๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐! ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ $๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐พ๐ญ๐ต๐บโ๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น. ๐บ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.ย ย
๐ป๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐
โYou donโt know what a trial it was to do the Africville thing,โ Charles wrote to a friend in 1989. โWhat I wrote in the introduction doesnโt begin to explain the trouble I had inside my head. It took me two months to battle the worst damn case of writerโs block Iโve had since the 1970s. I know one thing. Iโve really gotten away from fantasy. I think I really was using it as an escape years ago. Now, Iโve got to find another way to relate to it. If I believed in fate, then Iโd say the Africville piece was the reason I came to Nova Scotia.โ
His essay, โA Visit to Africville,โ was published in the 1992 landmark book about one of Canadaโs oldest Black communities. Weโre counting ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ as his fifth book, though he wrote only part of it.ย
Charles created his evocative tour of the village after first entering Africville for the 1989 reunion, when Africvilleโs children returned and parked their campers and tents where their homes once stood. Many readers (me included) assumed Charles had grown up in Africville, so intimate was the fictionalized tour given by a 10-year-old boy.ย
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ and the accompanying museum exhibit have since travelled across Canada, inviting people to see Africville as its children did, through Charlesโs eyes. His words made many people begin to understand the community was home for many people, not a โproblemโ to be demolished.ย
โEver go to a reunion of a family of which you are not a member? It can get pretty uncomfortable,โ he wrote.ย โSometimes you feel like an outsider, even an interloper, as family members laugh at in-jokes you donโt get and keep introducing you to people you know youโll never see again. Not all family reunions are like that, though. The annual Africville reunion certainly isnโt. Everyone is welcome to attend it, and no one is an outsider. It doesnโt matter what colour you are or where you come from; the experience is open to all.โ
Source: ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐โ๐๐๐: ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ . ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐ฆ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ (๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐ก๐๐ค๐๐๐ก, 2026)