| History of Halifax, Nova Scotia |
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The Africville Apology was a formal pronouncement delivered on 24 February 2010 by the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia for the eviction and eventual destruction of Africville, a Black Nova Scotian community.
| History of Halifax, Nova Scotia |
|---|
| |
The Africville Apology was a formal pronouncement delivered on 24 February 2010 by the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia for the eviction and eventual destruction of Africville, a Black Nova Scotian community.
During the 1940s and 1950s in different parts of Canada, the federal, provincial and municipal governments were working together to take communities labelled "slums" and relocate the people to better housing. The intent was to use the land for business and industry. Many years earlier, and again in 1947, after a major fire burnt several Africville houses, the topic of relocation of Africville was discussed. Concrete plans of relocation, stimulated by the 1957 Stephenson Report, did not officially emerge until 1961 with the creation of the City's Department of Development.
In 1962, Halifax adopted the relocation proposal unanimously. Promising free lawyers and social workers, as well as such things as job training, employment assistance, education services to those affected, the Rose Report (publ. 1964) was passed 37/41 in favour of relocation to other locations in Halifax. [1] The report never went into details or analyzed what the lives of residents would be like in their new homes, but was insistent that their best interests were at heart.
The relocation took place mainly between 1964 and 1967. The residents were assisted in their move by the City's authorities, moving the Africvillians with city dump trucks. This image forever stuck in the minds and hearts of people and indicated the degrading style in which these people were treated. There were many hardships, suspicion and jealousy that emerged, mostly due to complications of land and ownership claims. Only 14 residents held clear legal titles to their land. Those with no legal rights were given a $500 payment and promised a furniture allowance, social assistance, and public housing units. [2] Young families would make enough money to begin a new life, but most of the elderly residents would not budge as they had much more of an emotional connection to their homes. Though filled with grief and feeling cheated out of their property, resistance to eviction became harder as more people accepted and homes disappeared.
The city quickly demolished each house as soon as residents moved out. The church at Africville was demolished in 1969 at night to avoid controversy. The last Africville home was demolished on 2 January 1970. [3]
Part of Africville is now occupied by a highway interchange that services the A. Murray MacKay Bridge; however, the port development at Fairview Cove did not extend as far east as Africville, leaving the waterfront intact.
Efforts to address the plight of the Africville relocation happened over 25 years. These efforts were largely led by the Africville Genealogy Society. [4]
In light of the controversy surrounding the community, the City of Halifax created Seaview Memorial Park on the site in the 1980s, preserving it from development. Former Africville residents such as Eddie Carvery carried out periodic protests at the park throughout the 1980s and 1990s. [5]
In 1989, a historic exhibit about Africville toured across Canada and evolved into a permanent exhibit on display at Nova Scotia's Black Cultural Centre in Preston. In 2001, a United Nations report called for reparations to be paid to the community of Africville.
Numerous musicians have commemorated the story of Africville, in part, to pressure governments to provide redress.
There are various film and theatre productions made to commemorate the plight of Africville.
In May 2005, MLA Maureen MacDonald (Nova Scotia NDP) introduced a bill in the provincial legislature called the Africville Act. The bill calls for a formal apology from the Nova Scotia Government; a series of public hearings on the destruction of Africville; and the establishment of a development fund towards the historical preservation of Africville lands and towards social development in benefit of former residents and their descendants.
Halifax mayor Peter Kelly has offered land, money, and various other services for a replica of the Seaview African United Baptist Church. After the offer was originally made in 2002, the Africville Genealogy Society requested some alterations to the Halifax offer, including additional land and the possibility of building affordable housing near the site. The Africville site was declared a national historic site in 2002.
