What will it take for Black Lives to Matter in Nova Scotia? The African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition, representing African Nova Scotian organizations across the province, joins the many concerned citizens who are calling for the sentencing of Shawn Wade Hynes without further delay.
Wayne Desmond looks at the delays in the conviction of Shawn Wade Hynes, who in a case that has racist overtones, shot his young co-worker Nhlanhla Dlamini with a high velocity nail gun. One and a half years have passed since the defendant was found guilty, and sentencing has been postponed several times. Meanwhile, the defendant’s life has not changed in any regard. He is able to continue his life as a “not guilty” individual.
It’s been 2.5 since a co-worker seriously injured Nhlanhla Dlamini with a nail gun, and 1.5 years since a guilty verdict was rendered, but the man found guilty still has not been sentenced. For Nhlanhla’s family and supporters that’s too long a wait. Justice must be served, and must be seen to be served.
Paul Wartman in conversation with Jessika Hepburn, community organizer and owner of the Biscuit Eater Cafe in Mahone Bay about the multi-layered notion of Black food sovereignty. “If we recognize Black people and Indigenous people as sovereign, we have to talk with them as if they have equal rights and equal power to determine how things happen–how systems develop, how we create food systems, etc.”
Raymond Sheppard explains why Nhlanhla Dlamini is his nomination for person of the year. “He has shown courage in the face of adversity, he tries at all costs to avoid confrontation, and he has spoken truth to power and privilege. He is a silence breaker while sending a clear message. He is gentle, loving, caring and respecting. As a young man he has become a role model to other young people and to those not so young.
Over and over Black people tell of racism in Nova Scotia, and then there are the stats, but still the message isn’t getting through. Historian Jill Campbell-Miller on the origin of this reluctance to accept that racism is for real, and how a knowledge of history can counteract this disbelief.
Today I went to Pictou to hear the Shawn Wade Hynes verdict. Hynes is the guy who shot a high velocity nail gun at young co-worker Nhlanhla Dlamini. I don’t think most white people understood how important a case it was for many in the African Nova Scotian community, nor the surprise and tremendous relief that was felt when Hynes was found guilty of criminal negligence and assault with a weapon.
Judy Haiven looks back on the racist reign of terror at Halifax Transit. How could this reign of terror go on for 14 plus years? How could a Black man become unemployed and then die due to the stress of living with the anger and threats directed at him by racist co-workers? How could a white man and his Black wife receive such soul-destroying treatment for the mere crime of loving each other? When will anyone step up to explain what happened and how it won’t happen again?
“What bothers me the most in all of this is that city lawyers advanced this argument that the racist slurs directed at Y.Z. were protected under free speech provisions.” We talk with Equity Watch spokesperson and lawyer Connor Smithers-Mapp about how unions, councillors and management continue to evade the issues of racism, homophobia and misogyny at the City’s workplaces.
It’s not just the hastily cancelled entirely white panel on diversity, Saint Mary’s University has a long history of not taking a meaningful stand on diversity and human rights, former SMU professor Judy Haiven writes.