Last summer, René Boudreau told The Coast why she started Elevate and Explore Black Nova Scotia, a business all about promoting experiences for Black Nova Scotians through travel. Since then, she tells us now, it’s only grown. “There’s gaps in terms of the representation and cultural awareness that yes—there are Black people in Nova Scotia […]
African Heritage Month
Posted inNews + Opinion
Black women entrepreneurs are sharing their stories through this 28-day series
It was the middle of the night around 1am when Tia Upshaw came up with a new idea to help showcase local Black women entrepreneurs. As the founder and president of the Blk Women in Excellence mentorship program, Upshaw has always valued educating, uplifting and creating platforms for Black women—and that’s exactly what she’s aiming […]
Posted inArts + Music
7 TV series and movies to stream this African Heritage Month
The winter doldrums are here and it’s peak stay-home-and-watch-TV season (especially thanks to omicron’s continued presence). It’s possible you feel as we do in that you’ve watched The Entire Internet and have moved on to weird, niche content. Consider this a rallying cry from the mainstream’s shores: A collection of seven new, buzzy series and […]
Posted inArts + Music
African Heritage Month 2022 events in Halifax
Okay, okay, you know what I’m going to say: COVID has impacted how African Heritage Month is being celebrated, causing the programming to be slighter than it has been in pre-pandemic years. But that doesn’t mean the city isn’t celebrating Black culture and history in February. The Coast is actively compiling this full calendar of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Racism persists amidst Nova Scotia’s school systems
I’m among those who cherish poetry as the highest literary genre. So, I was delighted to discover, after moving to Halifax from BC, The Door of My Heart, a poetry collection by Maxine Tynes. A beloved African Nova Scotian educator and writer, Tynes died from complications of post-polio syndrome in 2011. I never met her. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Journalism project reveals injustice in African Nova Scotian land titles
[Image-1] Journalism students at the Nova Scotia Community College have produced a damning and in-depth video investigation into Nova Scotia’s failure to offer land titles to longtime North Preston residents. Called “Untitled,” the video series blends historical research with present-day interviews to trace how the provincial government has ignored its own promise to help Black […]
Posted inArts + Music
The local roots of Canadian jazz
Canada’s rich black heritage and music history are closely linked, and today’s jazz fans have benefited from that strong union of culture and art. Jazz may have been born in New Orleans around the end of the 19th century, but it didn’t take too long before it grew up and headed north, to other US […]
Posted inArts + Music
Free film screenings for African Heritage Month
To celebrate African Heritage Month, three landmark films in black cinema will be screened at the Dalhousie Art Gallery (6101 University Avenue) in the next two weeks. Curated by filmmaker and film professor Ron Foley Macdonald, the series is free (!) and open to all. Tuesday, February 2 (5pm) She’s Gotta Have It (1986) Directed, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A city only does as well as its poorest resident
[Image-1] The movie 12 Years A Slave is the account of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was drugged and abducted from Washington, DC and sold into slavery in Louisiana. In one scene, a conversation takes place between Solomon’s slavemaster and another white man who is against slavery. The other man (played by Brad […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police need to earn the trust of black communities
[Image-1] Quentrel Provo knows a lot of people along Lake Major Road in North Preston. All those people, friends and family, asked him a lot of questions one day after the police pulled him over for speeding. He was embarrassed, he says, especially because he was working as his church’s youth pastor. “I was actually […]
Posted inArts + Music
The black female form, reborn
A chorus of giggles, snippets of conversation and the swishing of snowsuits emanate from a group of local children as they crowd against the heavy, closed doors of the library’s Terry Symonds Auditorium. The door hinge creaks and squeaks its swing song as it opens just wide enough for a small head to peak inside. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Movie night
Dalhousie Art Gallery’s African History Month free film series, curated by Ron Foley Macdonald, kicked off yesterday, continuing every week at 8pm until the end of the month (6101 University Ave). If you know what’s good, you won’t sleep on this one, last Tuesday featured The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, next week is Melvin Van […]