For Immediate Release
Public Service Announcement
African Heritage Month Projection on former Halifax Memorial Library
January 26, 2022 – Halifax, NS – In honour of African Heritage Month, a special light show will be projected on the former Halifax Memorial Library building at Grafton Park, (at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Grafton Street) throughout the month of February from 6:00-10:45 pm. The light show is a part of Downtown Halifax Business Commission’s (DHBC) DELIGHTFUL DOWNTOWN lighting program.
To celebrate this year’s theme, ‘Through Our Eyes: The Voices of African Nova Scotians’, the show will highlight three African Nova Scotians who have used their voices to uplift and inspire people of African descent in our community and across the country.
- Dr. Carrie Best (1903-2001) was a poet, author, journalist and activist. She co-founded The Clarion, one of the first newspapers in Nova Scotia owned and published by Black Canadians.
- Burnley Allan (“Rocky”) Jones (1941-2013) was a lawyer and activist who dedicated his life fighting for social justice for Black and Indigenous people in Canada. He helped create the Transition Year Program and the Indigenous Blacks & Mi’kmaw Initiative at Dalhousie University to bring more Black and Indigenous students into university and the law profession.
- Portia White (1911-1968) was a contralto opera singer and teacher who gained international acclaim. She was the catalyst for the establishment of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust in 1944.
DELIGHTFUL DOWNTOWN is a series of vivid light shows and installations taking place at various locations in Downtown Halifax between October 2021 and March 2022.
The light show on the former Halifax Memorial Library premiered on Saturday, October 16, 2021. The series will continue to feature different light shows that reflect relevant seasonal and cultural themes until the end of March.
For more information and a full schedule of shows and displays, visit downtownhalifax.ca/delightful.
DHBC acknowledges the history of Grafton Park and the site of the former Halifax Memorial Library as both the Poor House burial ground, as well as a park that saw the removal of homeless encampments. Read DHBC’s full statement on this matter here: https://downtownhalifax.ca/delightful.
Land Acknowledgement:
Downtown Halifax Business Commission acknowledges that we are in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.
About Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC):
Downtown Halifax Business Commission represents over 1,600 businesses located in the central business district of Halifax, Nova Scotia. DHBC’s mission is to passionately pursue a more prosperous and vibrant Downtown Halifax, through: good development, Downtown mobility, membership services, DHBC leadership, and Downtown placemaking. For more information, visit downtownhalifax.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Raf Peligro
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Downtown Halifax Business Commission
raf@downtownhalifax.ca
902-423-2179
Jonathan Goldson
Placemaking Manager
Downtown Halifax Business Commission
Jonathan@downtownhalifax.ca
902- 423-5668