ANOTHER OF CANADA'S DARK SECRETS: THE DESTRUCTION OF A BLACK COMMUNITY, IN HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CALLED AFRICVILLE.
AFRICVILLE, IN HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA
A COMMUNITY THAT ONCE WAS AND HAS NOW BEEN WIPED
OFF THE MAP. THIS SHOULD BE VIEWED AS AN ACT OF GENOCIDE,
AGAINST AFRICAN CANADIANS, BUT IS IT?
Africville is a community that is no more. It is another testament to Canada's human rights violations, on unprecedented scale. It is right up there some believed, with the destruction of the Native People's lands, in other parts of Canada. The Native People of course, has also suffered much more than being uprooted from their lands and place on reserves. They were also place in residential schools, for the further destruction of their culture and also to further the abuse and deaths of the Native Peoples of Canada. That much has been recorded. But they have also been able to recover some kind of reparations, from the Canadian government, for at least some the human rights abuses, that they have also suffered, at the hands of the Canadian government. The victims of the residential schools, for instance, are able to obtain some form of reparations, small though it may be, to the sum of about $10,000 each, plus a bit more for each year that they were also enrolled in the residential schools.
Not so, with one of the African Canadian communities, and Africville in particular, that was also destroyed, like those of the Native People's reserves, to make way for the capitalist government's advancement, simply because it wanted the land, that the Black people were living on. It got absolutely nothing. Except perhaps, a scant mention of its plight in the Canadian Human Rights Museum. It was inconsequential to the people living on those lands, as far as the Canadian government was concerned. In fact, it was not concerned about their well being at all. It also knew that its actions, were also deliberately intended, to destroy the lives of the people, living in Africville and other Black communities, across Canada. And not just in Nova Scotia. But also in Ontario and other places.
You can sum up the destruction of a people in many ways. Including, economically, (as in the Jane and Finch corridor of Toronto, presently), socially and also politically, through such actions, such as displacement and exile and as were the case with Africville, where the Blacks were physically uprooted and displaced. You can also destroy a people physically, by the simple act of genocide through wars, displacement and other politically motivated actions of a government. Dr. Afua Cooper, a Historian and also a Jamaican by birth, has also done a great job, in exposing this other side of the African Canadian heritage. I had first met Dr. Afua Cooper, back when she was much younger and also was a writer and a poet soley back then, in the 1980's, at the Third Word Book Store. That was owned by Leonard Johnson and his wife, Gwendolyn Johnson, two very racially conscious African Canadians, who had opened the store in 1968, because of the need for such a bookstore within the Black community, back then. The Bookstore was also located on Bathurst Street, in Toronto, which was also frequented by many up and coming Black writers and poets. I had also never met a more nicer couple, than they. Yes, I have been around for a long time, much to the consternation of many.
Dudley Laws, god rest his soul, and his early organization, The United Negro Improvement Association, a local branch of the organization, that was started by another Jamaican, Marcus Garvey, which was located on Vaughan Road, in Toronto, in the early 80's, would also provide me, with much interesting things to do, as I used to hung around that organization, as a teenager. Actually, no one who knew me then, is also surprised at what I am doing now, in fact. I went from being a very racially conscious teenager, to being a very socially and politically conscious adult. It is no coincidence that I also have ended up being a Blogger, on the issues of human rights in Canada. It was always in me. Dudley Laws always used to say to me, "Valerie, what am I going to do with you?". We knocked heads all of the time. But he also helped me on occasions, due to his influence, in the Black community. And he did have a lot of influence, within the Black community. I cannot mention here, either, a second Black person like Dudley Laws, of influence, in Canada, who has done the same. They all sold me out, in fact, to the Canadian government.
Did I also forget to mention that Black people, are also their worst enemy, sometimes?. Money, greed and social positions, will always get the better of some of them. Fortunately, my actions has also stood up on its own. I am rarely questioned on my personal integrity, by anyone. Okay, enough of the talk about me. What I have actually done to bring about the awareness, of some of the Canadian government's actions, on the issues of human rights abuse, is another story in and of itself. It is also an ongoing issue, as far as I am concerned. And not enough has really been said about it, until now.
