I was heartened to spend time this summer with Black scholar Chana Kai Lee who arrived in Halifax to conduct research on, among other topics, Africville. Now home, the associate professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Georgia recalled her experience at the Africville Museum. “My visit affirmed my appreciation for […]
“Whose Explosion is it, anyway?”
Our collective memory of the Explosion has shifted over time.
“Whose Explosion is it, anyway?” asks Martha Radice. She’s a social anthropologist who has lived here for eight years. Unlike many Haligonians, she doesn’t focus on the horrifying statistics of the century-old disaster (11,000 people maimed or dead). She doesn’t describe how sparks from the collision of the Imo and Mont Blanc set drums of […]
Reparations raises the racism disconnect
"I wasn’t around when slavery existed and I’m not responsible for it, so why should I have to pay reparations? The past is past, things are better now, so let’s just move on…" It’s a comforting argument, but it pre-supposes we, as whites, haven’t benefited from centuries of slavery and racism, or that our black fellow citizens aren’t still suffering its after-effects. It also assumes the economic, educational, judicial, and social scales are now in perfect colour-blind balance. Neither notion is correct.
On Sept. 25, the United Nations Human Rights Council discussed a report on Canada by its Working Group of Experts on Peoples of African Descent. The report, which shone its white-hot light on our country’s sordid history of slavery and racism in virtually every sphere of life — from education to justice to the environment...
Wankers in our midst: Examineradio, episode #119
Halifax rarely makes the national news unless it’s for something reprehensible, whether that’s cross-burnings, racial profiling, or entrenched systemic racism. Now, the city has a local chapter of the pro-European, anti-masturbation Proud Boys to call their very own. Also, Globe & Mail writer and editor, as well as host of the popular podcast Colour Code, […]
Africville and Electric Buses: Morning File, Thursday, December 1, 2016
Why are there so few Views lately?
Hi Halifax, Katie here! Tim says he’s tired so is taking the morning off. (I secretly think he just wants to see my memes though.) News 1. Court must decide whether to approve Africville lawsuit Over 50 years ago Africville, the historic Black Nova Scotian community outside Halifax, was razed to the ground in the name of so-called “urban […]
The development boom’s echo: filling in Halifax Harbour
In Halifax schools, children learn that the city has the second largest natural harbour in the world. It’s one of those motherhood statements that people repeat as a mantra when visitors come calling or businesses look at setting up shop here. So why are we filling it in? Since 2011, the Halifax Port Authority has...
Africville residents want to reopen 1996 lawsuit against Halifax
by Hilary Beaumont Wednesday morning, more than 80 former residents of Africville and their descendants crammed into a federal courtroom, the largest in the Upper Water courthouse, to ask a judge for an amendment to their lawsuit against the city. Wednesday’s submissions were the first step down what former residents hope will be the road...
Mainland Common may be solution to Africville dog park kerfuffle
Tensions were high at the beginning of last night’s public consultation over how to replace the Africville dog park, but as the meeting progressed dog owners and city staff seemed to zero in on a possible solution agreeable to all: A new, large and fenced dog park at the Mainland Common. To back up, former residents...
Misinformation and bad arguments over the Africville dog park
Tomorrow, Halifax council will consider a staff proposal to decommission the Africville dog park. Since I commented on the issue Saturday—it’s behind the paywall, but basically I said the dog park should be moved across the highway to Seaview Overlook Park—I’ve received a barrage of comments from supporters of the dog park. They have three main arguments. […]
Council preview: June 24 meeting
Expect a long and quarrelsome council meeting this Tuesday. The meeting starts at 10am, but there are so many weighty and controversial issues on the agenda that it will likely go well into the evening, and council may possibly have to reconvene on Wednesday to complete its work. I’ll discuss four issues here: proposed changes...