We are the descendants of
Jamaican Maroons, Black Loyalists,
Black refugees, African Immigrants from the diaspora
Overflowing descendants of Oduduwa like my people
With fast and fluent Yoruba
So we never forget the voice of our ancestors On the shoulders of our ancestors, we stand Binding together as communities of African descent This is where we’ve lived, learned and listened Every tongue counted
Every story sacred
We’ve gone through pain
Yet we speak our own healing
Through the grace of our survival
In this land, African Nova Scotians have fought and continue to fight
Against inequities
We push on joyfully
We sing our songs of victory
In spite of racism
In spite of discrimination
In spite of anti-black racism
But y'all should know we don't give up easily They tried to take us out of history, but we thrived In spite of rejection
We strive for perfection
Cause we believe in resilience
We believe in survival
The ability to rise from the dust
Emerge like the dawn of a new day Together we stand and we are not afraid The ancestors in Africville fought for their land With broken hearts and dirted hands From their labor, sweat and blood, we rose From their agony and resilience, we learned In their dreams and hopes, we praised In the African churches, we prayed From the fight of our ancestors, we learned In their resilience, we stood
In their yearning for justice, we cried
They tried to silence us
They tried to suppress us
They tried to stop us from achieving
But y'all should know we don't give up easily We push on joyfully
Undo our chains with the power of our truth-telling With the power of activism
We sing our songs of
Victory in spite of racism
In spite of discrimination
In spite of anti-black racism
but y'all should know we don't give up easily They tried to take us out of History
But we thrived
In spite of rejection
We strive for perfection
Cause we believe in Resurrection The ability to rise from the Dust Emerge like the dawn of a new day From Halifax, to the valley
To North Preston,
To East Preston
To Hammonds Plains
To Weymothfalls, to Acaciaville, To Truro
And all the way... to Sydney Together We stand
We are iron nails,
Nailed in the roots of this con-tree
This land is just as much ours, as it is yours And together we stand.
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