Nearly 106 years after Canada’s black soldiers fought against racism to serve in World War I, an interpretive exhibit honoring their legacy has opened at the Nova Scotia Black Cultural Center in Cherry Brook.
“It is a remarkable sense of pride and honor for these brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice to serve their country at a time when they were not wanted,” Russell Grosse, executive director of the Nova Scotia Black Cultural Center, said Thursday. .
READ MORE: Apology to Canada’s first black battalion to arrive this summer: Minister
The exhibit details the legacy of Construction Battalion No. 2 and how it was formed following a lifting of pressure from Black community leaders on military officers.
The interpretive exhibit includes biographies of soldiers who served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion.
Alexa MacLean/Global Halifax
The Army was asked to override the widespread rejection of black volunteers who wanted to enlist but were turned away due to racist policies.
“They were not only fighting for our country from a war perspective, but also for equality, for inclusion in all aspects of society for our people of African descent,” said Dwayne Provo, Associate Deputy Minister for African Affairs of New York. Scotland.
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Military officials could not deny the overwhelming response by members of the black community to nullify their racist actions, which eventually led to the creation of a labor battalion called Construction Battalion No. 2.
“His work was essential to the front. They supported woodworking, forestry, railway construction, water works. In today’s forces, they would be considered engineers,” Grosse said.
The exhibit’s unveiling comes during a week of commemorative events leading up to a national apology from the federal government to descendants of the battalion and their families.
“I’m always looking to see if I can see my father there because I remember one time he pointed to where he would be standing in the picture with his brother,” said Marjorie Wesley, whose father was separated in the battalion.
Wesley attended the exhibit along with other descendants of the largest black unit in Canadian history.
Members of the battalion’s descendants were at the opening, including 90-year-old Marjorie Wesley, whose father, Elmer Cromwell, served in the unit.
Alexa MacLean/Global Halifax
“In Canada, there were barriers, these things happened,” said Twila Grosse, a board member of the Nova Scotia Black Cultural Center.
“We need to honor and recognize the contribution these people made. It’s been a long time, but it’s happening nonetheless.”
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