Justice in Action: Honouring African Heritage in Nova Scotia
Each February, during African Heritage Month, Nova Scotians are invited to reflect, listen, and act. This year’s theme - Strength in Unity: Moving Forward with Purpose, Prosperity, Power, and Progress - reminds us that unity cannot be symbolic.
African Heritage Month is an opportunity to honour the history, resilience, and contributions of Black/African Nova Scotian communities, and to recognize that meaningful unity cannot rest on symbolism alone. Strength is not simply something we celebrate. It is something we build through fairness, accountability, and the choices we make as a society.
From a human rights standpoint, strength and unity require justice in action.
Purpose must be evident in decisions, not only in statements. Prosperity must be shared equitably, not unevenly. Power must be accessible so that Black/African Nova Scotian communities are not only included but respected as leaders and partners in shaping the future. Progress must be measured by real outcomes: upholding rights, removing barriers, and protecting one another’s inherent dignity in everyday life.
African Heritage Month calls on us to acknowledge the ongoing reality of anti-Black racism. Its impacts are still felt across housing, education, employment, health care, and the justice system. These are not distant issues. They shape lives now and demand more than passive recognition.
This month invites each of us to take responsibility, learn histories too often overlooked, listen with humility, support Black/African Nova Scotian communities in concrete ways, speak up when discrimination is present, and ask what it means to build systems that truly protect human rights and reflect the dignity of all people.
Human rights are commitments that must be honoured through action. When unity is grounded in justice, it strengthens not only Black/African Nova Scotian communities but also the fairness and credibility of our province as a whole.
Let this month be more than remembrance. Let it be momentum toward a Nova Scotia where equity is real, power is shared, and progress is felt in people’s lives.
The preceding is a message from Shawna Y. Paris, ONS, KC - Chair of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.