Africville: A Community Destroyed

CBC Television's dramatization of The Book of Negroes -the best selling book by Lawrence Hill - draws attention to the black communities of Nova Scotia. That story is told at least partly in Birchtown, one of the places where free blacks lived. Another was Africville, just outside Halifax. It was a small settlement that former American slaves established in Nova Scotia after the War of 1812.

But by the mid 1960s, the impoverished conditions of Africville were a source of deep shame for the city. Its residents had no running water, no sewage system, no garbage pickup, no streetlights, no public transportation and no paved roads. Instead, Africville boasted an open dump, an incinerator, a prison, railway tracks and an abattoir on its doorstep.

Instead of fixing things, Halifax city officials decided to raze Africville. By 1967, after several years of study and talk, the city of Halifax planned to relocate the 400 citizens ofAfricville, demolishtheir houses and all community buildings.Rewind remembers the destruction of Africville and looks at both the causes and impact of the move.The voices you'll hear on this edition of Rewindfirst aired in a 1973 documentary on the CBC Radio program Between Ourselves.

The relocation ofAfricvillemeant the end of a vibrant community coupled with feelings of grief, loss and outrage. In 1976, the CBC Radio program Identities looked atAfricville again, in an attempt to figure out what had gone so wrong.

The Seaview Baptist Churchwas the heart of the Africville. It wasn't just the place of worship in the community; itwas the town hall, thebusiness centre,the place where Bible classes were held and youth clubs met.

Forty three years later, in February of 2010, the Halifax council along with the government of Canada issued an official apology for the destruction of Africville and pledged $250,000 to rebuild the church. The new Seaview African United Baptist Church opened in September 2011.

The place where Africvillestood is now a park. Every summer, people who lived in Africvillealong withtheir descendants, hold a reunion there. Many camp on the site of their former homes.Today, the Africville Museum looks across the land where the residentsof Africville lived, worked, and raised their families. Exhibits in the museumwalk visitors through the history of aproudcommunity determined to overcome injustice andmaintain its identity. For an Africville "timeline", and to learn more about the Africville Heritage Trust,visit theAfricville Museum website.

A number of musicians have written songs about Africville. Joe Sealy is one of them. In the mid 1990s, Sealy dedicated his album Africville Suite to his father, who had been born there. The album won a Juno award, and Sealy has performed it live on many occasions.