History

On Monday, Cikiah Thomas, Delvina Bernard, and Andrea Douglas participated in a ‘Pre-Conference Event for 2023 Universities Studying Slavery Conference, which was moderated by Isaac Saney.
On Monday, Cikiah Thomas, Delvina Bernard, and Andrea Douglas participated in a ‘Pre-Conference Event for 2023 Universities Studying Slavery Conference, which was moderated by Isaac Saney.
Education Education & Youth History News 

Virtual panel discusses the ongoing legacy of slavery and the topic of reparations

On Monday, speakers at a virtual panel discussion talked about reparations and the ongoing legacy of slavery from Nova Scotian and Canadian perspectives. The event was hosted by Dalhousie University, University of King’s College, and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia and was advertised as a pre-conference event for the 2023 Universities Studying Slavery Conference to be hosted by University of King’s College. Isaac Saney, director of the transition year program, moderated the three-person panel.

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Wendie L. Wilson poses next to the flag she designed to represent Black/African Nova Scotians.
Wendie L. Wilson poses next to the flag she designed to represent Black/African Nova Scotians. Photo: Wendie L. Wilson.
History News 

Wendie Wilson created an African Nova Scotian flag; some in the community say no one asked them about it

Wanda Thomas (not to be confused with Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard) said she had never heard of the African Nova Scotian flag. It wasn’t until her grandson had coloured a paper version of the flag as part of an activity through his school’s African Nova Scotian student support worker program when she said she first learned of it. She said she asked around and no one she knew had heard of it either.

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Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard speaks at the Emancipation Day celebration in Grand Parade in Halifax. Photo: Matthew Byard
Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard speaks at the Emancipation Day celebration in Grand Parade in Halifax. Photo: Matthew Byard
Feature News History Justice & Politics News 

The long road to Emancipation Day

“Twenty-five years ago the Honourable Jean Augustine [the first African-Canadian woman to be elected to as a Member of Parliament] put forward a motion in the House of Commons to have February designated Black History Month. And at the same time, there were lobby efforts being made to have Emancipation Day recognized. So that’s how long this has been in the making. Over 25 years.”

Emancipation Day, August 1, marks the same day in 1834 when slavery was officially banned in all of the British colonies, including in what would eventually become Canada.

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