STOLEN FROM AFRICA—-INTERVIEW ON MUCH MUSICby STOLENFROMAFRICA
Toronto, Ontario - Local political action group “Stolen From Africa” have released their debut documentary “STOLEN FROM AFRICVILLE” Directed by Neil Donaldson, better known as Hip-Hop artist & community activist Logikal Ethix, in association with the Canadian Heritage fund.
The story of “Stolen From Africville” outlines the rise and fall of the historic Black community of Africville Nova Scotia. Featured nationally on Much Music and MTV(Canada) Live (February 19th 2008) to an overwhelmingly positive response, host Daryn Jones stated on air that he had never heard of Africville, nor learned anything about it in public school.Africville was a peaceful and thriving community whose roots can be traced back to the mid 1700’s and the historic Underground Railroad.
However, under the guise of “development”, the Nova Scotia government bulldozed the land in 1969. The people of Africville did not volunteer to go; they owned their land and paid their taxes as citizens of Canada, even though the provincial government did not provided them with paved roads or even running water. A thriving community was born from struggle, grew over hundreds of years, and was erased in an instant. In 2004 the United Nations conducted an assessment of this tragic injustice and recommended reparations for the Africville community. To this day nothing has been done.
During Black history month the founders of Stolen From Africa traveled to High schools across Toronto in desperate need of an inclusive curriculum and awareness of the history of black Canadians.
The response has been phenomenal. People of all walks of life who see the film come away stunned and often are heard to reply say “I can’t believe this happened in Canada”. The film continues to help educate and enlighten those who may be unaware of this shameful episode of Canada’s past, and helps form a cornerstone of the rapidly growing Stolen From Africa movement.
Eddie Carvery (The Hermit of Africville - http://tinyurl.com/2vmuv6d) speaks about his 40-year political protest in Africville, Nova Scotia in November 2010
former Africville residents Buzzy Brown and Eddie Carvery respond to the formal governmental apology (Jan 2010) for the city’s destruction of Africville and promise to build a museum on Africville grounds.
Comment from a teacher candidate on her final evaluation… “I loved Neil who talked about Stolen from Africa. There were many important and historical facts that will stay with me forever.”
Comment from another teacher candidate on final course evaluation: “There was so much to learn, but what has stayed with me most is the speaker from Stolen from Africa and the two spoken word artists, Boonaa Mohammad and Rafeef Ziadah…”
Africville, a small community settled in the 1840s on the shores of the Bedford Basin, was home to approximately 80 African-Nova Scotian families. It was demolished one house at a time in the 1960s in the name of integration, urban renewal and the construction of the Mackay Bridge. The former Africville site is now the location of a highway interchange and Seaview Memorial Park, an off-leash dog walking area. Overlooking the site are the Mont Blanc townhouses. The proposed interpretative centre and church replica would be built on the northwestern section of these lands.
This announcement has been a long time coming. The pressure has been building for years. It was 1991 when Deputy Premier Tom McInnis first promised that a replica of the Seaview Baptist Church would be rebuilt. The United Nations recommended that HRM grant reparations in 2004.
Stolen From Africa Family “GhettoChild” Releases Welcome to Nova Scotia to educate the people about the Black Canadian experience in the east coast of Canada
The story of “Stolen From Africville” outlines the rise and fall of the historic Black community of Africville Nova Scotia. Africville was a peaceful and thriving community whose roots can be traced back to the mid 1700s and the historic Underground Railroad.
However, under the guise of “development”, the Nova Scotia government bulldozed the land in 1969… In 2004 the United Nations conducted an assessment of this tragic injustice and recommended reparations for the Africville community. To this day nothing has been done.