In February 2010, Halifax Council ratified the Africville Apology, and the Government of Canada announced $250,000 for the Africville Heritage Trust to design a museum and build a replica of the community church. [7] On 24 February, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly made the Africville Apology as part of a $4.5-million compensation deal, officially apologizing for the eviction. Among other things, Kelly said,
We apologize for the heartache experienced at the loss of the Seaview United Baptist Church, the spiritual heart of the community, removed in the middle of the night. We acknowledge the tremendous importance the church had, both for the congregation and the community as a whole. We realize words cannot undo what has been done, but we are profoundly sorry and apologize to all the former residents and their descendants.
On 29 July 2011, the city restored the name Africville to Seaview Park at the annual Africville Family Reunion. [8] The Seaview African United Baptist Church, demolished in 1969, was rebuilt in the summer of 2011 to serve as a church and interpretation centre. The church was ceremonially opened on 25 September. [9] [10]
Rev. Rhonda Britten, a leader in the African-Nova-Scotian community, [11] welcomed the settlement and said it was time to put the past behind them: [12]
I know that there are some among us who are wounded, and some among us who bear those scars. But, in spite of all of that, the victory has been won. We cannot continue to feed our children the bitter pills, we must give them the pills of love. We must plant in them the seeds of unity and victory. That is the only way.
North Preston is a community located in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Peter J. Kelly is a municipal civil servant, businessman and former politician. Kelly is the former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, who was fired in May 2022. He is a former mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia. Kelly was elected to Bedford town council in 1985, then became mayor in 1991. In 1995, in the newly amalgamated HRM, he was elected councillor for Bedford, Nova Scotia. In 2000, he was elected Mayor of the HRM. Under scrutiny for his role in the HRM concert scandal and as executor for the will of Mary Thibeault, Kelly left politics in 2012 citing 'personal reasons'.
Africville was a small community of predominantly Black Canadians located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It developed on the southern shore of Bedford Basin and existed from the early 1800s to the 1960s. From 1970 to the present, a protest has occupied space on the grounds. The government has recognized it as a commemorative site and established a museum here. The community has become an important symbol of killing identity, as an example of the "urban renewal" trend of the 1960s that razed similarly racialized neighbourhoods across Canada, and the struggle against racism.
The North End of Halifax is a subdivision of Halifax, Nova Scotia occupying the northern part of Halifax Peninsula immediately north of Downtown Halifax. The area once included historic Africville, and parts of it were severely damaged in the Halifax Explosion during World War I. A neighbourhood with strong African Nova Scotian roots, the area has undergone gentrification in recent years.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, was originally inhabited by the Miꞌkmaq. The first European settlers to arrive in the future Halifax region were French, in the early 1600s, establishing the colony of Acadia. The British settled Halifax in 1749, which sparked Father Le Loutre's War. To guard against Miꞌkmaw, Acadian, and French attacks on the new Protestant settlements, British fortifications were erected in Halifax (1749), Bedford (1749), Dartmouth (1750), and Lawrencetown (1754). St. Margaret's Bay was first settled by French-speaking Foreign Protestants at French Village, Nova Scotia, who migrated from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, during the American Revolution. All of these regions were amalgamated into the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in 1996. While all of the regions of HRM developed separately over the last 250 years, their histories have also been intertwined.
Viola Irene Desmond was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.
Goff's is a Canadian rural community in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.
Beechville is a Black Nova Scotian settlement and suburban community within the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada, on the St. Margaret's Bay Road. The Beechville Lakeside Timberlea (BLT) trail starts here near Lovett Lake, following the line of the old Halifax and Southwestern Railway. Ridgecliff Middle School, located in Beechville Estates, serves the communities of Beechville, Lakeside and Timberlea.
Poor Boy's Game is a Canadian feature film directed by Clement Virgo. Co-written with Nova Scotian writer/director Chaz Thorne, it is the story of class struggle, racial tensions, and boxing, set in the Canadian east coast port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The film premiered on February 11, 2007, at the Berlin International Film Festival. The movie stars Danny Glover, Rossif Sutherland, Greg Bryk, Flex Alexander and Laura Regan.
