Check It Out: Bringing healing to history

By Joan Janzen

Someone once said, “History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided.” Those words could apply to a little-known piece of Canadian history from the mid-1960s.

A recent documentary entitled ‘Journey to Africville’ was created by an education charity called I Am Compelled. Crystal Lavalle and Veshone Cunningham combined their efforts to share the story.

So what is Africville? Most Canadians don’t know the small community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, existed since the early 1800s until the mid 1960s. Many of the first settlers were former slaves fleeing oppression in the States. Once in Canada, they were freed by the crown during the war of 1812, but in the late 1960’s, the city of Halifax condemned the village, forcing residents to relocate. Africville was bulldozed in the 1960s, and the last standing home in the settlement was destroyed in the 1970s.

Crystal Lavalle talked to Faytene Grasseschi about the documentary. “The main thing we portray is trying to communicate untold stories of black history in Canada. These stories need to be heard. It’s a collective story of the descendants that shared with us the things they saw in Africville,” she explained.

She continued to share the history of the settlement. The people came on British slave ships in the 1800s, but when they arrived here, the British couldn’t afford to feed them. As a result, the former slaves established their community, where they were independent and lived off the land.

“They focused on having land and homes that they passed down inter-generationally,” she said.

A woman who grew up in Africville said, “I didn’t have running water, but I was rich with a lot of love from a lot of people. We grew up calling adults aunt and uncle. We were always respectful, that’s how we were raised.”

Another former resident recalled, “Winter was difficult. We lived in wooden framed houses that weren’t insulated and were heated by wooden stoves. Had no store, no running water. We had to go to the well, break the ice and carry water home.” The city didn’t provide any amenities, even though the residents paid taxes. They built their own church and school, which were the hub of their social activities.

The minutes recorded of a meeting of the city of Halifax in the late 1950s stated: “We’re going to attract new industry to Halifax. We are going to encourage them to locate in the industrial mile,” which was located in Africville.

A few years later, a former resident remembers city officials coming to visit her parents and grandparents, convincing them that the land was unsafe. About 23 families had deeds to their homes. They sold their homes for $500 to the city, and immediately afterward, their homes were bulldozed.

When Crystal’s team produced the film, the entire education system focused on the project. Now the documentary has been seen by 16,000 Canadian students. It utilizes storytelling, music, rap and dance to engage and impact its young audience.

Veshone Cunningham provides rap music for the documentary. He said, “I learned to deal with racism and not let it make me hate the other person. Knowing that my hate for some other person doesn’t affect them; it only hurts myself. In order for me to get out of bitterness and stop the hate in my own heart, I need to learn how to forgive. Learning how to forgive is important.”

Crystal said they haven’t received any negative feedback from students. “One that stuck out to me was a Gr. 12 student who said you could feel the love coming off the presentation,” she said. “We paint a picture of a proverbial baton being passed to the next generation.” They’re asking the students, “What are you compelled to do to help others?”

“We don’t want to perpetuate the divide between race,” Crystal said. “We wanted to say there’s a better way. If we don’t, we’re just going in circles, and we’re going to become more divided.”

It takes a skill to pull off a presentation that actually brings healing, but it appears that ‘Journey to Africville’ has managed to do it.

Veshone said he asks students, ‘Where is your hope?’ “I hope they look at themselves and whatever answer they come up with is an answer that calls for unity instead of division.”

On social media, a former resident of Africville had said, “In regards to city officials, it made the people feel like they had no say. Whatever the city said, that’s it. It gives you a view into the relationship of those who were in power with those who lived there.”

That is history Canadians do not want to repeat. Everyone needs to have their voice heard by leaders whose number one priority and passion is to serve the people.

Joan can be reached at joanjanzen@yahoo.com