We are a group of African Nova Scotians who are affronted by the February announcement of a flag claiming to represent African Nova Scotians.

That flag is now flying over the MacDonald bridge in celebration of Emancipation Day. We find it unconscionable that an African Nova Scotian group has lobbied government and public institutions for the adoption of a piece of cloth to recognize 400 years of Black peoples’ presence in Nova Scotia. The lack of a consultation process around this flag with African Nova Scotian rural communities and communities within the greater Halifax Regional Municipality is harmful. The unilateral lobbying by this group upholds divide-and-rule tactics that have been used against African Nova Scotian communities for generations.

Emancipation Day is a celebration and memorial across the African Diaspora. The Pan-African flag - adopted democratically and in use by Africans around the globe for over a century - is the recognized flag for Emancipation Day.

This is the first time that Emancipation Day is being recognized in Canada. We find it unacceptable that one group has marketed a flag to monetize on this day. These actions are not grounded in community engagement and celebration.

We call for a halt to the adoption of the flag by government offices, educational institutions, other organizations and individuals.

Whereas:

1. Little to no consultation about the flag has taken place with African Nova Scotian Communities;

2. Africentric processes are absent in the design, development, and dissemination of this flag;

3. Nova Scotia is part of the Global Afrikan Diaspora and African people from many nations make up this province yet they also have not been consulted;

4. This flag is being flown indiscriminately in Halifax-Dartmouth by government agencies.

5. Adopting a flag coming from a group not representative of the wider African Nova Scotian communities perpetuates historic patterns of inequities and should be a concern of all Nova Scotians.

Therefore be it resolved that:

1. All organizations and individuals desist from falsely marketing the flag as an African Nova Scotian flag endorsed by African Nova Scotian communities.

2. Government at all levels do not endorse this flag.

3. The flag be removed from flying over the McDonald Bridge.

4. All funds collected from the sale of the flag be returned to the contributors;

5. That African Nova Scotians and non-African Nova Scotians show their support for these resolutions by signing and sharing this petition.