Community land trust concept traces its roots to civil rights movement in American south
Lynn Jones wanted to preserve the spirit of the Truro, N.S., neighbourhood known as “The Marsh” — once a thriving community of Black families, most of whom have moved away over the years.
She and her family members each owned a small plot of land in The Marsh and, over time, Jones began to purchase land from her relatives as people left. But she hadn’t figured out what to do afterward.
“I was not selling to developers for them to reap the benefits of a traditional African Nova Scotian community and there be nothing left for the community,” she said in a recent interview.
Jones has received the Order of Canada for her decades-long work on labour rights and human rights, and comes from a large family with a long tradition of anti-racism work.
