North Preston Day Is Breaking News – Even When the Mainstream Won’t Say So

Via: Women With A Vision:

North Preston — For 18 years, North Preston Day has stood as a proud declaration of Black heritage, cultural resilience, and community unity in the heart of North Preston, Nova Scotia – one of Canada’s oldest and largest Black communities, with deep roots tied to African, African American, Jamaican Maroon, and Mi’kmaw ancestry – our home on Mi’kmaw land.

And yet, for 18 years, mainstream media has mostly ignored it.

This year, Women With A Vision, the community-rooted organization behind the event, is once again inviting national, provincial, and local outlets to attend the 18th Annual North Preston Day & Parade, set to begin on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in North Preston – on unceded Mi’kmaw territory.

“North Preston Day is breaking news – the kind that uplifts, inspires, and is too powerful to be erased.”
– Vivian Cain, Founder, Women With A Vision

Why North Preston Day Matters

It’s historical.
North Preston is not just a community, it is a living archive of Black Nova Scotian history. The day honors generations of survival, strength, and pride that stretch back to Black Loyalists, Jamaican Maroons, and Mi’kmaw kinships.

It’s cultural.
This is Canada’s first parade led by a historic Canadian-born Black community. It’s a display of joy, music, color, tradition, and belonging.

It’s powerful because it persists.
With a population of roughly 5,000, North Preston continues to thrive despite not having some of the basic public infrastructures many communities take for granted: there’s still no grocery store, no gas station, no bank, no library, and no accessible, inclusive playground. Still, the spirit of the place endures, and shines.

Voices From the Soul of North Preston

“North Preston Day is more than a celebration, it’s our spiritual homecoming. We walk in the footsteps of our ancestors.”
– Jivaro Smith, Senior Pastor, St. Thomas United Baptist Church

“It reminds me of how it used to be. It makes me happy to see everybody so happy.”
– Elder Ivan Willis, Community Leader

“It is a day for us to fellowship with each other and with those who come to celebrate with us.”
– Allister Johnson, Reverend, Community Historian

“It’s a very special day. It’s a day that we look forward to. North Preston Day is our Natal Day.”
– Cathy Downey, Lifelong Resident

“It’s where stories are shared, joy is multiplied, and it is lived out loud. It’s home.”
– Kayla Smith, Youth Leader

“It celebrates who we are, a vibrant, resilient community shaped by love, legacy, and the unyielding fortitude of our ancestors.”
– Rose Fraser, North Preston’s First Registered Nurse

And in a remarkable finding:

“A ground-breaking historical study, pending peer-reviewed validation, has preliminarily identified historic Black communities in Nova Scotia, such as North Preston, as the world’s only academically documented Black/Mi’kmaw communities. This distinction matters.”
– Evangeline Cain-Grant, North Preston’s first lawyer and the first Black Mi’kmaw woman to open a sole law office in Canada

A Call to the Press: It’s Time to Show Up

To the newsrooms, editors, producers, and journalists: North Preston Day is happening. The question is, will you be there to cover it?

This is not just a parade. It is living history in motion – a declaration of identity, visibility, and celebration that demands to be witnessed and remembered.

Media Contact:
Evangeline Cain-Grant
On behalf of Women With A Vision
ecvancain@gmail.com