The time is January 2, 1863, and the place is North America. Well, the Nova Scotia region of Canada to be precise. News of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation has finally reached this distant corner of the North American world. Black men and black women in Nova Scotia, most of whom hail from America, are rejoicing, and the same can be said for their white allies. Life isn't going to be easy for Black Nova Scotians for the next century or so. Think of places like Afric-Ville and Preston, black settlements within Nova Scotia that white Canadians treated quite poorly, to put it mildly. Still, the Emancipation Proclamation was a time of celebration for these black Canadians.
"We are free at last, the Emancipation Proclamation is now the law of the land," Reverend Dalton Jones said, laughing. The tall, burly and dark-skinned black man looked at his beloved wife Ethel Calvin-Jones, and smiled. Ethel, a tall and heavyset black woman, nodded and embraced her husband warmly. The two of them were in their house on the outskirts of Halifax, Nova Scotia. A decade ago, the two of them arrived there via the Underground Railroad. Canada offers black folks freedom while America doesn't. Until now.
"Amen, Dalton," Ethel said, and she took Dalton's face into her hands and kissed him passionately. Ethel was born on the Woodward plantation in New Orleans, Louisiana, while Dalton hailed from Memphis, Tennessee. Fate brought them together and they built new lives in Canada. Ethel works as a schoolteacher at the Freedom School, and Dalton is a clergyman, ministering to the Blackburn Church. Someone's got to give the Good Word to the black folks in town and that's Reverend Dalton's job.
"This is splendid news," said Franklin O'Shea. The tall, red-haired and green-eyed Boston Irishman smiled at his good friends Ethel and Dalton. A decade ago, Franklin had been instrumental in bringing both Dalton and Ethel to Nova Scotia from the United States of America. The stalwart black couple had become leaders of the black Canadian community. Franklin, who couldn't serve in the Union Army on account of his bum leg, continued to help black folks from America come to Canada even during the U.S. Civil War. What a man.
"Frank, stay and help us celebrate," Ethel said after exchanging a look with her husband Dalton. Frank nodded politely though this request was most unexpected. The middle-aged white man was surprised that the lady of the house wanted him to stick around. Dalton looked at Franklin and smiled in a most mysterious way. Franklin hadn't had a man look at him like that since he visited San Francisco, California, a few years back. On that occasion, Frank got drunk and ended up in bed with a transvestite. Odd experience, to say the least.
