Our guests for this month’s double feature is Shekara Grant and Curtis Whiley!

Shekara Grant has ancestral ties to both Cherry Brook and Weymouth Falls, two of over 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities in this province. She graduated from Dalhousie University with combined honours in Sociology and French and a Certificate in Intercultural Communications in 2019. In 2023, Shekara founded the Weymouth Falls Community Land Trust, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a platform for a vibrant community voice that stewards the land of Weymouth Falls by intersecting opportunities for growth and development with historical preservation of its cultural identity and assets. In addition to her work with the land trust, Shekara is pursuing a Masters in Sociology where she has been able to read and write primarily about African Nova Scotian and Indigenous relationships to property, land and justice. Her thesis will take a Black sociological approach to understanding and describing African Nova Scotian cultural identity beyond race and locality.

Curtis Whiley is a sixth-generation African Nova Scotian from Upper Hammonds Plains. With over 13 years in public service, he currently serves as Director of the Land Titles Initiative. Curtis holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA in Social Enterprise Leadership. As the founder of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, Curtis leads efforts in land stewardship, affordable housing, and economic empowerment. He sits on the boards of the Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts and the Ecology Action Centre. A passionate advocate, Curtis is committed to building equitable and innovative solutions that facilitate community-led transformation.

It was a pleasure to host this month’s Feature Friday episode with two incredible community trailblazers, Shekara and Curtis!

Show notes:

00:00 - Introduction to Shekara Grant and Curtis Whiley

9:55 - Land titles in community

18:45 - Curtis on starting a community land trust (CLT)

27:10 - Navigating communication centred around the community land trusts with community members

31:55 - The ins and outs of a community land trust

40:10 - Determining membership in a community land trust

47:15 - Looking at other CLTs in North America for inspiration

54:00 - The colonial nature of land titles

57:00 - Shekara and Curtis’ goals for their CLTs

1:16:20 - Where does funding come from?

1:26:55 - The future of CLTs

1:32:35 - One word checkout