Standing in front of its RV on the lands of Africville Park in Halifax, Eddie Carvery promised that after more than 50 years of protest, he will not go anywhere in front of another eviction order.
The 79 -year -old activist was born in Africville and has maintained a camp in the lands of the old black community for decades, resisting multiple attempts in the municipality to end his crusade.
Recently, Carvery has been asked to withdraw his protest trailer once more, but this time by the Trust de Heritage Society of Africville. The Trust, which has the land where the trailer is located, directs the nearby Africville museum in a replica of the old community church on the shore of the Bedford basin.
While he says he is struggling with his health and near the end of his life, Carvery said he does not leave until he achieves his objective of repairs for the descendants of the people of Africville.
“I want to leave it. I want to sleep well, like normal people. I am tired, but until they find someone else to defend our cause to fight for Africville, I have no other option,” Carvery said in a recent interview.
“I will not go anywhere.”
Originally, a united black community founded in 1848, Africville was razed by the old city of Halifax in the 1960s to leave space for the Mackay bridge.
In a statement on July 7, the trust said that he had asked Carvery to withdraw his trailer from the property. Carvery received a deadline of July 13, but has not moved.
“While we recognize the emotional and historical importance of these efforts, we also have the responsibility of guaranteeing the safety of all the visitors of the site,” said Carrie Hill, a trusted chair.
Hill said the trust was worried that “if something was going to happen” in the trailer or around the carvery trailer, the trust could be considered responsible.
The company rejected the CBC application of an interview.
Carvery said he stays in the trailer as often as he can, but due to his decline health, he has an apartment.
Africville is now a national historical site. In 2010, the former Africville residents and their descendants received an apology and $ 3 million from the city along with a hectare of land and a commitment to rebuild the united Baptist church together on the site.
Trust was established as part of the agreement to keep alive “the memory and spirit of the Africville community” through education and dialogue, according to a report by Halifax staff.
But there was no individual compensation offer, which Carverry had demanded together with a public investigation. He rejected the agreement and refused to leave the property.
In 2024, Halifax sold the land where Carverry’s trailer sits to the trustee for $ 1. The company had asked for the package to expand the parking lot next to the museum to accommodate more tourist buses. The trust has said that it eventually expects a sports port of the property.
On Monday, almost 50 people gathered around Carverry’s trailer to protest the eviction.
Eddy Carvery III said he was grateful to see his grandfather support, whose fight has been “symbolic” and important for so many descendants of Africville.
“With this new news, I can see the anguish in him,” Eddy said Monday about the trustee notice of the trust.
“How do we get here? How, as a society, how as a city, we are letting this happen to a man who has dedicated his life, peacefully, for something that everyone knows that it was wrong?”
Eddy said he plans to continue his grandfather’s fight and wants to see individual compensation for Africville’s descendants, the houses returned to the earth, a community center and one day a long -term attention home.
“The things for us to develop and bloom, and contribute to society in the way we always wanted,” he said.
The municipality also issued Carverry a $ 25 ticket on July 14 for private property parking after an application from the Africville Museum.
But Mark Gough, spokesman for the municipality, said the ticket was canceled on Monday morning “and that efforts are being made” to inform Carverry.
Gough said that after the upper staff with traffic and parking management examined the ticket, they realized that Carverry’s trailer did not have a plaque, an identification number of valid vehicles or a motor vehicle inspection label, leaving the “invalid” ticket.
Halifax staff is not planning the additional parking application, including tickets, Gough said.
