Around the Table, 2024

Around The Table: African Nova Scotian Culinary and History

by Itai Kuwodza (in attendance)

edited by Shawn Smith & Graham Nickerson

On August 8th, the Loyalist Connections Creative Society (LCCS) team hit the road. We partnered with the South Shore Multicultural Association, hosting "Around the Table," a dinner series designed to foster meaningful connections within our community at Desbrisay Museum.

The "Around the Table" Culinary Journey Through Our Community featured food by R&B Kitchen to address the often-glaring absence in our conversations about history—stories of Black Canadians and their rich heritage. At LCCS, we employ initiatives like Around the Table, which bring food and conversation and highlight the value of inclusive spaces, bringing oppressed history to the forefront as a path to decolonization.

We'd like you to join us as we confront this gap head-on. As we know all too well here at LCCS, too many of us are unaware of the struggles and achievements of African Nova Scotians who lived alongside white Nova Scotians for generations despite knowing white history in its minutia. Why is that so? And why is it crucial for us to have that knowledge?

Understanding the full scope of our collective history allows us to engage in meaningful dialogue, fostering empathy and connection. For example, with trivia cue cards, we learn about the realities of Black bodies living in Canada and other overlooked narratives and pull them from the shadows to which they were condemned. This process is about filling in the knowledge gaps and decolonizing knowledge itself.

Through events like these, our mandate is to shift attitudes on marginalized history to integral shared narratives. We are empowering our communities to build a more inclusive future.

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