on both sides moved to Canada in the early 20th century, escaping the racial persecution they faced in the southern United States. Her great-grandfather, James Moses Beaver, moved from the Carolinas to Oklahoma before journeying to Canada. They crossed the border at Emerson, Manitoba, and settled with other families in Campsie, Alberta, near Barrhead.