Funds aim to help descendants

The grandson of longtime Africville protester Eddie Carvery has started working on a funding project to benefit former residents of the community and their descendants.

Eddie Carvery III said that he started the Africville Liberation Fund to provide financial support to people who need it as they continue to fight for reparations for the loss of their community five decades ago. Africville was expropriated by the city of Halifax and the province.

Carvery grew up visiting his grandfather daily at the trailer that he set up and lived in on the land of the former community to protest what had happened.

He said the money isn't meant to replace the compensation and reparations that former residents and their descendants continue to fight for in court, but rather to help them now with their needs.

“We have to not rely and wait on the government. We have to be ready when the day comes that our land is given back to us. This is the initial step, I think, of getting everybody on the same page in my community.”

The fund is posted on gofundme.com

(https://www.gofundme.com/f/ community-of-africville-fund-andland-trust).

Carvery said if people are unable to financially contribute, he encourages them to join the call on politicians to approve reparations through the collective action movement at www. collectiveaction.ca/africville

“The initial purpose (for the fund) is just for general help,” Carvery said. “There may be some time that someone from our community can't afford to even buy their children Christmas gifts or a pair of shoes. Why not turn to the community? We can help each other.”

Requests for help will be assessed by a board based on needs and evidence of Africville ancestry.

Funds will also be set aside for court cases, and as for land ownership and development purposes.

Applications for the fund will open in February.

Carvery and other former Africville residents, descendants and activists started the group. The funds will be overseen by a financial institution and law firm.

As of Thursday evening, a day after the fund opened, it had raised more than $1,100 of its $70,000 goal.