DJ R$ $mooth celebrates career as host of longest-running Black music radio show in Atlantic Canada [VIDEO]
The longest-running Black music radio show in Atlantic Canada recently celebrated its 25th year anniversary on the airwaves.
Ryan Somers, aka DJ R$ $mooth, has been hosting $mooth Groove$ on CKDU 88.1 FM since 1998. The show, which airs every Sunday from 5pm to 8pm, broadcasts out of the Student Union Building on the campus of Dalhousie University.
“I always think of the show as like a home base, like no matter what’s going on… most people can hear me that Sunday,”
Scholarship named in honour of health advocate to be awarded to Black students in Nova Scotia
A memorial scholarship for Black students studying health professions has been established in the name of a community and health advocate who was also the first woman in Nova Scotia ordained by the African Orthodox Church. The Health Association of African Canadians (HAAC) will host a free hybrid event Saturday, Feb. 11 at noon at […]
‘Mission accomplished:’ home of Nova Scotia’s first Black doctor gets heritage designation
Halifax regional council voted unanimously Tuesday to designate the former home and clinic of the late Dr. Clement Ligoure, the province’s first Black doctor, an official heritage property. Earlier Tuesday morning, prior to the vote, a rally was held outside City Hall in support of preserving the property. The rally was co-organized by members of […]
‘Kind, selfless’ Black military vet remembered for giving back to Cape Breton community
The son of a Black military veteran from Cape Breton who died last week says his father was a “kind, selfless person who just wanted to make the world a better place.” The obituary for Lemuel Marcus Skeete said he was surrounded by family members at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre in Dartmouth at the time of […]
North Preston pastor preaches his final sermon, but he’s not done spreading the word [VIDEO]
On Sunday, Rev. Wallace Smith delivered his final sermon as senior pastor of St. Thomas Baptist Church in North Preston Photo: Matthew Byard On Sunday, Rev. Wallace Smith preached his final sermon as senior pastor of St. Thomas Baptist Church in North Preston. Smith is the first and only ordained minister from North Preston to […]
Group wants heritage designation for house of Nova Scotia’s first Black doctor
A local historian says the city should preserve a home where the province’s first Black physician, Dr. Clement Ligoure, operated a clinic and helped victims of the Halifax Explosion.
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.
“We lost one of the good guys:” Robert Devet’s impact on African Nova Scotian stories
Activists said Devet was “one of the truest allies” and gave voice to the voiceless in the Black community.
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.
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.