North Preston: How they do...

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This is my first entry folks, so bear with me. It's Sunday morning, and I'm at my laptop setting to words one hell of an experience in North Preston, Nova Scotia. North Preston is an "all Black" community in Nova Scotia; an old friend from Brooklyn got married to a born-and-bred Nova Scotian yesterday. And what a wedding it was!

Gerald told me his wedding was in Nova Scotia, and that he was marrying a native - and I asked him, "There are Black people in Nova Scotia?" And congratulated him on the nuptials too. Turns out there are, and they are the descendants of African slaves escaped from the States. They stayed up North, and built something. Now, 70% of Blacks in Canada are of Caribbean decent, so there are cultural differences from these folks, but one essential thing is the same -the will to build against backbreaking odds.

The groom, Gerald, and the bride, Peaches, were surrounded by both his and her family - it was a love fest! Every-single one of her thousands of uncles and aunts were incredibly gracious hosts, and inaugurated us as family.

While we were taking the wedding photos one of Peaches' three thousand Uncles walked over to me and said, "Go back and tell them this is how we do in North Preston." Holla!

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