Complicating Africville : an oral history of gender, race, and power relations in Africville

Abstract

This thesis focuses on an oral history interview conducted with Brenda Steed‐Ross, a former resident of Africville. In analyzing the interview, I examine how Brenda’s stories about gender, race, and power relations simultaneously reinforce and diverge from previous accounts on Africville. This study uses an intersectional framework to do three things: (1) To conceptualize a unique re‐telling of Africville’s history that spans Brenda’s childhood memories of Africville, her experience of being relocated, her role in creating the Africville Genealogy Society [AGS], and her experiences as board member at the time the AGS it was awarded reparations from the Halifax Municipal Government; (2) To create a space for a complex understanding of life as an (former) Africville resident; and (3) To create space for me to document how my understanding of Africville, race, and gender have changed since embarking on this project. Recommendations for future research are discussed.