Africville Stories

Jazz Sudbury is back this February and as always will engage, entertain, and inspire with the finest award-winning jazz, blues, and world music artists.

Africville Stories is Joe Sealy’s new presentation that builds on his Juno award winning Africville Suite. Africville Stories will present poignant and uplifting new stories about the people and their community. These stories are the ones that you generally don’t hear when people speak of Africville.

Established in 1847 “Africville” was nestled on the shores of the Bedford Basin at the north end of Halifax and was Canada’s oldest black community, until it was razed in the late 1960’s as an “urban improvement” measure. Africville had to overcome a multitude of challenges but managed to survive for more than a century, until the final building was demolished in 1970. The stories surrounding George Dixon, Joe Louis, Portia White and Duke Ellington combine to create the legacy of this unique Canadian community. Africville Stories tells of this legacy in a narrative and musical journey.

The Africville story continues right to the present time with a new tribute composition titled “The Seaview African United Baptist Church”. The re-construction of the church has been discussed for years and it is currently nearing completion on the site of Africville. Its construction is seen as a small step towards compensating the “Africville” community for injustices of the past.

“Africville Stories” will be performed by Joe Sealy, Paul Novotny and storyteller Jackie Richardson.