Layla

Layla is an 11-year-old girl from Chatham, Ontario. She is an 8th generation Canadian of African American descent. Layla teaches us about her rich family history in the region of Buxton Ontario, where her ancestors have stayed and kept a farm, that her family still owns to this day! Layla shows us her room, which is full of inspirational messages to help her through her day. Layla has many medals from basketball and ballet -- and she even has a baseball autographed by Fergie Jenkins, a former black baseball pitcher and coach from Layla's hometown! Layla takes us to the Buxton Museum, which documents the history of the first Black settlers of the area, who were former enslaved people. One of them was Layla's ancestor! Dennis Calico Robbins is one of those first settlers and is commemorated at the museum. She's so proud to share some of her heritage with us. Plus, Layla gets an inspirational message from Kia Nurse, Canadian basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).