African Heritage Month
Dalhousie University is proud to recognize and celebrate African Heritage Month with a series of events throughout the month of February.
Watch:
· Short video stories about African Nova Scotians in history
· Remember Africville (1991)
· Black Communities in Canada - National Film Board of Canada
· Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
· Deeply Rooted
· There is Something in the Water – Netflix
Read:
In addition to the list below, the HR Library contains books about the Black experience. Please contact Alex at alex.macnab@dal.ca for more information.
African Nova Scotian Authors
· And I Alone Escaped To Tell You – Sylvia D. Hamilton
· Afraid of the Dark – Guyleigh Johnson
· If This Is Freedom – Gloria Ann Wesley
· Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Africville – Gloria Ann Wesley
African American Educational Authors
· Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
· White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism – Michael Eric Dyson
· How to be an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi
· Me and White Supremacy – Layla F. Saad
Fiction by Black Authors
· Black Love Matters – Jessica P. Pryde
· You Truly Assumed – Laila Sabreen
· Boys Come First – Aaron Foley
· Ain’t Burned All the Bright – Jason Reynolds
· The Water Dancer – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Further resources
African Heritage Month - Office of Equity and Inclusion - Dalhousie University
African Heritage Month | 2023 | Halifax
Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia (bccns.com)
African Heritage Month – Halifax Public Libraries
African Nova Scotian Affairs - Government of Nova Scotia
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The commemoration of African Heritage Month can be traced back to 1926 when Harvard-educated Black historian, Carter G. Woodson, founded Negro History Week to recognize the achievements of African Americans. Woodson purposefully chose February for the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, both key figures in the emancipation of enslaved Blacks. In 1976, as part of the American Bicentennial celebrations, Negro History Week was expanded to Black History Month.
The vast contributions of African-Canadians to Canadian society have been acknowledged informally since the early 1950s. However, Nova Scotia, particularly the Halifax Region, has been a leader in the promotion and awareness of African Heritage Month. Highlights of the development of Black History Month in Canada through the efforts of Nova Scotian trailblazers include the following:
- 1985 First “official” Opening Night for Black History Month (January 29) at the Halifax North Branch Library.
- 1987 First meeting of the Black History Month Association
- 1988 First Black History Month in Nova Scotia
- 1996 Black History Month renamed to African Heritage Month in Nova Scotia
This year’s African Heritage Month provincial theme, Seas of struggle – African Peoples from Shore to Shore, outlines the struggles of people of African Descent faced from the shores of Africa to the shores of Nova Scotia. Recognizing that the one thing that has remained constant in our history is the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing history of people of African Descent in the development of Canada, the sea has played a vital role. This theme explores the struggle and adversity that was overcome and examines the effects of slavery and sea faring of African Nova Scotians. The theme also aligns with the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent (DPAD) 2015-2024. The goal of DPAD is to strengthen global cooperation in support of people of African descent, increase awareness and the passage towards presence in all aspects of society.
Nova Scotia has 52 historic African Nova Scotian communities with a long, deep and complex history dating back over 200 years. African Heritage Month provides us with another opportunity to celebrate our culture, legacy, achievements and contributions of our people – past and present.
Source: Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs & Black Cultural Centre
(The dates below reflect events happening in 2023.)
Black Heath Awareness Week: February 6–10, 2023