Africville, a small black settlement, lay within the city limits of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the 1960s, the families who lived there were uprooted and their homes demolished in the name of urban renewal and integration. Now, more than twenty years later, the site of the community of Africville is a stark, under-utilized park. Former residents, their descendants and some of the decision-makers, speak out and, with the help of archival photographs and films, tell the story of that painful relocation.

National Film Board of Canada

Relocation (Housing) — Nova Scotia — Halifax
Blacks — Nova Scotia — Halifax — Social conditions
Africville (Halifax, N.S.)

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The community of Africville began in the early 1800s with the settlement of former American slaves and other black people on the Beford Basin, just north of Halifax. Over time the community grew to include a church, a school, and small businesses. At its peak, about 400 people lived in the tight-knit community of Africville. But the neighbourhood was not without its problems. Racist attitudes prevented people from getting well-paying jobs outside the community and the City of Halifax denied the residents of Africville basic services such as running water, sewage disposal, and garbage collection. Despite being labeled a "slum," the community was lively and vibrant, with a strong sense of culture and tradition. In the 1960s, in the name of urban renewal, the City of Halifax decided to demolish the community, relocate its residents and use the land for industrial development. Residents of Africville strongly opposed this move, but their homes were bulldozed and they were forced into public housing projects in other parts of the city, and promised, but did not receive social assistance to help them resettle. After years of pressure from former members of the community and their descendants, the City of Halifax finally apologized for the destruction of Africville and offered to pay compensation. Through historical photographs, documents, and first-person narratives from former Africville residents, this book offers an account of the racism behind the injustices suffered by the community. It documents how the City destroyed Africville and finally apologized for it. Part of the "Righting Canada's Wrongs" Series.

Africville (Halifax, N.S.) — History — 20th century
Africville (Halifax, N.S.) — Social conditions — 20th century
Black Canadians — Nova Scotia — Halifax — Social conditions — 20th century
Relocation (Housing) — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Race discrimination — Nova Scotia — Halifax — History — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — Ethnic relations — History — 20th century
Halifax (N.S.) — History — 20th century

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Eddie Carvery was born in Africville, Nova Scotia, when the African-Nova Scotian seaside village in Halifax was midway through its third century. As a teenager, he watched his world torn down as his friends and family were compelled to leave. After Africville was bulldozed in the 1960s under the guise of 'urban renewal, ' Eddie Carvery returned to the site of his former hometown and pitched a tent in protest. After forays into careers as a community organizer, sheet-metal worker, and fisherman, Eddie returned to the ruins of Africville in 1970 to start his protest for the reclamation of his people's land and history. Forty years, three families, seven heart attacks, and numerous attempts on his life later, he remains living on the land where he was born.

Carvery, Eddie
Africville (Halifax Regional Municipality, N.S.) — Biography
Africville (Halifax, N.S.) — Biography

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