CBC's Digital Collection of African Nova Scotian History
Content to serve as living record of stories and culture
Over the past few months, CBC has heard from the African Nova Scotian community about the important role that the public broadcaster can play in helping to preserve their history, and in making archival material publicly accessible as a living record of their stories and culture.
In collaboration with members of the community, CBC will compile a digital collection of African Nova Scotian content from decades of CBC programming, and make the material available on the CBC Nova Scotia website and on CBC's Being Black in Canada website.
The online collection will feature CBC television and radio clips about people in the community, culture, significant firsts and historic events. Content will be available beginning February 26 and new archival material will be added every Friday with the plan to grow the collection over time.
"Our goal is to make as much of this history as possible publicly accessible – taking into consideration the needs of African Nova Scotians. As the online collection evolves and expands, CBC will continue to collaborate with African Nova Scotians to ensure content is made available in a respectful and culturally appropriate manner," says Meredith Dellandrea, Senior Managing Director of CBC Atlantic.
Raymond Sheppard, indigenous African Nova Scotian elder, and Andreas Robinson, social entrepreneur and community builder, are advocates for representation in mainstream media and for the public broadcaster's role in preserving Black history. They have been advising CBC on the development of the African Nova Scotian archival collection.
History matters. Black voices matter.- Raymond Sheppard
"Without specific recognition of the history of the indigenous African Nova Scotian community that has existed here for over 400 years, the cultural legacy is not being fully honoured. Our youth won't be able to fully appreciate their sense of self, value and power through their heritage," Robinson says.
"Because much of the focus has always been on our history being tied to slavery, our youth don't get that rich, wider holistic view. If you don't have the full scope or the full picture, you are going to be stuck in a very different mindset. All of our history has value."
Sheppard agrees archival content provides invaluable historical and educational benefits, especially for young African Nova Scotians.
"I would love to see my grandchildren go out, research and find this material. This archive adds to the history that is out there and it is significant," Sheppard says. "Looking back helps us to look forward with positivity. We gain strength by knowing our history, seeing it, reading it, rejoicing in it. I would not be here today and be proud of who I am if I did not have some understanding of my history. History matters. Black voices matter."
For suggestions on content to feature in CBC's online collection of African Nova Scotian archival material, please email ansarchives@cbc.ca
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
