African Heritage Month 2016 at Halifax Public Libraries

African Heritage Month is celebrated at Halifax Public Libraries with an incredible array of programs and events - you can enjoy drumming, dance, fashion, films, panel discussions, story telling, poetry, and the much anticipated reading by George Elliott Clarke from his new novel The Motocyclist.

Enjoy as well some new African Canadian writing, including:

'Membering by Austin Clarke

"Austin Clarke is a distinguished and celebrated novelist and short-story writer. His works often centre around the immigrant experience, of which he writes with humour and compassion, happiness and sorrow. In 'Membering, Clarke shares his own experiences growing up in Barbados and moving to Toronto to attend university in 1955 before becoming a journalist. With vivid realism he describes Harlem of the '60s, meeting and interviewing Malcolm X and writers Chinua Achebe and LeRoi Jones. Clarke went on to become a pioneering instructor of Afro-American Literature at Yale University and inspired a new generation of Afro-American writers." publisher

The Illegal: a novel by Lawrence Hill

"A literary thriller that addresses the fate of undocumented refugees who struggle to survive in nations that do not want them. Keita Ali is on the run. He is desperate to flee Zantoroland, a mountainous black island that produces the fastest marathoners in the world. Keita signs on with notorious marathon agent, Anton Hamm, who provides Keita with a chance to run the Boston marathon. But when Keita fails to place among the top finishers, rather than being sent back to his own country, he goes into hiding." discover

Pain Tree by Olive Senior

"The stories range over almost a hundred years, from around the time of the second world war to the present. Like her earlier stories, Jamaica is the setting but the range of characters presented are universally recognizable as people in crisis or on the cusp of transformation." discover

Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson

"In this long-awaited collection, Hopkinson continues to expand the boundaries of culture and imagination. Whether she is retelling The Tempest as a new Caribbean myth, filling a shopping mall with unfulfilled ghosts, or herding chickens that occasionally breathe fire, Hopkinson continues to create bold fiction that transcends boundaries and borders." publisher

What's Done in Darkness by Kayla Perrin

"Jade Blackwin feels like she's losing her mind. After burying both her parents--and being left by her boyfriend for her scheming best friend--she totally loses it. At college graduation, she confronts her man, slaps her BFF, then crashes her car. Now everyone thinks she's crazy. Even her sister, who convinces Jade to take a job in beautiful, restful Key West. At first, Key West is everything Jade could hope for. The lime margaritas are heaven on earth. Her boss at the coffee shop, Katrina, is friendly as can be. And a gorgeous stranger named Brian is just the thing to help Jade forget her ex. But why is a crime writer asking so many questions? Why does Katrina explode into fits of rage? And why is a killer lurking in the shadows, ready to kill again? No one knows what's done in darkness. But Jade knows she's not crazy. She's next..." discover

For lots more reading suggestions and activities, go to our African Heritage Month resource page.

Nova Scotian Poetry

April is National Poetry Month in Canada, a time set aside to celebrate poets and their craft through events, and to expand awareness of poetry’s vital role in Canadian culture. Enjoy this selection of poetry from award-winning Nova Scotia authors!

Live From the Afrikan Resistance! by El Jones

El Jones is Halifax’s 2013-2015 Poet Laureate, a resident spoken word artist who advocates for literacy and reflects our community through heartfelt, passionate poetry about her experience as an African-Canadian woman.

“The first collection of spoken word poetry by Halifax’s fifth Poet Laureate, El Jones. These poems speak of community and struggle. They are grounded in the political culture of African Nova Scotia and inherit the styles and substances of hip-hop, dub and calypso’s political commentary. They engage historical themes and figures and analyze contemporary issues—racism, environmental racism, poverty and violence—as well as confront the realities of life as a Black woman. The voice is urgent, uncompromising and passionate in its advocacy and demands. One of Canada’s most controversial spoken word artists, El Jones writes to educate, to move communities to action and to demonstrate the possibilities of resistance and empowerment. Gathered from seven years of performances, these poems represent the tradition of the prophetic voice in Black Nova Scotia.” —publisher

How to Be Alone by Tanya Davis, with illustrations by Andrea Dorfman

Written by Halifax’s 2011-2012 Poet Laureate, this book is an illustrated version of the poem “How to Be Alone,” which made a splash as a viral video with its wise tips for embracing life by being alone without being lonely.

