Buddy Daye was the first Black Sergeant-at-Arms in Canada when he joined the Nova Scotia Provincial Legislature. He was also a former Canadian Junior Lightweight Boxing Champion (1964-66) and co-founder of Nova Scotia's Black United Front.

Away at sea at the age of fourteen, a seasoned merchant marine by nineteen and a young boxer at twenty-three in a world where blacks just didn't win the big titles, Buddy made a name for himself as a boxer and used that reputation to fight for equal rights.

For years, Buddy worked in Halifax's North End fighting against the impact of poverty, racism and for better housing, more jobs and some community centres for the kids. He joined the fight to save the community of Africville, but had to watch it destroyed by an unyielding Halifax City Council.

Buddy believed in the ongoing need for Black Canadians to fight for recognition, and respect.

Length: 23:44
Original Format: Video
Originally Broadcast: June 21, 1994 on CBC Television

• The Blacks, Anti-Slavery and the Underground Railway - from the National Library of Canada.
• African-Americans in the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Maritime Service.

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Gregory M. Coyes (Edmonton) worked as a production assistant and assistant director on some of the most successful films to come out of western Canada in the 1980's including: My American Cousin, Shooting Stars, Cowboys Don't Cry and Life After Hockey. He has written and directed a number of documentaries and client sponsored films. At the time of broadcast, he was serving as president of the Aboriginal Filmmakers Association of Alberta and is an organizer of the annual festival of First Nation's films, arts and culture. {also directed: Lila Fahlman}