February is African Heritage Month in Nova Scotia. This year’s theme is Through Our Eyes: the Voices of African Nova Scotians, and will celebrate the legacy of people of African descent in the development of Canada.
Global News and My East Coast Experience are collaborating to share that legacy with viewers across the Maritimes. Throughout the month of February, Global News Morning will share the stories and successes of four inspiring Black community members making a positive impact in our region.
“We’re grateful Global is open to this kind of storytelling,” says My East Coast Experience Founder, Ifeanyi Emesih. “It allows us to lean into our mandate of sharing these kinds of stories; of sharing the spotlight with community members who aren’t normally in the eye of the media.”
My East Coast Experience celebrates the contributions of immigrants that choose to live and work in the Maritimes. The organization shares the stories, struggles and triumphs of new residents to inspire East Coasters to welcome immigrants with open minds and open arms. The goal of My East Coast Experience is to inspire more immigrants to come to this region and stay.
In December, the federal government announced it had surpassed its immigration target of 401,000 new permanent residents for 2021 — the most newcomers in a year in Canada’s history. The government hopes to welcome 411,000 new permanent residents by the end of 2022.
READ MORE: Canada welcomes most newcomers ever in 2021, surpasses target
Celebrating Black Excellence will highlight four Black community leaders in the Maritimes through interviews on Global News Morning. All four women have immigrated to Nova Scotia.
Tiffani Young started her own business, Natural Butter Bar Cosmetics, in December 2020 out of her home in Dartmouth, N.S. She offers all-natural products, including body butters, hair and body oils, essential oils and gels that are ethically sourced and fair trade.
Academic advocate Oluronke Taiwo is the Black Student Advisor at Dalhousie University, counseling students of African descent through life on and off campus. Taiwo’s educational background includes biology, microbiology and parasitology and she completed her Masters in Social Work in 2008.
Ashley Hill worked with youth before starting her non-profit organization, PREP Academy, which inspires and coaches African Nova Scotian students to plan and prepare for post-secondary education. Hill said she began PREP Academy not only based on the lack of resources available for African Nova Scotian high school students, but also on her own experience being the only Black student in many of her classes at Dalhousie University.
Public Relations strategist, Nzingha Millar specializes in brand development and is the co-founder of ACCE Halifax Network, a non-profit created to support African Nova Scotian entrepreneurs, artists and advocates. In 2020, she received the Young Woman of Distinction from the Canadian Progress Club and was the recipient of the Community Leadership and Service Award from the National Congress of Black Women Foundation.
READ MORE: Federal program aimed at bringing skilled workers to Atlantic Canada made permanent
“The importance of highlighting these stories of Black excellence truly lies in the impact it has on the wider community,” Emesih adds. “When members of the Black and immigrant communities see these stories, it inspires others to see themselves in a new way and hopefully they will become the stories we’re telling next year and in the future.”
Atlantic Canada’s push to attract more immigration will get a boost in 2022 when the Atlantic Immigration Program becomes permanent. The program has attracted more than 0,000 people to the Atlantic provinces since its inception in 2017. It allows employers to make job offers to immigration applicants to help fill vacancies in health care, food services and manufacturing. Premier Tim Houston says the program can bring an opportunity to grow the province to two million residents by 2060.
“Nova Scotia has already grown five times faster in the past five years than it had in the previous 25 years,” Houston said. “This is momentum that we must keep building on.”
Watch Celebrating Black Excellence every Wednesday in February at 8:20 a.m. AST on Global News Morning.