Black Ice The Lost History of the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925 (Twentieth-anniversary edition)
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95Expanded and revised edition of the pioneering work of history about the Coloured Hockey League, founded in Halifax, NS. Now a documentary film.
Black Ice is the first written record of the Colored Hockey League in the Maritimes, founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1895, more than 20 years before the founding of the National Hockey League. The Colored Hockey League was a force in Canadian hockey that was conveniently ignored and whose contributions were stolen as other leagues emerged. Black Ice explores the unique culture that still exists today.
Historic Black Nova Scotia
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95The history of Nova Scotia’s black communities is a complex story of triumph and struggle, intertwined with the many stories of ancestors, destinies, and challenges. The knowledge and insight of veteran authors Bridglal Pachai and Henry Bishop provide welcome guidance to the mosaic of Nova Scotian black history in Historic Black Communities. Presented in the engaging format of an Images of Our Past book, this readable history book is interspersed with ample black and white photos, providing a visual link to the stories of the past.
Eleven chapters explore the African presence in Nova Scotia, and range from topics such as the influence of the church and the African United Baptist Association (AUBA); pioneers in publishing, law, politics and business; the legacy of Africville; heroes of sports, military, arts, and volunteer activism; Historic Black Communities provides a comprehensive, but always accessible entry into the many realms of black influence. Above all, the many photos and stories of this historic tribute salute the dignity and achievements of the resilient black community in Nova Scotia, and provide an unshakeable optimism for its promising future.
Black Ice The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95In 1895, The Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes was formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was Twenty-five years before the Negro Baseball Leauges in the United States, and twenty-two years before the birth of the National Hockey League. The Colored League would emerge as a premier force in Canadian hockey and supply the resilience necessary to preserve a unique culture which exists to this day. Unfortunately their contributions were conveniently ignored, or simply stolen, as white teams and hockey officials, influenced by the black league, copied elements of the black style or sought to take self-credit for black hockey innovations. Black Ice is the first written record of the Colored Hockey League in the Maritimes.
Blacks
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$14.00This book documents the experience of the Blacks in the Maritimes, the difficulties they encountered and the institutions that sustained them. It profiles a selection of prominent individuals who overcame the prejudice and discrimination of a dominant culture to become outstanding in their careers while contributing to the greater good of society.
Afraid of the Dark
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95Through prose and poetry, Guyleigh Johnson tells the story of sixteen-year-old Kahlua Thomas. With a hard life at home, on the streets, and in school she finds an escape during her grade ten history class through writing poetry. Hiding in the back of the class, she writes, passionately expressing and releasing emotions about identity, home, community, culture, and forgiveness. All Kahlua wants is freedom, whatever that really means.
Righting the Wrongs Gus Wedderburn’s Quest for Social Justice in Nova Scotia
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$17.95Mary Riley was born and brought up in Nova Scotia. After graduating from Mount Saint Vincent and Carleton universities she worked as a journalist for the Calgary Herald and for the Canadian Press in Ottawa. In 1970 she went to West Africa with CUSO where she taught at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and the University of Ghana. Following graduate work at Simon Fraser University, she taught in the public relations program at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax until her retirement in 2008.
Hermit of Africville
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95Jon Tattrie is a journalist and writer. After a decade in Europe, he took a job on the Halifax Daily News in 2006. When the paper closed in 2008, he became a full-time freelancer, writing for Metro Canada, Transcontinental Media, the Chronicle-Herald, Halifax and Progress magazines, and other publications. He’s sweated in a Mi’kmaq lodge, sailed a tall ship, explored a nuclear bunker and spent Christmas at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Black Snow, his first novel, is a love story set during the Halifax Explosion. He lives with his fiancée in Halifax.
Lush Dreams, Blue Exile
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$9.95These poems range from a personal evocation of Black Nova Scotian history to an intense, intimate response to world events in the last thirty years. All are “fugitive poems” evolving from 1979 to 1991.
