Nova Scotia is a province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and most populous province in Atlantic Canada, with an estimated population of over 1 million as of 2024; it is also the second-most densely populated province in Canada, and second-smallest province by area. The province comprises the Nova Scotia peninsula and Cape Breton Island, as well as 3,800 other coastal islands. The province is connected to the rest of Canada by the Isthmus of Chignecto, on which the province's land border with New Brunswick is located.
George Dixon was a Canadian professional boxer. After winning the bantamweight title in 1890, he became the first ever black athlete to win a world championship in any sport; he was also the first Canadian-born boxing champion. Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer ranked Dixon as the #1 featherweight of all-time. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame in 1956 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a first-class inductee in 1990. In 2018 he was named one of the greatest 15 athletes in Nova Scotia's history, ranking sixth.
Africville was a small community of predominantly African Nova Scotians 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 Black Canadian 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 Old Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Downtown Halifax.
Rossif Sutherland is a Canadian actor, son of actor Donald Sutherland, brother of actors Angus Sutherland, Roeg Sutherland, and half-brother of actor Kiefer Sutherland. Rossif has appeared in various projects including TV series like ER and Crossing Lines and films such as Poor Boy's Game and River. As of fall 2024 he stars in the Canadian-produced drama Murder In A Small Town based on the “Alberg and Cassandra Mysteries” crime fiction series by L. R. Wright.
Jean-Paul Mascarene was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as commander of the 40th Regiment of Foot and governor of Nova Scotia from 1740 to 1749. During this period, he led the colony through King George's War with the French, and rose to the rank of Major-general. He is best known for repulsing two French attempts to capture Annapolis Royal in 1744 and 1745.
Delmore William "Buddy" Daye was a Canadian professional boxer and community activist.
The history of Nova Scotia covers a period from thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Nova Scotia were inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the region was claimed by France and a colony formed, primarily made up of Catholic Acadians and Mi'kmaq. This time period involved six wars in which the Mi'kmaq along with the French and some Acadians resisted British control of the region: the French and Indian Wars, Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War. During Father Le Loutre's War, the capital was moved from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, to the newly established Halifax, Nova Scotia (1749). The warfare ended with the Burying the Hatchet ceremony (1761). After the colonial wars, New England Planters and Foreign Protestants immigrated to Nova Scotia. After the American Revolution, Loyalists immigrated to the colony. During the nineteenth century, Nova Scotia became self-governing in 1848 and joined the Canadian Confederation in 1867.
Clement Virgo is a Canadian film and television writer, producer and director who runs the production company, Conquering Lion Pictures, with producer Damon D'Oliveira. Virgo is best known for co-writing and directing an adaptation of the novel by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes (2015), a six-part miniseries that aired on CBC Television in Canada and BET in the United States.
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 2021 Census of Canada, 28,220 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. The first recorded free African person in Nova Scotia, Mathieu da Costa, a Mikmaq interpreter, was recorded among the founders of Port Royal in 1604. West Africans escaped slavery by coming to Nova Scotia in early British and French Colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many came as enslaved people, primarily from the French West Indies to Nova Scotia during the founding of Louisbourg. The second major migration of people to Nova Scotia happened following the American Revolution, when the British evacuated thousands of slaves who had fled to their lines during the war. They were given freedom by the Crown if they joined British lines, and some 3,000 African Americans were resettled in Nova Scotia after the war, where they were known as Black Loyalists. There was also the forced migration of the Jamaican Maroons in 1796, although the British supported the desire of a third of the Loyalists and nearly all of the Maroons to establish Freetown in Sierra Leone four years later, where they formed the Sierra Leone Creole ethnic identity.
Chaz Thorne is a Canadian actor and television and film director. He graduated from the National Theatre School in 1996. He has appeared on stages across Canada as well as in numerous film and television projects, including The Event and Lucky Girl. Thorne founded Toronto's Jack in the Black Theatre in 1996.
Ricky Anderson is a Canadian-born former professional boxer. Anderson was due to represent Canada at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but the Canadian teams boycotted the event. He continued to become a top amateur boxer, and later the Canadian Welterweight boxing champion as a pro.
Just Buried is a 2007 Canadian dark comedy film, written and directed by Chaz Thorne. It stars Jay Baruchel and Rose Byrne among several other actors.
High Life is a 2009 Canadian film based on the stage play by Lee MacDougall, written by Lee MacDougall and directed by Gary Yates. Starring Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Joe Anderson and Rossif Sutherland, High Life is a comedic heist movie from the flip-side of the '80s consumer dream.
The Michael Weir Foundation for the Arts is an organization that supports excellence in the arts, in memory of artist Michael Weir. The Michael Weir Foundation for the Arts sponsors awards that honour artistic excellence, including an annual award at the Atlantic Film Festival.
Nova Scotia is a Canadian province located in Canada's Maritimes. The region was initially occupied by Mi'kmaq. The colonial history of Nova Scotia includes the present-day Maritime Provinces and the northern part of Maine, all of which were at one time part of Nova Scotia. In 1763, Cape Breton Island and St. John's Island became part of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's Island became a separate colony. Nova Scotia included present-day New Brunswick until that province was established in 1784. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the colony was primarily made up of Catholic Acadians, Maliseet, and Mi'kmaq. During the last 75 years of this time period, there were six colonial wars that took place in Nova Scotia. After agreeing to several peace treaties, the long period of warfare ended with the Halifax Treaties (1761) and two years later, when the British defeated the French in North America (1763). During those wars, the Acadians, Mi'kmaq and Maliseet from the region fought to protect the border of Acadia from New England. They fought the war on two fronts: the southern border of Acadia, which New France defined as the Kennebec River in southern Maine, and in Nova Scotia, which involved preventing New Englanders from taking the capital of Acadia, Port Royal and establishing themselves at Canso.
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. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada.
David Downey is a former two-time Canadian Middleweight Champion and a member of the Boxing Downeys dynasty. He was the son of George Downey and is the father of Olympian Ray Downey. He is in the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame and the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame.
Leonard Sinclair Sparks was a welterweight boxer who won three Canadian boxing titles, including the Maritime welterweight championship, the Canadian junior welterweight championship, and the Canadian welterweight championship. Sparks was a switch hitter, who had power in both hands and finished his career with 28 wins, 10 losses, and 2 draws, including 17 knockouts. Sparks would appear on match cards in Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden in the 1960s. He was also scheduled to appear in Madison Square Garden against Charley Scott of Philadelphia on the undercard of the first bout of Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson. The Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson bout would be relocated to the Las Vegas Convention Center, and Lennie would instead fight Charley Scott in the Boston Garden.
