Crowds of visitors celebrated Black History Month in style on Feb. 24 at the Gibsons Public Market (GPM). They enjoyed tasty African dishes freshly cooked at the community kitchen by Iyabo Olaniyan assisted by Girija Edwards, and they attended a talk given by Coast resident Olabisi Olaniyan that focused on working together in the community.
Mayor Wayne Rowe represented Gibsons when he opened the day’s event and he spoke of the current government acknowledgement of the contribution of African Canadian women. Black History event organizer Vimalasara (Dr. Valerie Mason-John) added to this information when she showed a video about Viola Desmond, a black Nova Scotia activist who refused to give up her seat at the cinema to sit with other blacks. She was jailed as a criminal for this act of defiance and is sometimes referred to as the Canadian Rosa Parks. She will be featured on the $10 bill this year.
Other videos, many of which were co-produced by Mason-John, reprised the poetry of George Elliott Clarke and Afua Cooper or told of the Loyalist black settlers who sought freedom in Nova Scotia. Adelene da soul poet (Bertha Clark) gave the audience a few of her spoken word pieces, including the powerful “If I Ran the World.”