Save the World for Me
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$8.95Maxine Tynes is a poet who has lived all her life in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She is the author of ‘Borrowed Beauty’ and ‘Woman Talking Woman’. In 1988, Maxine was named the Milton Acorn People’s Poet of Canada for her lively and intense writing. She teaches English at Cole Harbour High School.
Woman Talking Woman
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$9.95Maxine Tynes is a poet who has lived all her life in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Her heritage goes back to the time of Black Loyalists in that province and Maxine has drawn heavily on that rich cultural past. Her writing is intense, personal, evocative and accessible in nature which earned her the titles of Milton Acorn People’s Poet of Canada for 1988. When her first book, Borrowed Beauty, was published by Pottersfield Press in 1987, it received rave reviews and sold out in a few months. Now in its third printing, Borrowed Beauty has provne to be a bestselling Canadian title, reaching far beyond the usual audience for poetry.
Woman Talking Woman is a new and varied collection of poetry and fiction by this vibrant voice from Atlantic Canada.”Maxine Tynes is a woman/teacher/poet whose life is shaped by the pride and passion of her own strongly held beliefs and an absolute commitment to her personal politics.” Sharon Fraser, Atlantic Insight
It’s Our Time Honouring the African Nova Scotian Communities of East Preston, North Preston, Lake Loon/Cherry Brook
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The Black Loyalists were the first large group of people of African ancestry to settle in Halifax, in 1782. In 1796 the Jamaican Maroons arrived. Then in 1813, Black refugees fleeing the United States came. These Loyalists, Maroons, and refugees settled in the Preston area, and although some subsequently left for Sierra Leone, many stayed and established the largest community of African Nova Scotians in the province. Since then, the Preston township—comprising North Preston, East Preston, and Lake Loon/Cherry Brook—has become a web of vibrant neighbourhoods with a rich and complex history.
With care and precision, award-winning writer Wanda Lauren Taylor delves into the history and development of this area, the organizations and churches that helped bolster the population, and the struggles, successes, and personal stories of several Preston-area residents. Through interviews and archival documents, Taylor shows how a resilient group of marginalized people built a thriving community that generations of African Nova Scotians can be proud of. Contains seventy-five images, both contemporary and archival, of the people and places around Preston.
Ultimate African Heritage Quiz 10th Anniversary edition
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$16.95The Ultimate African Heritage Quiz Book will test your knowledge of the many notable people, places, and events that have shaped African culture in the Maritimes. Based on the immensely popular African Heritage Youth Quiz contest held at Halifax North Memorial Public Library every year, The Ultimate African Heritage Quiz Book is a great way to bring the fun and excitement of the game home.
Packed with over three hundred questions about black literary figures, civil rights leaders, sports stars, historical events, and a wide variety of other topics, The Ultimate African Heritage Quiz Book is sure to challenge and entertain trivia fans of all ages and ethnicities.
A Change of Heart
Artist: Erin Bennett BanksPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Finally, the remarkable story of honourary Newfoundlander Lanier Phillips is available for young children in this heartwarming picture book.
A young African American and the son of sharecroppers, Lanier Phillips escapes the violence, racism, and segregation of his Georgia home by joining the navy during the Second World War. But tragedy strikes the USS Truxtun one February night off the southeastern coast of Newfoundland, and Lanier is the lone Black survivor of the terrible shipwreck. Covered in oil when he arrives onshore, the community’s kindness and humanity brings him back to health and changes his outlook on life. He would go on to march for Black rights with Martin Luther King, and remained forever grateful to the small town of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland.
With vibrant illustrations by celebrated artist Erin Banks, A Change of Heart vividly depicts Lanier’s life-changing experiences in Newfoundland that fateful February.
Portia White A Portrait in Words
Artist: Lara MartinaPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$21.95George Elliott Clarke brings his lyrical brilliance to this personal story, an ode to his great-aunt, the internationally celebrated opera contralto Portia White. From her early years in Halifax to her performance before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1964, the trailblazing, music-filled life of White is celebrated in this stirring tribute, with illustrations from artist Lara Martina.
