The Book of Our Heritage

Well, I'm back after a whirlwind week on the road with my only sibling, brother Eric. We drove to Nova Scotia because a friend offered the use of her cottage on the South Shore. We were fortunate to have very good weather until the day we started back.

I took along a novel called The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. The cover and description of the story about a child who is abducted and sold as a slave in Africa intrigued me. After the purchase I began to read the positive reviews and discovered that it had won awards.

I found the book gripping, the proverbial "page-turner" which managed to entertain me and educate me about slavery in the 18th century at the same time. The astonishing aspect of reading this book is that the slave in the story ends up in Nova Scotia as one of the blacks transported from America as part of the Loyalist emigration. She makes her way to Shelburne, just down the road from where we were staying. I read about Birchtown, the Negro settlement near Shelburne, established to segregate blacks from whites even though the promise had been freedom and equality.

When I described the story to my brother he was keen to see if there is still a Birchtown, and it turns out that the community is there, although tiny. We visited the national historical site and stopped in to the office of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, attached to a nearby church. Faith was a sustaining force in the black community and it was fitting that there was a physical connection between church and offices. The staff was gracious and helpful.

I encourage you to read the novel and search for more information about Birchtown. It is a troubling and inspiring story.