February 27, 2023
SHARE
CANADALAND
#862 Donors To BIPOC Retreat Feel It Was A “Scam”
There aren’t a lot of dedicated spaces for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in Nova Scotia. One community group wanted to change that — but instead were betrayed.
Cherise Seucharan
Reporter, CANADALAND
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher
Tristan Capacchione
Audio Editor & Technical Producer

There aren’t a lot of dedicated spaces for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in Nova Scotia. One community group wanted to change that.

They decided to create a cottage retreat for BIPOC in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, a site of significant Black history.  It would be owned and run by the community, a place where they could rest, relax and have access to nature. They raised money through donations and memberships. 

But now some of the organizers of Buy Black Birchtown are speaking out, saying they were promised a safe space for the community – but instead were betrayed. 

Clarification: Shekara Grant became involved with Buy Black Birchtown via the Change is Brewing Collective in early 2021, not in 2020 as some listeners may have concluded.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor & Technical Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor)

Further reading:

Additional music by Audio Network

Sponsors: Douglas, Freshbooks

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

More from this series
Of all the private intelligence firms in the English-language world, there appears to be just one whose speciality is tracking activists. And it has a branch office in Calgary.
March 25, 2024
Andy Mills’ podcasting work for The New York Times won a Peabody Award and a Pulitzer Prize citation. Then he lost it all.
March 18, 2024
Twenty years of school gets you what… An unpaid internship? An e-bike to deliver ramen? And some sort of side hustle? How did we get here? Today we look at work in Canada.
March 11, 2024
If the polls are anywhere near correct Pierre Poilievre is on track to be our next Prime Minister. And he may be in that job for a long time. So today we’re going to dare to speculate: what would years of Conservative rule look like?
March 4, 2024
When an Opioid Crisis hits a First Nation it’s different than in a city. In the city the addicted are mostly strangers. But in Pikwakanagan, if you see somebody behaving strangely on the reserve, you know them. You know your neighbor's business. You are your brother's keeper. So addiction is not just about the pain of losing somebody you love. It's about desperately hoping to save someone you love or protect someone you love.
February 26, 2024
In Sherbrooke, Quebec, a doctor watches the war in Gaza unfold through photos and videos from his family on the ground.
February 19, 2024
In part two of his interview with former Big Tobacco lawyer, Max Krangle, Jesse asks if porn's business model can save the news industry?
February 12, 2024
Tent cities are becoming a common sight in city centres across the country. Is this just the new normal?
February 5, 2024
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
CANADALAND