boiler Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 IT STARTED with a Wiki-bender. I was researching an unrelated project and, several hours later, wound up on the Wikipedia entry for Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. It made an astonishing claim: The legendary lyrics, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind," were born in Nova Scotia in a speech given by the pan-African leader Marcus Garvey.Marley, linked to little old Nova Scotia? And what was Garvey doing here? I checked the source, but there wasn’t one. I YouTubed the video and watched the tired, dying star strum his guitar. He wrote the song in 1979, when cancer was taking over his body. It’s an extraordinary song. The Nova Scotia link was an extraordinary claim. I set about finding out the truth. The whole story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartamophone Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Good reading, thanks. I was surprised when I lived in Halifax at how rich an African culture there is out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skelter Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Kudos also to a great link.Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes shines some excellent light on blacks in Nova Scotia ... and, yes, it's as good a book as everyone says it is.His Any Known Blood also has some black history of Oakville (and Toronto/Southern Ontario to a lesser extent) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartamophone Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Kudos also to a great link.Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes shines some excellent light on blacks in Nova Scotia ... and, yes, it's as good a book as everyone says it is.Funny, my mom just finished reading that and has been raving about it to anyone who will listen. I think I'll have to put that one on the list. (Thankfully I work in a book shop that I can use as my own personal library). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edger Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 It’s an extraordinary song. Indeed. Thanks for posting. Who knew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Nova Scotia's African heritage, as far back as the Underground Railroad to the razing of Africville and to the present is indeed pronounced. I'm pretty sure Halifax (and definitely Dartmouth, Cole Harbour, Eastern Passage) has the largest per capita African population in Canada. Also likely the largest Buddhist population per capita. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Large Marge Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Nice!!! I didn't know there was such an African connection in good ol' Glace Bay. No wonder there's so much Soul! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler Posted December 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Cape Breton is a very multi-cultural place, always has been. A lot of it had to do with the coal mines and the steel plant. Poor people from everywhere descended upon the place in the early 1900's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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