Birchtown and the Black Loyalists
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95“Although diminished in numbers, Birchtown remains a proud symbol of the struggle by Blacks in the Maritimes and elsewhere for justice and dignity.” So says the plaque at Black Loyalist Heritage Park in Birchtown, commemorating the former Black slaves who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War to gain their freedom in the form of a small plot of land near Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
In Birchtown and the Black Loyalists, Wanda Taylor recounts the incredible story of the Black Loyalists of Birchtown for young readers. With educational and accessible language, readers are introduced to the journey of Black American soldiers taken from Africa as slaves, their quest for freedom, the settlement and struggle of Black Loyalists on Nova Scotian soil, and the enduring spirit of their descendants in spite of a history marked by hardship and loss. Includes informative sidebars, highlighted glossary terms, recommended reading, historic timeline, an index, and dozens of historical and contemporary images.
Black Loyalists Southern Settlers of Nova Scotia’s First Free Black Communities
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95During the American Revolution (1775-1783), the British government offered freedom to slaves who would desert their rebel masters as a way of ruining the American economy. Many Black men and women escaped to the British fleet patrolling the East Coast, or to the British armies invading the colonies from Maine to Georgia.
After the final surrender of the British to the Americans, New York City was evacuated by the British Army throughout the summer and fall of 1783. Carried away with them were a vast number of White Loyalists and their families, and over 3,000 Black Loyalists: free, indentured, apprenticed, or still enslaved. More than 2,700 Blacks came to Nova Scotia with the fleet from New York City.
Black Loyalists is an attempt to present hard data about the lives of Nova Scotia Black Loyalists before they escaped slavery in early South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and after they settled in Nova Scotia to bring back into our awareness the context for some very brave and enterprising men and women who survived the chaos of the American Revolution, people who found a way to pass through the heart, ironically, of a War for Liberty, to liberty and human dignity.
Includes an insert of 20 historical images and documents.
Up Home
Artist: Susan TookePublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Happy memories sparkle in this journey through poet Shauntay Grant’s childhood visits to North Preston, Nova Scotia. Her words bring to life the sights, sounds, rhythms, and people of a joyful place, while Susan Tooke’s vibrant illustrations capture the warmth of one of Canada’s most important black communities. Up Home celebrates the magic of growing up, and the power in remembering our roots now in a new softcover edition.
Nova Scotia Black Experience Through the Centuries
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95The Nova Scotia Black Experience Through the Centuries is a comprehensive account of the African Nova Scotian struggle to build a vital community in the face of racial discrimination.
Originally published in two volumes as Beneath the Clouds of the Promised Land, this illustrated edition has been extensively updated and includes a new chapter tracing the experiences of Nova Scotia’s black community into the twenty-first century. Author Bridglal Pachai profiles the individuals and organizations that fought for equality in education, business, politics, religion, and the arts, and carved a path for tomorrow’s leaders.
Covering more than four hundred years of a people’s history, heritage, and culture, The Nova Scotia Black Experience Through the Centuries is a powerful record, indispensable to any study of the province’s history.
Africville
Artist: Eva CampbellPublisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$14.95When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she?s heard from her family come to mind.
Fighting for Change
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$19.95This book is about Black social workers breaking barriers and fighting for change, not only for themselves as professionals, but also for their clients and communities. These workers tell their own unique stories in this volume, from gaining entry to social work education to their experiences in social work. They also write about the strategies that made a difference in their lives and the lives of the people they work with.
The first section tells the story of Black Social Workers’ entry into the profession and chronicles the poignant story of the life, and eventual death, of the Association of Black Social Workers in Montreal from where it spread to Halifax. In the second section, seasoned Black social workers, each trailblazers in their own right, tell their narratives of studying social work and beginning practice in Halifax in the late 1970s to early 1990s.
The third section spotlights current students who relate stories of their reasons for entering the social work profession and the barriers they face as they pursue their future career goals. The fourth section focuses on Africentric perspectives and puts forward some findings from exploratory research in this area. The final section explores experiences in a social work program which uses the media to expose students to cultures different from their own as well as some of the students’ experiences in interrogating the media itself.Black and Bluenose The Contemporary History of a Community
Publisher: Pottersfield Press$18.95Black and Bluenose documents the recent history of Canada’s oldest and largest indigenous black community. Saunders writes with passion and insight about issues that are close to his heart and an understanding of the historical forces that shape the headlines of today.
