Africville: An African Nova Scotian Community Is Demolished–and Fights Back by Gloria Ann Wesley is an oversize format juvenile history from the Righting Canada’s Wrongs series. Wesley started with a history of slavery in the Americas followed by black settlement in Nova Scotia and the establishment of Africville. She included testimonials from former residents about life in the community and personal photos from their own collections. The book when laid open revealed a large panorama of photos, many in colour, depicting family life, children at play, church scenes and social activities.
Africville was razed in the sixties under the policy of urban renewal and the population was relocated yet the sense of community was forever lost. It was sad to see photo spreads of demolished homes and the yellow garbage trucks that carted people’s possessions away. For the second half of the book Wesley wrote of the decades-long battle the citizens fought for fair compensation as they believe they were swindled out of fair deals for their properties when they were forcibly moved. An official apology only came in 2010.
In the chapter entitled Acknowledging the Past, I found out that jazz pianist Joe Sealy released an album in 1996 called Africville Suite, comprised of twelve pieces reflecting on places and activities in Africville, where Sealy’s father was born. Song titles include “Brown Bomber”, “Duke’s In Town” and “Train’s Comin'”. The album won a Juno for best contemporary jazz album. I want to get it.
A glossary was included for the young reader, defining terms such as civil rights, marginalized, oppression, reconciliation and urban renewal. A page of further reading materials followed. It is a coincidence that I have now read two books in a row about the expulsion of a people or a community. Africville here, and the Acadians in my previous book review.