The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 3, 2007 - 3 Author adds drama to past n By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Local author Lawrence Hill says colour should be restored to the history of Blacks in Canada. His word isn't meant to be controversial. Hill means the drama of it should be exposed to render the often onerous subject of history, appealing. He accomplishes just that in his new book, The Book of Negroes ­ again, not meant to be provocative or offensive, but which takes its title from a British military document of the same name. Hill, born to a black father and white mother, who were human rights activists in the United States and then in Canada, has written a string of books about being Black and Black history. Some are fiction, some not. He also has a film to his credit and is a familiar face locally and further afield as a speaker on Black history. Hill was at Town Hall Wednesday as keynote speaker to kick off Black History Month. The event was sponsored by the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH). The Oakville Museum's traveling exhibit about the little known, but weighty role Oakville played in Canadian Black history will remain on display at Town Hall during business hours for the month of February. Oakville was a significant stop in the Underground Railway that slaves used to flee the U.S. to freedom in Canada. "Story, story, story," said Hill sounding like a literary counterpart to real estate professionals known to utter, "Location, location, location." "It's my job to make the reader turn that page," said Hill. It's not that Black history in Canada isn't dramatic or documented. It's just that many are not aware of it and may be more inclined to find out if they were captured by its drama. In Hill's new book, hot off the presses by HarperCollins Canada this month, the author writes in the first person through the persona of his protagonist, a woman -- a personality chosen specifically for dramatic appeal. "Who has the most to lose, obviously it's a woman," said Hill of his character Aminata Diallo, a girl born around 1745 in the village of Bayo in Mali, Africa, who is raised, as she always says, a free Muslim, but who is stolen from her homeland for use in the slave trade in the late 1700s. Snatched from her mother one day when she was 11 years old, Aminata witnesses her beloved parents' deaths as they attempt to reclaim her from the "man stealers" and embarks upon a journey in which she grows to womanhood and eventually old age, all while being stripped of her family, her name, her homeland, her background, her rights, her dignity, her children, but never her intelligence or spirit. It is those characteristics that establish her as a survivor who eventually goes full circle, returns to her homeland and the to further the cause of abolition. Aminata is a fictional character Hill has based on historical fact. Through research of the times and places and the historical document that's named in the book's title, Hill has placed a character whose role, through his obvious writing talent, is to draw the reader in. As a writer, as opposed to teacher or preacher, Hill said it's his job to entertain, not lecture or teach. Yet his words not only entertain, but paint a picture of the past for his readers. The novel is a sweeping tale that takes the reader along with Aminata from her African village to a plantation in the southern United States, from the Halifax docks to the manor houses of London. The story spans six decades and three continents. It examines the history of British slavery and liberation in the United States, Canada, England and West Africa, through Aminata's remarkable tale. Hill points out several significant features of his work. First, not many people know of the Book of Negroes. Hill has examined it in detail -- it is reproduced inside the jacket of his book -- through the National Archives and other sources. It is an historical document of some size. It was a book in which the British military recorded the names and descrip RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER See Hill page 4 BLACK HISTORY COMES ALIVE: Author Lawrence Hill believes in putting the drama back into history to make it interesting, inspiring and relevant. He does just that with his new book The Book of Negroes. PREPARE FOR THE ROAD AHEAD. Next course: February 5th Monday & Wednesday (4 weeks) 6:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. February 17th Saturday & Sunday (2 weeks) 9:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. www.youngdrivers.com 905.845.7200 MTO APPROVED BEGINNER DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE PROVIDER