Unspoken Truth is a bold collection of poetry highlighting the generational pain of Africans living in the diaspora. Through her poems, Bowden creates a panoramic view of the terrible conditions they endured for centuries. Deliberately, with dignity, she brings the trauma stories of African Nova Scotians told around kitchen tables for decades to the homes of readers while restoring the balance of humanity and royalty from which the African journey began. Despite all odds, they were able to preserve their lineage and lean on the resilience buried deep in their souls while passing this pride, culture, and strength on to future generations so they may one day fulfill the hopes and the dreams of the former slaves.

This collection seeks to spark the necessary conversations the larger society needs to engage in around the perseverance of systemic racism, a society now grappling to make the connections between historical trauma and current-day conditions of inequality. It summons the conscience of every reader to acknowledge the truth and reconcile it with their own dissonance. The poems pay homage to the ancestors, honour the elders, and provide inspiration for the youth so they can heal from this historical inheritance and build upon their own narratives.

The post Unspoken Truth appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

Eddie Carvery's Africville protest reached its 50th year in 2020. He was just 23 when the City of Halifax bulldozed Africville, an African Nova Scotian village on the shores of the Bedford Basin. Under the disguise of "urban renewal" and using lies of a "home for a home," the city destroyed every house and business before finally smashing the church in the middle of the night.

In the city, he found drugs, violence, and ultimately prison. His life was engulfed in tragedy and he hurt those he loved most. But in Africville, the land of his ancestors, he developed a great strength. His mind cleared and he saw the purpose of his life was to stand for Africville.

On a fine summer day in 1970, Eddie walked out to Africville, looked in sorrow at the ruins of his world, and decided to fight back. He pitched a tent and vowed to stay until everyone saw what he saw: that it was racist and wrong to destroy Africville, and that Halifax ought to give it back to its people.

Standing alone in Africville, he endured as racists set fire to his home, shot bullets at him, and tried again and again to drive him off the land.

This updated edition of The Hermit of Africville includes an introduction from Eddie himself reflecting on 50 years of fighting racism and his vision for a Canada that embraces all its peoples.

100% of the royalties from The Hermit of Africville go to Eddie Carvery and his Africville protest.

The post The Hermit of Africville appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post A Matter of Equality appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post Black Activist, Black Scientist, Black Icon appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post The Dangerous Harbour appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post One Summer in Whitney Pier appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post Pearleen Oliver appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

King experienced a religious revelation while in Nova Scotia, and became a Methodist preacher; he went to Sierra Leone in 1792 to spread the Gospel; and from there was invited to England to study at a Methodist school. While there, he wrote the story of his life and conversion. This was published in the Methodist Magazine of the times.

Thus survived one of only three autobiographies of a Black Loyalist, full of details of the Loyalist settlement of Nova Scotia. It is reprinted here as "Memoirs of the Life of Boston King, a Black Preacher," edited by Ruth Holmes Whitehead and Carmelita Robertson. An introduction by Ruth Holmes Whitehead presents new research findings about King's life, and her Afterword examines particularly his life as a slave on the Waring Plantation, near Charleston, SC. Whitehead and Robertson revisited the ruins of two Waring plantations, where King would have worked as a child and young man, and photographed the dirt road, still running through one plantation, down which he would have ridden away to freedom.

The post The Life of Boston King appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

The post Black Girl, Black Girl appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.

Ten-year-old Abigail Price is excited about spring in her new home in Birchtown. Spring means lots of things, like flower buds and fresh leaves and her Aunt Dinah's new baby. She's hoping it also means she'll get a new dress to wear for the celebration, but new clothing, like many things, is hard to come by.

The first children's picture book set in historic Birchtown, Nova Scotia, Abigail's Wish is a window into the life of a Black Loyalist family in the early years of the historic colony. Through the eyes of young Abigail, this stunning collaboration between poet and novelist Gloria Ann Wesley and award颅winning illustrator Richard Rudnicki will teach readers about Black Loyalist life, and the value of friendship and patience.

The post Abigail’s Wish appeared first on lisa疯马秀 Publishing and Vagrant Press.