This piece of paper was found outside of the George Dixon Centre.
HALIFAX – This past Saturday, the Africville Genealogy Society announced that Halifax Regional Municipality has offered a three million dollar compensation package to the former community of Africville. Yesterday the federal government contributed an additional $250,000 towards the creation of the Africville Heritage Trust.
Africville, a small community settled in the 1840s on the shores of the Bedford Basin, was home to approximately 80 African-Nova Scotian families. It was demolished one house at a time in the 1960s in the name of integration, urban renewal and the construction of the Mackay Bridge. The former Africville site is now the location of a highway interchange and Seaview Memorial Park, an off-leash dog walking area. Overlooking the site are the Mont Blanc townhouses. The proposed interpretative centre and church replica would be built on the northwestern section of these lands.
This announcement has been a long time coming. The pressure has been building for years. It was 1991 when Deputy Premier Tom McInnis first promised that a replica of the Seaview Baptist Church would be rebuilt. The United Nations recommended that HRM grant reparations in 2004.
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGGtVpeu6no”] excerpt from the NFB’s Remember Africville
3 comments
That note gives me the chills.
The good kind.
Good to hear the news. We hope it is a sign that the government finally understood how damaging biased policy really is in the long run. Terry and Haruko From Vancouver
I THINK THAT EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SOME MONIES GIVEN TO THE GENEALOGICAL ALL SOCIETY, THAT THERE SHOULD STILL BE THE LAND THAT WAS TAKEN FROM THE PEOPLE OF AFRICVILLE GIVEN BACK BY ALL MEANS !! I PRAY THAT THE CITY WILL PUT THINGS BACK IN ORDER AND GIVE THE LAND BACK!!