“You’ll be fighting the women off,” director Juanita Peters tells
Eddie Carvery on Saturday outside his trailer along the Bedford Basin,
where Africville once stood. “You’ll be famous!”
Peters’ new full-length documentary, Africville: Can’t Stop
Now, follows the personal stories of Eddie, his brother Irvine
Carvery and their cousin, Nelson Carvery.
“They were all born in Africville, they’re all in their 60s today,
and they’ve all been looking for compensation since the 1960s and
1970s, but these three men have all gone about it three very different
ways,” Peters explains in the same calm, narrative tone she uses in the
doc. The film shows Irvine as the optimist, Nelson as the quiet
supporter and Eddie as the enduring activist.
As we visit last weekend, the sun makes a rare appearance over
Eddie’s camp. In the doc, Peters shows how the former Africville
resident has spent many bitter cold winters in his tiny trailer, feet
from where Africville’s Baptist Church once stood. Despite personal
isolation and police pressure, he has continued the protest his mother
began when he was young.
“Here it is, 2009, we still haven’t been compensated, they still
haven’t apologized,” says Eddie. “All we get are these promises and
promises.” Meanwhile, Irvine, who is chair of the Halifax Regional
School Board, is still fighting—50 years later—for fair
compensation and an apology. Now that many Africville elders have
passed away, Irvine at least wants the community church rebuilt. Nelson
wants the same thing as his cousins: an apology.
Africville: Can’t Stop Now uses the Carverys as a case study,
showing how “urban renewal” tore families, and the community,
apart.
Peters and producer Marty Williams will screen the documentary at
Seaview Memorial Park tonight, July 30 at 8pm, as part of the annual
Africville Reunion.
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2009.
Will these folks ever quiet down and realise that the current generation of HRM residents are not responsable for what occured at Africville, nor are younger tax payers prepared to hand out their hard-earned tax dollars to compensate for something done 50+ years ago.
to voice of reason: In 1988 the Canadian government offered individual payments as compensation to 12,000 surviving Japanese Canadians who were sent to internment camps during World War II without due process and with no evidence that they were enemy aliens. We also offered a formal apology, acknowledging that no amount of money could right the wrong, but that the compensation symbolized the government’s intention to address the issue of racial discrimination.
So was our federal government wrong as well? Your comment is so self-serving.
Not self-serving whatsover true scotia. The residents were relocated to housing developments when Africville was bulldozed. Some also received financial compensation. But to suggest that nothing was done, that these folks were tossed into the streets like many activists have claimed in the past is very incorrect.
If any compensation is handed out then it better be in 1960-1970 dollar values, not the current 2009 values.
Do I agree with the feds giving out all that money? I wasn’t 100% for it but at least on local and provincial issues the taxpayers have a bit more clout, unlike decisions make in Ottawa. Someone born in the mid-70’s or later shouldn’t be finacially responsable for decisions made in the 60’s.
Perhaps those who were moved out of their community should have fought harder at the time instead of dragging the matter along 3 decades later.
I should add that I’m not convinced any type of settlement will end the demands by the former residents. The very same demands came from the natives re. compensation and an apology for the residential schools.
They got money and the apology, cashed their cheques and now demand more and more for the “hurt”
Take a closer look at the promises and actions of the province:
http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/1589
Hey VOR i think you seriously need to sit down and think about what your saying these people were thrown out in the middle of the damn night so befor you go running you mouth i think you need to go and educate youself some more and check out the link from TBT
I’n not particularly knowledgeable about this issue but it would be interesting to see what kind of money the city saved in their decision to appropriate Africville rather than some other area, and where that money went, and how we benefit from it today.
The thing with historic acts of racism is they do not begin and end with the individuals concerned; the economic and cultural ramifications last for decades, affecting both the oppressor and the oppressed. I don’t know if I agree with compensation happening but I do know that if I was them, I would want it; and also personally I would rather have tax money go toward compensation than some of the idiot things our governments dream up.
Bits_nd_pieces: The article says the CHURCH was bulldozed one night without warning, says nothing about people being pushed out of their houses and into the streets at night. There is news footage and photos that clearly show many residents preparing to move their belongings during daylight hours. So I don’t believe the city kicked people out and bulldozed homes at night.
