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HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s Black community is including safety measures at a reunion of former residents of a historic community in Halifax, one year after a shooting during the event.
The Africville reunion last July was marred by shots that injured five people, but organizers say the community has returned in force and is celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the four-day gathering in the city’s north end.
Irvine Carvery, president of the Africville Genealogy Society, said in an interview Saturday that after the violence a safety audit was carried out and one key result was improved lighting at the National Historic Site.
The society also requested a heightened police presence, set up a system to register vehicles entering and leaving the park, and wrapped up an evening musical event before dusk.
“We are moving forward in a positive way … and the people are getting over what happened last year,” said Carvery.
“Everyone came back, and that’s the main thing.”
The reunion is a key event in the African Nova Scotian community, as hundreds of former residents and their descendants gather to recall the Black community that was demolished at the site in the 1960s.
Carvery said one aspect of the reunion, which ends with a Sunday afternoon service at a historic Baptist church, is the reconnecting of an extended network of families and friends with ties to Africville.
But he notes it’s also how African Nova Scotians make a clear statement they will never forget the community — and what happened to it.
“It’s the voice of resistance … It’s to say: ‘We are still here, and we are still resisting to what happened to Africville,'” he said.
Africville existed for more than 120 years on the edge of Halifax, and it has been noted by the Canadian Museum of Human Rights as a place where a “strong, vibrant” community developed — even as the City of Halifax denied it basic services such as sewage, access to clean water and garbage disposal.
The mayor of Halifax offered a public apology in 2010 for the razing of Africville, and part of the compensation payment was used to build a replica of Seaview Church, which now serves as the Africville Museum in the park — not far from the scene of last year’s violence.
Police Chief Don MacLean said Friday in a news release that despite 100 search warrants and interviews with 200 people, the Halifax force has not yet been able to make an arrest related to the shooting.
“The shooting was senseless, tragic and left a long-lasting impact on people of all ages,” the chief wrote.
“Unfortunately, each piece of evidence and each conversation has fallen short of what we need to successfully make an arrest and get a conviction.”
MacLean said he realized that fear, distrust and concern for personal safety can discourage people coming forward, but added, “speaking up can be a courageous way to stand up for your community.”
Tanya Gray, the cousin of 18-year-old Chrishia Carvery — who suffered injuries after a bullet struck her spine — said the shooting during an outdoor dance on the night of July 27, 2024, has left lasting trauma.
In an interview Friday she said she feels an obligation to return to the annual festival, despite “horrible memories that linger.”
“I don’t want to stop going because I’ve been going there since I was a child. That’s where my mother and her siblings lived. And we have always been around for the reunion,” she said.
“If we let it die out … if we do that, then the enemy wins.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2025.
Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press