By focusing on the issues of human rights abuse, that has taken place in Canada and also continues to take place in that country, I also hope to set the example for other more timid Blacks to follow. That they can also speak out about injustices and not to worry about the consequences, that they might also suffer, for doing just so. We have a story that must be told, for some of us individually, and for others as part of a group. Regardless, it is a story that must also be told. Africville, will also be remembered, in our collective consciousness. So must also all of the other wrongs that has been done to us as a people, including the 12 million Africans, who has lost their lives, in the Atlantic Slave Trade. That was a holocaust that was also unprecedented and there has never been any like it since. We also must remember who we are and where we came from. And also what has happened to us, as a people. History also demands it from us.
You can sum up the destruction of a people in many ways. Including, economically, (as in the Jane and Finch corridor of Toronto, presently), socially and also politically, through such actions, such as displacement and exile and as were the case with Africville, where the Blacks were physically uprooted and displaced. You can also destroy a people physically, by the simple act of genocide through wars, displacement and other politically motivated actions of a government. Dr. Afua Cooper, a Historian and also a Jamaican by birth, has also done a great job, in exposing this other side of the African Canadian heritage. I had first met Dr. Afua Cooper, back when she was much younger and also was a writer and a poet soley back then, in the 1980's, at the Third Word Book Store. That was owned by Leonard Johnson and his wife, Gwendolyn Johnson, two very racially conscious African Canadians, who had opened the store in 1968, because of the need for such a bookstore within the Black community, back then. The Bookstore was also located on Bathurst Street, in Toronto, which was also frequented by many up and coming Black writers and poets. I had also never met a more nicer couple, than they. Yes, I have been around for a long time, much to the consternation of many.
Dudley Laws, god rest his soul, and his early organization, The United Negro Improvement Association, a local branch of the organization, that was started by another Jamaican, Marcus Garvey, which was located on Vaughan Road, in Toronto, in the early 80's, would also provide me, with much interesting things to do, as I used to hung around that organization, as a teenager. Actually, no one who knew me then, is also surprised at what I am doing now, in fact. I went from being a very racially conscious teenager, to being a very socially and politically conscious adult. It is no coincidence that I also have ended up being a Blogger, on the issues of human rights in Canada. It was always in me. Dudley Laws always used to say to me, "Valerie, what am I going to do with you?". We knocked heads all of the time. But he also helped me on occasions, due to his influence, in the Black community. And he did have a lot of influence, within the Black community. I cannot mention here, either, a second Black person like Dudley Laws, of influence, in Canada, who has done the same. They all sold me out, in fact, to the Canadian government.
Did I also forget to mention that Black people, are also their worst enemy, sometimes?. Money, greed and social positions, will always get the better of some of them. Fortunately, my actions has also stood up on its own. I am rarely questioned on my personal integrity, by anyone. Okay, enough of the talk about me. What I have actually done to bring about the awareness, of some of the Canadian government's actions, on the issues of human rights abuse, is another story in and of itself. It is also an ongoing issue, as far as I am concerned. And not enough has really been said about it, until now.
By focusing on the issues of human rights abuse, that has taken place in Canada and also continues to take place in that country, I also hope to set the example for other more timid Blacks to follow. That they can also speak out about injustices and not to worry about the consequences, that they might also suffer, for doing just so. We have a story that must be told, for some of us individually, and for others as part of a group. Regardless, it is a story that must also be told. Africville, will also be remembered, in our collective consciousness. So must also all of the other wrongs that has been done to us as a people, including the 12 million Africans, who has lost their lives, in the Atlantic Slave Trade. That was a holocaust that was also unprecedented and there has never been any like it since. We also must remember who we are and where we came from. And also what has happened to us, as a people. History also demands it from us.