Black Nova Scotians are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada, during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As of the 2016 Census of Canada, 21,915 Black people live in Nova Scotia, most in Halifax. Since the 1950s, numerous Black Nova Scotians have migrated to Toronto for its larger range of opportunities. Before the immigration reforms of 1967, Black Nova Scotians formed 37% of the total Black Canadian population.
Uniacke Square is a public housing residential area in the north central area of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is flanked in the northeast by Brunswick Street and to the southwest by Gottingen Street.
Black refugees were black people who escaped slavery in the United States during the War of 1812 and settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Trinidad. The term is used in Canada for those who settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They were the most numerous of the African Americans who sought freedom during the War of 1812. The Black refugees were the second group of African Americans, after the Black Loyalists, to flee American enslavement in wartime and settle in Canada. They make up the most significant single immigration source for today's African Nova Scotian communities. During the antebellum period, however, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Black refugees reached freedom in Canada, often traveling alone or in small family groups.
Mulgrave Park is a residential neighbourhood in North End Halifax, Nova Scotia. It consists of local public housing along Barrington Street. It is also referred to as MGP by most residents.
Eddie Carvery is a social activist from Africville, Nova Scotia. The small, mainly black community in Halifax was destroyed by the city in the 1960s as an "urban renewal" project, after years of neglect and poor services.
The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia is located in Cherrybrook, Nova Scotia, in the Halifax Regional Municipality. The centre is a museum and a library resource centre that focuses on the history and culture of African Nova Scotians. The organization of the Black Cultural Society was incorporated as a charitable organization in 1977 and the centre opened its doors in 1983, with a goal to educate and inspire and to protect, preserve and promote Black culture in Nova Scotia. The centre is located on Trunk 7 at 1149 Main Street.
Sylvia D. Hamilton is a Canadian filmmaker, writer and artist. Based in Nova Scotia, her work explores the lives and experiences of people of African descent. Her special focus is on African Nova Scotians, and especially women. In particular, her work takes the form of documentary films, writing, public presentations, teaching, mentoring, extensive volunteer work and community involvement. She has uncovered stories of struggles and contributions of African Canadians and introduced them to mainstream audiences. Through her work, she exposes the roots and the presence of systemic racism in Canada. She aims to provide opportunities for Black and Indigenous youth through education and empowerment.
New Horizons Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832. When the chapel was completed, black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud because it was evidence that former slaves could establish their own institutions in Nova Scotia. Under the direction of Richard Preston, the church laid the foundation for social action to address the plight of Black Nova Scotians.
Joan Carol Jones was a Canadian businesswoman and civil rights activist who was born in the United States and raised in Ontario, Canada. She was married to Black Nova Scotian and internationally known political activist Rocky Jones, whom she influenced to become more active in the issues of black activism causes espoused by Malcolm X and writer James Baldwin, during the black radicalism period of the 1960s. Together they were among the founders of Kwacha House, an interracial youth club in Halifax and were later instrumental in bringing Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panther Party to Halifax. They adopted the radicalized language of the Panthers and organized with Carmichael's help the Black United Front, taking on issues of police brutality, employment and housing discrimination in the black community.
Corrine Sparks is a Canadian judge. She was the first Black Canadian woman to become a judge in Canada, and the first black judge in the province of Nova Scotia. Her decision in the case R v S (RD), which was controversially overturned on appeal, was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in a leading decision on reasonable apprehension of bias.
Shauntay Grant is a Canadian author, poet, playwright, and professor. Between 2009 and 2011, she served as the third poet laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is known for writing Africville, a children's picture book about a black community by the same name that was razed by the city of Halifax in the 1960s. "Africville" was nominated for a 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award. The book also won the 2019 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was among 13 picture books listed on the United States Board on Books for Young People's 2019 USBBY Outstanding International Books List.
Coordinates: 44°40′28.5″N63°37′6.6″W / 44.674583°N 63.618500°W
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