SFA tv caught up with long time Stolen From Africa supporter and Halifax,Nova Scotia native; JRDN at his videoshoot for “like Magic.”

big tune right here! Shouts to all my scotians!

Halifax Regional Municipality has written a $2.5-million cheque to honour a major part of its redress pledge to the former community of Africville.

The money has been transferred to the recently formed Africville Heritage Trust Society, Mayor Peter Kelly said Friday.

It’s an element of a compensation package for the defunct black settlement that was announced in Halifax in February.

Other components, such as renaming the municipal park that used to be Africville and setting up a black community affairs office at city hall, are still to come, said Kelly.

The trust society intends to use the money to build a church and an interpretive centre.

“We are looking forward to the Africville Heritage Trust carrying out the necessary steps for the construction” of the development, Irvine Carvery, president of the Africville Genealogy Society, said in a city hall release.

He said he’s happy with the municipality’s “sincere response.”

A deal was struck between the city and genealogy society after many years of negotiations.

Elements of the Africville settlement, released during African Heritage Month, included a public apology, a $3-million municipal payout, $1.5 million from the province, $250,000 from Ottawa and a little more than a hectare of land in what’s now Seaview Park, which is earmarked for future development.

No personal compensation will be dished out.

The park, in the city’s north end, is to be renamed Africville.

Asked about the naming issue, the mayor said that remains unresolved but he expects to hear from the genealogy society soon.

“Should they wish to have Seaview Park renamed, we would rename it according to their request,” he told The Chronicle Herald.

Kelly said the city’s proposed office of African-Nova Scotia affairs is to be in the next municipal budget. He said it will probably be staffed with one employee.

Razed in the 1960s, Africville was a tight-knit neighbourhood neglected by successive civic governments.

A sundial monument in the park pays tribute to the district’s founding families.

Ottawa declared the area a national heritage site in 2002.

Kelly said the balance of the city’s cash contribution — $500,000 — will be used for water and sewer services for the development site. The original community of Africville, on the shores of Bedford Basin, didn’t have such municipal services.

new Video GhettoChild! Feeling this one right here, new interview coming soon! SFA TV exclusive

Racism in Halifax Broadcast Date: June 24, 1962 Racist attitudes responsible for the miserable conditions of Africville are prevalent in the city of Halifax in the 1960s. In this footage from a 1962 CBC documentary called Close-up: Figure Your Colour Against Mine, a CBC reporter talks to “folks on the street” about racism in Canada. During an interview with a young black man, the reporter uses a derogatory term for black residents.

• In the 1960s black Canadians found it difficult to get the most basic services such as renting and buying houses, finding employment and getting haircuts.
• While the majority of Halifax’s black population did not live in Africville, it was home to those who wanted to live relatively free from the racist attitudes of the predominantly white population.

Hellafactz bringing you the first episode of Akdaviss News online broadcast. This interview was done Friday,Aug.13 2010 in North Preston Nova Scotia. Neville Provo aka Puddy was the organizer of a protest that blocked off Lake Major Road and I wanted get the full story…