A Thousand

by Rebecca Thomas

Everyone comes from somewhere. Our kin from Africville, Cousins from Mi’kma’ki Family from across the oceans and friends from a different sea. We come in a thousand different colours with a thousand favourite foods. We come with a thousand kinds of knowledge and a thousand different truths. We come with a thousand kinds of pain and a thousand kinds of wisdom. We’ve learned a thousand different tricks on how to navigate a system.

Everyone comes from somewhere From families of blood or ones that are chosen. When life is laid out for you or you’re just thrown in. We have youth who will take a thousand different paths to find their own way. We have Elders keeping generational trauma at bay. The lanes, streets and avenues of the North End. Have a thousand different stories written within. Tales of Pride and tragedy etched into the sidewalk. Of togetherness and culture, jump out like hopscotch. We’ve got a thousand different rhymes etched into walls over time. Centres of love and friendship keep us alive.

I have found my people in this place. Access to my history and Nation as we take up our rightful space. I have spoken a thousand different words, On mics in back rooms just waiting to be heard. Ideas spring forth from this community, With a thousand different ways to weave together unity. With insight from our children and the deft hands of adults. There are a thousand different ways to reach a result.

We welcome PhDs and degrees. We welcome starlight and the trees. We know that smartness exists within and beyond the universities. We’ll take your red seals and tickets. Please share the recipe for your grandmother’s biscuits. Please show us the best ways to lay down tracks and rhymes. And someone else will show you graphic design. You may think “what a sweet hobby” Or “oh, isn’t this cute.” But you don’t understand what we’ve all been through. For so many of us to come together and share what we know. We took on everything that the world could throw.

For language to be shared, Children kept on speaking while scared. Even after Africville was razed bare, Hope still managed to bloom brilliantly in the Square.

There are a thousand different ways to get to where you need to go. And we invite you to stop by for a tea and to say hello. For a stitch and bitch. A jingle dance class. Get that bike tuned up, Learn that thing you’ve been putting off at last!

This place is so bright and complex. With a thousand different talents, Please let us flex. We are proud of what we have to offer from our bodies and our hearts. It’s what keeps these streets strong and from falling apart.

Your neighbour’s smile and your best friend’s tunes. We really do hope that we’ll see you again soon. To share all of ourselves with each one of us. With our skills and scars, knowing we’re enough.

We are excited to meet you. So please do come through. We grow love here, in a thousand different ways. Every single one of us, every single day.