Thursday February 9, 2012 1:30pm - 3pm (1 Hour 30 Minutes)
Lecture / Seminar
phyllis.rippeyoung@acadiau.ca
902-585-1431
Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard of Dalhousie University will be speaking about "Labouring for Change: Narratives of African Nova Scotian Women and their Experiences of ‘Work’, 1919 – 1990."
While the theme of women and work is a very common one, there is a dearth of historical writing centered on this theme or even solely on the lives of women of African descent in Canada. This presentation will provide living testimonies about the work of individual women and their families, offering insight into the cross-generational nature of this aspect of African Nova Scotian womanhood. It is based on select findings from data collected for a larger oral history project, part of a Community-University Research Alliance funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, entitled The Promised Land. The research project consisted of oral history interviews with community elders in three African Nova Scotian communities: from three different regions within the Province – the former Preston Township just outside the city of Halifax, the Birchtown settlement near Shelburne, and finally, the former Whitney Pier community of Sydney, Cape Breton Island. Their narratives underscore the common sub-themes arising from discourses about women’s work. In this project we define “women’s work” as any labour-intensive output, paid or unpaid, undertaken by the women in our study. The limited employment opportunities available to African-Canadian males meant that Black women in Canada have always had to work to ensure the survival of their families, and while perhaps not traditionally listed under the definition of work, the fact that their participation in community activity was understood to be part of their social responsibility meant that for them, the accepted notions of women’s work needed to be expanded. Black women in Canada have traditionally worked in multiple spheres: caring for their families, upholding their roles in the building and maintenance of community organizations, and championing civil rights/politics. This presentation will highlight the stories and voices of many of Nova Scotia’s women of African descent, in an effort to represent their agency and determination in terms of their labours in and outside of their homes in the fight for change. The cross-generational struggles against systemic discrimination will be highlighted, with an emphasis on how these women “carry on the tradition, the legacy, the strength of our powerful Black mothers, grandmothers and othermothers” in their laboring for change, and pass the torch to the next generation.
This talk is supported by the program in Women's and Gender Studies, the Department of History and Classics, and the Arts Lectureship Fund at Acadia University.
phyllis.rippeyoung@acadiau.ca
902-585-1431
Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard of Dalhousie University will be speaking about "Labouring for Change: Narratives of African Nova Scotian Women and their Experiences of ‘Work’, 1919 – 1990."
While the theme of women and work is a very common one, there is a dearth of historical writing centered on this theme or even solely on the lives of women of African descent in Canada. This presentation will provide living testimonies about the work of individual women and their families, offering insight into the cross-generational nature of this aspect of African Nova Scotian womanhood. It is based on select findings from data collected for a larger oral history project, part of a Community-University Research Alliance funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, entitled The Promised Land. The research project consisted of oral history interviews with community elders in three African Nova Scotian communities: from three different regions within the Province – the former Preston Township just outside the city of Halifax, the Birchtown settlement near Shelburne, and finally, the former Whitney Pier community of Sydney, Cape Breton Island. Their narratives underscore the common sub-themes arising from discourses about women’s work. In this project we define “women’s work” as any labour-intensive output, paid or unpaid, undertaken by the women in our study. The limited employment opportunities available to African-Canadian males meant that Black women in Canada have always had to work to ensure the survival of their families, and while perhaps not traditionally listed under the definition of work, the fact that their participation in community activity was understood to be part of their social responsibility meant that for them, the accepted notions of women’s work needed to be expanded. Black women in Canada have traditionally worked in multiple spheres: caring for their families, upholding their roles in the building and maintenance of community organizations, and championing civil rights/politics. This presentation will highlight the stories and voices of many of Nova Scotia’s women of African descent, in an effort to represent their agency and determination in terms of their labours in and outside of their homes in the fight for change. The cross-generational struggles against systemic discrimination will be highlighted, with an emphasis on how these women “carry on the tradition, the legacy, the strength of our powerful Black mothers, grandmothers and othermothers” in their laboring for change, and pass the torch to the next generation.
This talk is supported by the program in Women's and Gender Studies, the Department of History and Classics, and the Arts Lectureship Fund at Acadia University.
Pricing & Tickets
Pricing: Free