An online petition is circulating to change the name of Cornwallis St. in Halifax to Rocky Jones Blvd.
The change.org petition, anonymously created by ‘We, The People’, states that their purpose is “to change the name of the street, to reflect a champion for both Mi’kmaw and African-Nova Scotians.” As of early Tuesday afternoon, it had garnered more than 600 supporters.
The page indicates they plan to deliver the signatures to Halifax North councillor Lindell Smith, in hopes he will present it at regional council.
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Rocky Jones’ sister, Lynn Jones, said she was both proud and amused when she found out about the movement to honour her brother.
“My initially reaction was a little chuckle if the truth be known,” said Jones.
“I was thinking of Rocky at the time and he would be thinking ‘what? They want to name a street after me?’, and he would chuckle too I’m sure.”
She said she hopes the movement will get people thinking about exactly who we honour in our communities, and what we honour them for.
“The difference in this particular instance is that the people, the community has had a chance to determine who they feel to honour and how they want to to look at history,” said Jones.
“I’m humbled, as I’m sure he would be, just to know that people appreciated what he was able to do.”
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Jones was one of the African Nova Scotian community’s biggest advocates. He was famously known for bringing the political group the Black Panthers Party to Canada in the 1970s. He then went to start various organisations and was a founding member for Dalhousie University’s Transition Year Program.
Dr. Isaac Saney, director of the program, said the shift between names would be ‘quite poetic’.
“When he founded the TYP program, he definitely wanted it to not only have African Nova Scotians, but also the Mi’kmaw nation,” said Saney.
“He also looked for areas of cooperation, areas where they could align and areas in which they could conjoin in joint struggles seeing both groups as victims of colonialism.”
Dr. Saney said it’s important to understand that while society cannot change history, it is possible to change the people we honour, deciding whether certain historic figures belong in on a pedestal or in a museum.
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“Cornwallis was engaged in a genocidal act against the Mi’kmaw people. We have genuine heroes in Canada and in Nova Scotia who played a very important role in the struggle for human justice and dignity,” said Saney.
“Rocky Burnley Jones was one of those people.”
While there are no confirmed plans to remove the Cornwallis namesake from streets, buildings or monuments at this time, the Halifax Regional Municipality is putting together a committee to decide the best way to use the name in the future.