The link you refer to takes you to a one-sided story on Africville, you can find the other side(s) by looking through old newspapers, city council records, provincial records, etc etc.
But I will say that Mr. Carvery is a fine addition to the school board and it shows that former Africville residents can be at the top of society if they put their minds to doing something other than living in the past and squatting on land in a travel trailer. The same goes for anyone in the world no matter what heritage background you have.
My question remains unanswered: Are there any guarantees that if a compensation agreement gets worked out, will those fighting the Africville battle actually sign it, get on with their lives and let this city move forward? Or will we see the cheques cashed and the lawsuits start all over again?
“Someone born in the mid-70’s or later shouldn’t be finacially responsable for decisions made in the 60’s.”
voice of reason, actually sounds more like voice of no reason, how do you feel about the fact that alot of “old money” was made off the backs of slaves…. do those descendants of slave have a right to reparations, considering that the current generation of those descendant from the slaveowner is reaping the benefits of their ancestors misdeeds and the money made off the sweat and misery of those slaves.
Neo24, please come and redo my taxes for the last 30 years and explain where I came out ahead thanks to slaves. Not sure my Dad’s family saw a benefit from slavery while working for the CNR nor do I recall my Mom’s family (the women were homemakers and most of the men worked on dairy farms and in the timber industry).
I can’t recall either side of the family owning slaves in all the historical date collected over the years so I think I’ll opt out of any contributions our elected officials think I should contribute to by way of tax dollars… which myself and everyone else works damn hard to pay and expect better than for our $$$ to be handed out like candy.
However, if I can find evidence of slavery in the family history then perhaps its time I sue the younger generations seeing how the dead relatives’ estates haven’t paid up as much as they should have… might as well prevent lil Timmy from getting a decent meal for the rest of his life so I can collect money from him on something he wasn’t even around to witness, let alone participate in.
Hey i surely wasn’t referring to you personally coming out ahead of slavery, but whether you realize it you have. If your response is meant to diminish the point i am making, a point that is well known and accepted, that white society has benefited from slavery, then you need your head checked.
As for Mr. Carvery being “a fine addition to the school board”, i can see why would might feel that way, being a Black man I don’t think he’s doing a fine job representing the interest of Black students. To make my point, just recently when asked about his feelings of whether HRP unfairly targeted Black youth at the Auburn High incident, he replied that he felt the police dealt with the situation professional. Now if you ask the Black community about that, you might find they felt he was too quick to make that judgement. It certainly appeared that the police was using profiling to target Black students. In my opinion, Mr. Carvery is serving the interest of the system, the same system that appointed him to that position. Do you actually think HRM would give Mr. Carvery that position if he was gonna get all radical and stand up for Black interest, hardly. So i can see why you think he’s doing a fine job. When the situation for Black students improve i’ll then agree with you, until then.
I would have liked to see this film, I wonder if it will be screened again..
We can sit back as armchair critics all we want re. Auburn Drive incidents but I don’t care if the students throwing punches towards other kids or adults were black, white, purple or whatever other colour is out there – they deserved to be arrested like any other people breaking the law. So now the cops should look the other way when they see a black student menacing someone else? No wonder HRM’s race relations are as fucked as they are.
The only reasons I think Mr. Carvery is doing a good job is that the drama that filled previous school board meetings is gone, people working in the administration offices aren’t tiptoing around worried they’d offend people like the previous board members and he’ll actually support the front line people – teachers, when concerns do come up. I think thats doing a lot of good in a usually thankless job.
These people are much like the native Canadians – they need to focus on the past not the present. Time to move on people – nothing new to see here
I do not want one thin dime of my tax dollars going for “compensation” — allegedly for moving them out of a ramshackle rat-infested third-world slum and into brand-new housing, that they then immediately turned into a slum as well.
Doesn’t take much to flush out a racist here at the coast it seems. (-;
Neo24….how dumb are you? This has nothing to do with race! It is about the whole dumb principle of stupid compensation for stuff we shouldn’t have to pay for. “We” encompases lots of races….jerk!
