With Barack Obama’s U.S Presidential win, history has been made . Here is a photo montage, which captures the fight for voting rights for African-Americans to today. Obama’s win caused me to reflect on a documentary that I had seen about six years ago.

Growing up in the Maritimes, it took a Non-Maritimer to introduce me to the documentary Remember Africville , which opened my eyes to a piece of Nova Scotia’s history. Around the time of the American Revolution , approximately 3000 Black persons moved to Nova Scotia. Their settlement was not easy and according to the Nova Scotia museum website, their descendants still struggle today for employment, access to education and human rights. There is more information about Nova Scotia’s Black loyalists online.

Remember Africville is a documentary, produced by the National Film Board , that is pieced together from archived photos and film. Africville was a small community in the north end of Halifax, Nova Scotia that was founded in 1840 by former slaves who escaped slavery during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Inhabited by approximately 400 people, the community of Africville was a place where the residents were able to live in privacy and away from racism.
Below is a photo of Africville by photojournalist Bob Brooks :

As urban development progressed, the city neglected to provide Africville with running water, sewage, electricity or fire or police protection. In fact, the city saw Africville as a dumping ground, literally moving the city dump to the edge of Africville, among one of the many problems that the city forced upon this community. When the residents petitioned the city for amenities that, by this time, were considered standard, they were told it would be considered but it never was. By the mid 1900s, Africville was seen as very problematic for the city of Halifax. In 1964, as part of an urban renewal program, the city decided to relocate the residents of Africville into project housing, such as Uniacke Square , around Halifax, effectively disbanding the community of Africville. None of the families or landowners had a choice, their compensation was minimal if at all and they were forced out as bulldozers razed the community to the ground.

Remember Africville , made from archived photos and films, was created in 1991 and it speaks to lawmakers and former residents and descendants of Africville. The film won the Moonsnail Award for Best Documentary at the Atlantic Film Festival , and more than that helped to get the story of Africville out to the world. Although perhaps one of the most severe cases of racial discrimination in Canada’s history , many Canadians still haven’t heard about Africville. CBC has created an archive of radio and television footage devoted to telling the story of Africville.

Below is a snippet of Remember Africville .