By RON FANFAIR
Historian and cultural activist Afua Cooper has been appointed to the Order of Nova Scotia.
The former Halifax Poet Laureate and Dalhousie University professor has contributed to the fabric of Nova Scotia’s literary landscape, serving as an accessible exemplar to emerging Nova Scotian writers from a diverse range of backgrounds.
For more than 25 years, Cooper has dedicated herself to the research, study, teaching and celebration of Black Canadian life. She has been instrumental in the creation and definition of the emerging field of Black Canadian Studies.
Cooper has played a central role in building upon the previous generation of scholars of Black Canada to move the subject to the centre stage of scholarship across multiple disciplines.
Her mentorship of faculty and students, including Black and racialized students, and her leadership among African Canadian arts, community and academic organizations, has helped to establish new groups to work for positive change.
Cooper has reimagined history through engagement with literary arts, performance, education and human rights. Through critical, creative practices, she has shed new light on the histories of African peoples previously underrepresented in scholarship, public memory and education. Her pioneering work in history and dub poetry, arising from her Jamaican ancestry exemplifies a life lived with the deepest integrity.
As a public intellectual, she has been a strong advocate for Black youth and for the Black community, breaking down barriers in teaching, research and knowledge production. Her efforts in the area of anti-discrimination and inclusion have made her one of the exemplary leaders in the field and an outstanding Nova Scotian.
An investiture ceremony will take place at Government House in the spring when Lieutenant Governor Savage presents the new members with their insignia and appointment scroll.
