Space dedicated to black history opens in Edmonton archives

When Nii Koney came to Edmonton 45 years ago from Ghana, one of the first things he sought out was a black community.

He couldn't find one.

"When you are in a land where you are minority, you seek to find the communities that you can connect to your people so it was heartbreaking," Koney told CBC's Radio Active. "Then we said, 'We got work to do.'"

Koney is the executive director of The Nile Valley Foundation, which is now hoping to share and archive Edmonton's black history through the Afrikan Diaspora History Library.

The new space in Edmonton's archives includes books written by black Canadians about black settlement in Canada, and Edmonton in particular.

Not much is known about black persons in the west ... so I thought it would be a good place to begin the conversation.- Nii Koney

The purpose of the library is to offer a space to formally recognize black stories and history, which Koney said can help unite cultures through racial understanding.

"Not much is known about black persons in the west," Koney said. "If you live east, we are closer to Buffalo, we are closer to Michigan, Detroit, all these areas. But when you come to the west, perhaps the closest American city near Edmonton is miles and miles away.

"So I thought it would be a good place to begin the conversation."

Archive a work in progress

The archive serves as a place where black people can preserve their stories, Koney said.

Whether a story exists as a book, poem, article or even an oral family story, everyone connected to the black community is welcome to contribute. Although the library is new, Koney said efforts are being made to professionally record oral stories for the collection.

It's everyone's individual stories that make Canada unique, Koney said. Many people in our community have arrived here in search of a better life after fleeing religious or political persecution, and these stories are valuable.

They're worth sharing and preserving as part of a bigger conversation on the black community in Edmonton, he added.

Having a space in the city's archives is in line with the city's efforts to documenta range of history from citizens, Koney said, and gives the black community a platform.

It might even make black people new to Edmonton feel like they have a place to go to connect with the black communityand the city's black history, Koneyadded.

"We believe our stories do matter," he said.

"I am proud of the help we have gotten from the city in terms of giving us an important location. [It's] where we go to do research about the city of Edmonton. So to be there alone is heartwarming."