“Since its debut on YouTube, Tanya Davis’s beautiful and perceptive poem ‘How to Be Alone,’ visually realized by artist and filmmaker Andrea Dorfman, has become an international sensation. In this edition of How to Be Alone, they have adapted the poem and its compelling illustrations for the page in a beautiful, meditative volume—a keepsake to treasure and to share. From a solitary walk in the woods to sitting unaccompanied on a city park bench to eating a meal and even dancing alone, How to Be Alone reveals the possibilities and joys waiting to be discovered when we engage in activities on our own. As she soothes the disquietude that accompanies the fear of aloneness, and celebrates the power of solitude to change how we see ourselves and the world, Tanya reveals how, removed from the noise and distractions of other lives, we can find acceptance and grace within. For those who have never been by themselves or those who embrace being on their own, How to Be Alone encourages us to recognize and embrace the possibilities of being alone—and reminds us of a universe of joy, peace, and discovery waiting to unfold.” —publisher

Masstown by Chad Norman

Chad Norman’s poems have appeared in magazines across the world, and he currently has 15 books of poetry, most recently Masstown, about a farming community in Colchester County. At the Halifax Central Library, he recently read from his work-in-progress Simona, which celebrates the Colchester County SPCA and the furry feline they allowed his family to rescue.

“Masstown is a small farming community in Colchester County, near the Cobequid Bay in Nova Scotia. Set in the past, this is a collection of poetry that accentuates the struggles of life on a family-run dairy farm for owners Bert and Gladys, grandparents of the author. Not only do Bert and Gladys run the farm, they’re also parents striving to find the balance between running a farm and raising a family.” —publisher

Traverse by George Elliott Clarke

Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, George Elliott Clarke has spent much of his career writing about the black communities of Nova Scotia and is now Toronto’s Poet Laureate. This book was written in a one-day (!) poetry marathon when he traveled back to Halifax.

“From Toronto’s poet laureate (2012–15) comes a new book that is a tour de force in confessional verse. This autobiographical sequence in 980 lines contains 70 stanzas of “skeletal sonnets” composed, astonishingly, in one day and one evening. Traverse is a web of intersecting, crisscrossing impulses, a great burst of imaginative energy and aesthetic reflection that celebrates a 30-year period of Clarke’s writing poetry.” —publisher

Cottonopolis by Rachel Lebowitz

Rachel Lebowitz has lived on the east and west coasts of Canada and has now settled in Halifax, where she supports literacy in the libraries. This well-researched poem combines genres to depict the complex history of the cotton industry.

“Cottonopolis is a sequence of prose and found poems about the Industrial Revolution, in particular the links between the cotton industry in Lancashire, slavery in the Americas and the colonization of India. From the Irish slums of Manchester to the forts of the Slave Coast to the ruins of Dhaka, India; from Civil War battlefields to Lancashire factory floors, from slave ship sailors to machine-breakers to child labourers, these poems tell the stories of the industrial age.” —publisher

And I Alone Escaped To Tell You by Sylvia D. Hamilton

Sylvia D. Hamilton is an author, artist, and documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on the history of African Nova Scotians and women through in-depth firsthand research and storytelling. As part of the celebration of African Heritage Month, she read from this moving collection of poetry at the Halifax Central Library in February.

“The settlement of African peoples in Nova Scotia is a richly layered story encompassing many waves of settlement and diverse circumstances—from captives to ‘freedom runners’ who sailed north from the United States with hopes of establishing a new life. The poems in And I Alone Escaped to Tell You endeavour to give these historical events a human voice, blending documentary material, memory, experience and imagination to evoke the lives of these early Black Nova Scotians and of the generations that followed. This collection is a moving meditation on the place of African-descended people in the Canadian story and on the threads connecting all of us to the African diaspora.” —publisher

African Heritage Month: Books to Movies

As we celebrate African Heritage Month, we look back on the heroes of the civil rights movement, an ongoing struggle that has made great strides toward justice and continues today. Here is a selection of books that have been adapted into memorable films about this revolution.

