Historian and Halifax Poet Laureate Afua Cooper on the lack of visible recognition of Black history in Halifax, and why some kind of memorialization of the many contributions of the Jamaican Maroons would be a good way to start filling that void.
Four videos on carding in Halifax, made by then NS Community College journalism student Matt Brand, featuring former boxer Kirk Johnson, social worker Lana MacLean, CBC journalist Phlis McGregor, and several people who were street checked and didn’t like it at all. There’s more on the website he created.
Residents of a neighbouring subdivision give councillors a piece of their mind about a boundary change that now makes them part of the African Nova Scotian community of Lucasville. We filed a Freedom of Information request, and here is some of what was written. “Waterstone and Lucasville are very different communities – we have nothing in common.”
This weekend’s weekend video is an oldie but goodie about the historic African Nova Scotian communities of Lucasville and Upper Hammonds Plains. Lots of interviews with elders, lots of community spirit and mutual support.
A CBC story reporting on the fight of Lucasville residents to get the city to deal with a horse farm that they say smells up the neighborhood never mentions the community’s ancient African Nova Scotian roots. Many people in Lucasville have been vocal about their opinion that race is an important piece of the puzzle if you want to understan what is really going on here.
We have been following the fight of Lucasville residents against a smelly horse farm in this historic Black community for several years. Here is the latest update. With HRM seemingly powerless, a review by the the Nova Scotia Farm Practices Board is the community’s next (and likely final) option. A public meeting is scheduled for Wednesday July 19.
Call it rural gentrification. Lucasville, an African Nova Scotian community near Lower Sackville with a proud 200-year history is slowly being erased. But this time at least we have some good news to report. It appears that the stubborn issue of shrinking community boundaries will finally be addressed.
Eternal Life: Preserving the Memory of Beechville is a reflective look at how one African Nova-Scotian community is coping with urban sprawl encroaching on its borders. Following the war of 1812, a group of freed slaves settled in Beechville, Nova Scotia as refugees escaping the United States. Almost two centuries later, as urbanization threatens many of Canada’s rural communities, Beechville itself is being swallowed up.
The community of Lucasville, founded by Black Refugees, is slowly being erased. A large and smelly equestrian farm is the latest nail in its coffin.