The Pan African flag-raising ceremony kicked off the beginning of African Heritage month in a historic way.
The event brought pride and excitement to not only African Nova Scotians but to Halifax as a whole, while staying true to this year’s theme for African Heritage Month: “Our History is Your History.”
Many people attended the event held at city hall, including HRM councillors and Halifax Mayor Mike Savage.
“I think that it shows that we’ve come a long way and there’s still a ways to go in terms of how do we honour and recognize and work together in this community, you know, with the African Nova Scotian communities as well as the Mi’kmaq community and others that we recognize,” said Savage.
“I think it’s a positive thing, a lot of councillors are here for this event, as well, recognizing that it does signify where we come from but also where we need to go.”
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The flag colours have significant meaning for African Nova Scotians. The red represents the blood shed through the struggle and liberation of African people. The black symbolizes black people as a whole all over the world, and the green represents the riches and fertile lands of Africa.
The senior advisor for African Nova Scotian Affairs, Ayo Aladejebi, is excited about the representation of the black communities in Halifax.
“It’s very surreal to be able to look down, right down city hall and see the Pan African flag flying and then see people asking the questions about what that means and being able to tell them what it means,” says Aladejebi. “I think it’s just amazing.”
“We’ve never had the African Nova Scotian communities raise something that would be symbolic to their community so doing this is a great opportunity to acknowledge that fact and to be able to say that African Nova Scotians and people of African descent are part of this community, a part of HRM.”
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The raising of the Pan African Flag will be an annual event at Halifax City Hall, symbolizing the start of African Heritage Month.