To accompany the movie Selma, the Oscar-nominated retelling of one event in the inspirational life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (played by David Oyelowo), check out the documentary King: a filmed record—Montgomery to Memphis. Without a narrator, this documentary consists of Dr. King’s stirring speeches and sermons, allowing archival footage and sound recordings to speak for themselves. For non-fiction works, there are many excellent explorations of King’s life and legacy (see some of them at this post). For a book that looks at just a small snapshot of his life, try Tavis Smiley’s Death of a King: the real story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final year. This book recounts the events in the twelve months leading up to Dr. King’s assassination in 1968, showing all the setbacks he had to move past in order to lead the civil rights movement.



Civil rights leader Malcolm X’s autobiography was written with the assistance of journalist Alex Haley (who penned the family saga Roots, which itself was adapted into the television miniseries Roots). The Autobiography of Malcolm X inspired director Spike Lee to take on the challenge of a film adaptation in the biopic Malcolm X. Starring Denzel Washington in the mesmerizing lead role, this story chronicles Malcolm X’s troubled childhood and six years in prison, ministry with the Nation of Islam, advocacy for black pride, and work as a human rights activist until his assassination in 1965. For more about Malcolm X and Dr. King’s legacy after their tragic assassinations, try the film Betty and Coretta, about the men’s wives, Dr. Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King, respectively played by Mary J. Blige and Angela Basset.


On Monday, February 16, we observed Nova Scotia Heritage Day, celebrating local heroes like Viola Desmond, a human rights activist who was arrested for challenging racial segregation in a New Glasgow movie theatre in 1946 by refusing to leave a whites-only section of the theatre. Her bravery eventually led to an end to segregation in Nova Scotia. For a documentary about Viola Desmond, try Long Road to Justice: the Viola Desmond story. For a fuller biography of Desmond, check out Sister to Courage: stories from the world of Viola Desmond, Canada’s Rosa Parks, written by Wanda Robson, Desmond’s youngest sister, about the family and world that shaped both of them and their other siblings.


Rosa Parks is considered by many to be Desmond’s counterpart in the U.S. because of Parks’ arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, to a white passenger in 1955. Her act of defiance became a powerful symbol that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped lead to the bus segregation law being declared unconstitutional. Her life was documented in the biography The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis. Check out the film The Rosa Parks Story, starring Angela Basset, for a dramatic adaptation.


Finally, the movie Lee Daniels’ The Butler, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, is based on the story of White House butler Eugene Allen, who saw eight presidents come and go during more than 30 years of service starting in 1957. This movie was based on a 2008 Washington Post article by Wil Haygood called “A Butler Well Served by This Election” and accompanied the release of Haygood’s book The Butler: a witness to history.

Black Feminism & #BlackTwitter

In honour of African Heritage Month, I want to draw attention the important work that is being done by Black feminist and womanist writers.

For anyone with a Twitter account, access to the creative and intellectual work being produced by an exciting new generation of Black feminists has never been easier. In a 2013 Salon article, the author and activist Feminista Jones, described the emergence of the #BlackTwitter hashtag as representing "a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community that participates in continuous real-time conversations." Although Twitter encourages its users to "join the conversation," I've learned more by silently following and reflecting on the tweets and links posted by @FeministaJones, who also led the movement behind #YouOKSis; @ZerlinaMaxwell, the political writer and analyst known for her attacks on rape culture; and from discussions tied to the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which was created by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza. News and opinion sites that serve the Black community, like The Root, also maintain a presence on Twitter where they regularly promote the work of Black feminist writers and advocates.

Off-line, there are a wealth of books published by authors of African heritage that deserve attention. You don't need a computer to enjoy them!

Bad Feminist: essays by Roxane Gay
Black Girls are from the Future: essays on race, digital creativity and pop culture by Renina Jarmon
Black Feminist Thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Talking Back: thinking feminist, thinking black by bell hooks