The Black Battalion 1916-1920 Canada’s Best Kept Military Secret
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Black military heritage in Canada is still generally unknown and unwritten. Most Canadians have no idea that Blacks served, fought, and died on European battlefields, all in the name of freedom. The story of the overt racist treatment of Black volunteers is a shameful chapter in Canadian history. It does, however, represent an important part of the Black legacy and the Black experience. It is a story worth reporting and worth sharing.
In this thirtieth-anniversary edition of Ruck’s celebrated history of Nova Scotia’s No. 2 Construction Battalion, known as the Black Battalion, the original text and over 60 photographs and documents is presented for a whole new generation of readers, along with a new foreword and photographs from journalist Lindsay Ruck, Calvin W. Ruck’s proud granddaughter.
Share and Care
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$29.95Share and Care: The Story of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children is a microcosm of black Nova Scotia history. Founded nearly one hundred years ago to address the needs of neglected and unwanted children in the black community, the home has become a monument to the self-reliance and solidarity that has long defined black culture in Nova Scotia.
With meticulous care, author Charles R. Saunders recreates the day-to-day life of the home and acquaints us with its devotees, the people who founded it, nurtured it, and found refuge in it. Behind the accounts, one senses the spirit of the struggles and challenges faced by the home’s supporters, determined people whose inner strength proved equal to the task of sharing and caring for each other.
The text is generously illustrated with photographs and enriched by poetry—written especially for the book—of George Elliott Clarke.
Invisible Shadows
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Invisible Shadows is Verna Thomas’ account of coming to consciousness about race in the wake of changes in education, civil rights, and black self-awareness that swept across the continent in the second half of the twentieth century and against the wider backdrop of slavery. Part autobiography, part history, part race theory, the work’s hybrid form reflects the range of influences brought to bear on it-intersecting histories, cultures, and communities, framed by the events of one woman’s life. The power of Invisible Shadows lies in the sincerity -and the good humour with which Thomas approaches the difficult task of truth-telling.
Black Battalion
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$17.95Black military heritage in Canada is still generally unknown and unwritten. Most Canadians have no idea that Blacks served, fought, and died on European battlefields, all in the name of freedom. The story of the overt racist treatment of Black volunteers is a shameful chapter in Canadian history. It does, however, represent an important part of the Black legacy and the Black experience. It is a story worth reporting and worth sharing.
Finding Fortune Documenting Life and Imagining the Life of Rose Fortune (1774-1864)
Publisher: SSP Publications$15.95A daughter of runaway slaves, a Black Loyalist, the first Black police officer, a business woman and a friend of T.C. Haliburton; as a follow-up to her best-selling A Wholesome Horror, Brenda Thompson tells Rose Fortune’s story for the first time.
Who’s Who in Black Canada 2nd Edition
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$35.99In this second edition of Who’s Who in Black Canada, Dawn Williams updates her tome of Black achievements and success in Canada, with over 730 entries. Province by province, this indispensable educational and networking tool puts the spotlight on the impressive range of achievements of Blacks in Canada- from business leaders to musicians to engineers, artists, doctors, judges and filmmakers. Filled with information and inspiration, Who’s Who in Black Canada 2 is an excellent resource for schools, libraries, professionals and those working with youth.
A Change of Heart
Artist: Erin Bennett BanksPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$19.95The remarkable story of honourary Newfoundlander Lanier Phillips, who survived a shipwreck during the Second World War and went on to become a civil rights activist, is told for children in this heartwarming, vibrantly illustrated picture book.
Borrowed Beauty
$7.95Maxine Tynes is a writer who has lived, studied, and worked all of her life in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Her heritage goes back to the time of the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia. Maxine is a graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax, and is currently a member of the board of governors at Dalhousie, the first Black Nova Scotian to hold this appointment.