See, you are the small minded one here, because, it’s people like you who cry racism because black people are involved. I don’t give a sweet flyin’ fuck what color the people are who lived in Africville or what nationality they were. I’d feel the same way if they were white,from any descent, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, whatever. Fuck off with crying racism!
Why does the Coast bother to do stories about these types of issues and allow the comments to devolve into this kind of foolishness? I know you’re a free paper, but if you can’t moderate articles, then why not just disable comments like the Chronicle Herald does when a topic brings out the trolls en masse?
More information on the history of Africville is available at http://www.africville.ca
Mole_rat – everyone is entitled to their opinion and so there have only been a few that bordered on hatred and they were deleted. I’m expressing my views as a taxpayer, concerned that more of my tax dollars are going to be used to rebuild a known slum.
I think enough money was spent decades ago building the housing developments and letting the former Africville squatters pay well under the going market rents for brand new housing. You’d think people would be grateful for a warm place to lay their heads that included clean drinking water and proper sewer systems.
ok so you all need to take a history lesson on this shit there wasn’t just black people in africville and if you know anything about this place you would know that you would also realize that the city out s dump in the city and tracks through it and because of that there was rats . these people owned this land and SOME were givin money. africville was s community that thrived off its self and when they took it from the people they were forced to go on welfare so you tell me that it was s price of shit when they were a huge family that lived off of the land they earned also I think you guys aren’t getting the point that these people are still living and eddie is protesting for what he wants is it so damn bad. also I will say something about the compensation I don’t believe the descendants should receive any but the remaining africville people should and they should get there church and interpretation center it should no longer be s dog park because it is the only historic property in halifax that a dog can run free and piss on
bits_nd_pieces: This was taken right of the africville.ca link…
Only 14 residents had legal title to their property.
– Minutes of the City Council Africville Subcomittee, October 5, 1967.
Settlements were not only paid for land or dwellings; many also included welfare payments, furniture allowances and waiving of tax and hospital bills, as well as sundry costs.
Settlements were classified into five categories:
Propertyless
Renters with Claims
Home and Landowners
Homeowners
Homeowners with Multiple Claims
So NOT everyone owned their land! You mention the railway tracks and dump being the reason for the rats but that wasn’t anything different for other areas where grain cars passed by or had a dump nearby. Heck, watch the videos from that link and you’ll hear one fellow state that the dump was a goldmine to the community, you could find building materials and furniture to make africville beautiful.
And just look at Eddie’s camper land – its filled with junk and garbage already. Is this the model for the rebuild he demands? If it was anyone else the city would be demanding a cleanup and kicking out squatters. Special treatment I dare say.
Did any of the residents of Africville ever pay municipal taxes? Did any ever purchase the land (property) on which they lived? If not, why do they have any “claim” to the land? It’s not like they can call themselves First Nations for the purposes of Canada, as that is simply false.
While in principle I do not agree with forced relocation, I also do not agree with “compensation” and “reparations.” Handing out money would change NOTHING, and to imply otherwise really is BS. THAT is a lie perpetuated by those looking for money and an “apology.”
If the residents want to start a campaign to rebuild a small church at the site, then I say go on them. And, the government(s) can kick in SOME funding too, for all I care. However, as a taxpayer I have NO interest in shelling out money for something that “benefits” (???) but a few.
Just my two cents. I have as much right to my opinion as anyone else.
It keeps getting better. StirfryJones, if the government were to ever decide to paying reparations to the Blacks of Nova Scotia, for whatever reason, the reality that you need to come to terms with is the simple fact that you as a taxpaying citizen of this province who have no say in the matter, so run your month and voice your opinion on the matter all you want. The original british settlers of this province are referred to as Loyalist, along with them were Black Loyalist and other groups of Blacks, those being the Black Pioneers, this group of Blacks were entitled to the same rights afforded to the White Loyalist, the majority of them did not receive those rights, one being Land grants, in which no money was paid. It real shows the ignorances of the majority of white posters here who don’t know the history of this province, who contributed to the building of it etc….. Land was given and then taken.
Voice of reason, i laugh at your comment.
