I don’t know if it’s a mere coincidence or fate that I was reading through “Becoming” by Michelle Obama lately. And as I was reading through it, I read the history of slavery and how people rose above it and made a wonderful life for themselves and finally Barrack Obama became the first Black president of United States of America and Kamala Harris, the first half Black-half Indian woman Vice President of the United States of America.
As I read more through the book, I was feeling that we are blessed that we are in Canada, more so because the city we live in is Halifax. The warmth and affection I get here from people around me I can only compare it with people I used to get back in my hometown. I have never ever felt out of place. Even when we meet someone we don’t know; we never forget to smile at each other however busy we are. That’s something which makes you feel good even on a cold winter morning when you are rushing to work.
But this is the city where Africville was there and it was destroyed, each one of the houses and even the church, few years back, the history which I came to know through my daughter and the books she brought home from school.
We have changed from there on, came quite a long way. We happily celebrate Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year on the same day at school or at office, two events representing two different countries. We have learned to be inclusive, to appreciate to encourage everyone around us. I can tell that for myself, being an immigrant. My daughter is healthier and happier from the days two years back when we first came here. My daughter didn’t have any friend in her school. Her teacher through day-in and day-out encouraged each one of the students to embrace her with love. The teacher was so kind and cooperative that she taught each student the meaning of companionship, the true friendship in which you fight and make-up every day. You share your lunch and enjoy your birthdays with each one in the class. You laugh play sing dance together. That’s the spirit here.
When “George Floyd” incident happened last year in a place not very far from us, we stood with each other and still can see “Black Lives Matter” tag lines on the Halifax Transit buses. We know what it means to be to make someone feel out of place. So, we are building a country called Canada by strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone belongs, and we are proud of it.
We will make this country the best one in the whole world which will be an example of what standing together in “thicks -and – thins” mean. We will build a society where each one cares for everyone and help and support to build the strongest country. I am looking forward for that day for the sunshine that will brighten each one of us.
