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In February of this year, the municipal government of Halifax, Nova Scotia, officially apologized for the brutal bulldozing and forced eviction of residents of the city's historic black neighbourhood Africville under the guise of "urban renewal." It took forty years for the apology to come to a community that had grown out of the settlements of former American and British slaves since the 1840s. The destruction of the community was devastating and a final blow to an area of the city that had been subjected to deliberate neglect, segregation, and racism.
While all that physically remains of Africville is a small park that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2002 by the Government of Canada, the community is well documented, including a National Film Board documentary, Encounter at Kwacha House (1967) produced by the Challenge for Change/société nouvelle program. The NFB has included this film in its playlist of Challenge for Change films and Kass Banning discusses the film in an essay contained in Challenge for Change: Activist Cinema at the National Film Board of Canada.
Filmed a few years before the destruction of Africville, Encounter at Kwacha House illuminates many of the community's long-held concerns by candidly filming in what Banning calls a "group circle format" (198) a young residents and activists voice their greivances and possible solutions. Banning also discusses the effectiveness of the film on raising awareness, as well as the fears of the local Halifax government: "Following the screenings of Encounter, officials were alerted to the potential for unrest in Halifax and short-term opportunities for black youth did emerge forthwith" (199). We encourage you to watch the film for a snapshot of black Halifax before the razing of Africville and consider the concerns of the community that have still yet to be sufficiently addressed despite the passing of forty years and a municipal apology.
Challenge for Change will have its Halifax book launch and film screening on Saturday, April 17 as part of the Halifax International Film Festival at 4pm at the North End Church, 5657 North Street. The event is free.
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