Heritage is what binds people together.
History is the collective lesson of a people's triumphs and troubles.
At its best, it can be a roadmap of past progress that can speed up the journey toward a better tomorrow. African Heritage Month, which begins February 1, should be more than a time to appreciate the struggles and successes of ancestors. It should be a time of reflecting on the past to search for ways of straightening the path to a more just future for people of all colours. Throughout the 1950's and 1960's, black men and women across North America risked their jobs, their homes and indeed their lives, to make a better world for future generations. Today in Nova Scotia, black and white people are the beneficiaries of their courage.