Future

On November 4, 2008, the black population of North America witnessed history and an overwhelming sense of pride with the election of Barak Obama as President-Elect of the United States. For a population whose lineage dates back to the first Africans who were stolen away from the motherland across the middle passage and into the bonds of slavery, it was all that more sweet to know that Obama could trace and see his roots travel back across the Atlantic and know from whence he came. The African Nova Scotian community followed the candidacy of Senator Obama as if it were a family member seeking the nomination.

President-Elect Barak Obama

The question continues to be asked, what change will his election to the highest office in the land have on the African North American population? Maybe it is to soon to know how it will affect the larger picture right now, but we do know that his race and his election clearly showed that black people are interested in politics and can have a personal connection.

The night following the election of President-elect Obama, educational history was made in Nova Scotia as Irvine Carvery was sworn-in as the chairperson of the Halifax Regional School Board. He was elected as the African Nova Scotian representative for the Halifax Board. Carvery is the first black person to hold this position in board history.

Irvine Carvery

To make change you have to be involved. We have a recorded history of involvement at all levels of society, but we also need to have continued community engagement at every level within the community. We need to instill the same passion and sense of responsibility in the next generation towards making change in our surroundings, as the past generation did with us.

So here is the question: What does the fact that we as African Nova Scotian’s are still experiencing firsts within our province some 400 years after settling in Nova Scotia say?. Only one black mayor, three members of the legislature, one black member of Parliament, two Senators, for those that say, “I think we have made great progress”. I say, “It all depends on what side of the glass you are looking at. Having said that, African Nova Scotians continue to make their mark in a variety of fields, and progress continues”.

For more information be sure to visit the full exhibit at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.