“Heck, watch the videos from that link and you’ll hear one fellow state that the dump was a goldmine to the community, you could find building materials and furniture to make africville beautiful. “
simple, if this is all your entitled to, you’ll find the positive in what the dump had to offer, all that shows is that this “one fellow” appreciated what he could gather from the dump. He certainly didn’t have the opportunities to go out and purchase the stuff that he found there.
Here’s a priceless clip for your viewing enjoyment.
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/racism/clip…
I am with voice_of_reason. I’ll be damned if our government pays reparations to anyone involved with Africville. I have watched the documentaries and the place was a complete dump. Forced relocation stinks but sometimes it is necessary as was the case with Africville. And why should my family be responsible for something that happened before I was born? The answer is that we should not – nor will we be.
Haligonians place the racism card way too often as was the case with Auburn Drive. So often that the race card doesn’t even have any pull anymore. I hear the race card played today I automatically dismiss it as frivolous. This is unfortunate because I am sure that there are some cases that deserve attention from the ‘non-racist’ white community however issues like Africville and Auburn Drive have many of us desensitized to the whole issue. The vast majority of black people I know in Halifax think the Africville issue is ridiculous and would rather focus on the future of our city as opposed to looking for a free handout from the government for something that is so foolish it doesn’t even deserve discussion.
So get on with life people. You are not getting reparations for Africville. If the decision was to be made all over again today I am sure that the land would still be expropriated. And if you are successful in getting an apology it will not be worth the paper it is written on because an overwhelming majority of ‘non-racist’ white Haligonians have no regrets over Africville…and from what I can tell neither do most black Haligonians.
Neo24: You can laugh all you want at my dump comment but it was in response to a post by Bits_nd_pieces that read, in part: “realize that the city out s dump in the city and tracks through it and because of that there was rats”
I agreed with the black fellow in the video that the dump was a valuable resource for people who didn’t have any other means to build, repair or furnish their homes. Same could be said when you see the today’s people picking through the amount of good stuff tossed at the curb.
As for the video link you posted, I’ve seen it before and even the black guy says it right: some people will dislike others for whatever the reason, it it black vs. white or vice-versa. But I’d like believe white on black hate is less than it was years ago but black on white hate is very much apparent in this city and its no wonder that a vicious circle of hate continues. One of the first people people on that CBC video stated quite correctly that they were given a chance at a new and improved life by way of clean and safe accomodations – it was the new residents who would now have to keep it looking that way and work towards self-sufficiency.
We can’t keep giving a crutch to those who simply won’t get off their arses and work to better their own lives.
I find it interesting, Neo, how you seem to be one of the most agitated. I have every right to my opinion, as do you. I don’t agree with your historical “facts” in total, and challenge you to do more research before you so easily dismiss points I made by stating something to the effect that I need to learn more about my provincial history. Just being “loud” doesn’t make you correct.
It’s also foolish to state that “[I] have no say in the matter.” The last time I checked there is this thing called elections and voting IS a say and, frankly, if the issue of “compensation” were ever to arise I can assure you that it would not be permitted to slide by.
I guess the last point is a general comment in regard to something voice of reasons stated. I think too many members of a certain minority group (or, certainly a vocal minority of this group) watch too much American TV. The situation in the States is NOT the same as in Canada, in spite of what you may see. Unfortunately, perception is reality, so I guess some will always see what they want (as I will be accused, as well).
Progress only occurs when people move on…but this only seems to work in certain locales around the world. Where it has, however, everyone has benefitted. Nova Scotia is not a progressive province so this nonsense will be around for the foreseeable future.
Go ahead, Neo, rant away. You know you are right.
To voice of reason: This is exactly the type of racism that Halifax is built on; You obviously come from a secure home and have not traveled to far from it. Your profound ignorance is what keeps our world impoverished and your ungenerous and bitter disposition is shameful. Your life has no spirit. Its amazing what one can tell of a person through their opinion. You are a bitter racist and I see that Nova Scotians of African and Miqmaq descent really turn on your hate. I am “white” but all Nova Scotians are my people. We cannot change the past but we can build a future that heals all the wounds of the past. Yes, you too can be healed my dear racist voice of”reason”. You are just very afraid of what you feel in your heart. Your world grows bigger, more interesting, more dynamic,more real when you spread your arms to give it love