All posts on December, 2014

Celebrating with music   The Holiday season comes with a bustle of events and activities that provide the community with an opportunity to savor the music that flavors our celebration of Christmas and New Year here in Montreal. This year, audiences reveled in performances by the always-enticing West Can Folk Performing Company, caught at the Hilltoppers annual Banquet on November 15 at the Hampton Inn and Suites; also Ezra Lewis, Janelle Alphonse and Marie were caught at the Golden Stars concert in LaSalle on December 7.  

First boosting services then building community contact Egbert Gaye After many years as a casual observer of the community into which he was born, Pharaoh Freeman finally stopped and took stock when his second child was born. “At that point I had two children and started thinking about their future, so naturally I looked at the community that was going to have the greatest influence on their lives, the Black community… I didn’t like what I saw,” he says. Freeman says he realized that the Black community didn’t have the infrastructure to help itself, which scared him because of the …

The deejay, they call him an icon and a legend In a city where entertainment stars surface and disappear with frightening regularity, Mike “Tuff” Williams has maintained a solid presence for more than two decades on the urban music circuit as one of Montreal’s leading disc jockeys. Widely regarded for his contributions in promoting soul, funk, R&B, reggae and other genres, Tuff has “niced” up more nightclubs and parties with his unique abilities in mixin’, his style and selections. Today, he stands as an inspiration and role model to generations of deejays. Mike Tuff Williams talks to Montreal Community CONTACT …

West End Holiday Baskets During this holiday season, we are reminded of religion, peace, love and most importantly giving onto others. The WestEnd Sports Association (WESA) has been delivering holiday turkey baskets to homes in Montreal for the last 38 years. WESA was able to deliver 1500+ holiday/turkey baskets to Montreal under-privileged families last year. This year’s goal is to distribute 1700 holiday/turkey baskets in the Montreal area. Your donations make a difference in our community’s celebration of the holiday season. You are welcome to help donate. For info, visit Info@wesa.com. Celebrate the season at Dejeuner Caribe On Friday December …

Caribbean traditions provide an important connection to the past and give meaning to our lives. In keeping with those traditions, on December 25, I will be doing my 8th annual Christmas show, “Island Riddims” live on CKUT 90.3FM from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. … pure Parang/Soca. Traditions also provide a blueprint of things to do at certain times, such as my Christmas articles. Three years ago I made reference to sorrel and its nutritional benefits. Then in 2012, I talked about ginger beer, a refreshing seasonal  favorite. In 2013, I gave you the Ponche de Creme recipe, a timeless …

New Years Eve @ C’bean Paradise It promises to be the coming together of different generations enjoying different music styles On Wednesday December 31, when Montrealers ring in the New Year at a gala affair at Caribbean Paradise. It promises to be special night with a buffet style supper and an open bar all in an atmosphere of love and music flavored by one of Montreal’s most engaging disc jockeys, DJ Mike Mission. The invitation is to be at Caribbean Paradise, 8080 Newman Boulevard, and LaSalle. 9 pm-until. Info (514) 363-8080. Julian McIntosh at Hawks’ Ball Montrealers who relish spending …

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” Unlike other times of the year, the Christmas season allows us to treasure the warmth of home, the love of family, and the presence of good friends with  the added excitement of finding the perfect gift for everyone on our lists. And although the Holidays and its  myriad activities can bring  it’s share of anxieties, proper planning eliminates much of the stress. Start with decorating. And create an atmosphere with holiday candle scents, selected plants such as red and pink poinsettias, placed around the home, coupled …

From Jamaica to Canada The first week of December, I went downstairs to my storage locker to retrieve my cardboard boxes stuffed with Christmas decorations, ready to go about the task of decorating my condo. Inside one of the boxes I found the Christmas stocking I’ve had since I was about five-years-old. It’s a typical Christmas stocking – red with white trim. My name is written on it in red, green and silver glitter. I remember when my mother took me to the Fairview Shopping Mall to have it made. The woman at the store carefully squeezed out “Maya” in …

Unlike the many other cultural groups who have immigrated to Montreal over the last 100 years or so, we are a community with nothing. With the rest of the Negro Community Center lying in shambles we are left with nothing to show for our time here. The Greek community has their own schools, churches, banquet halls, a cultural center, library, social services, senior residences and daycare centers; the Chinese have their hospital and cultural center; the Italians have their Leonardo da Vinci Center; and more recently the Sikhs have established their mosques in the West Island and LaSalle. The list …

THE WHITE CATALYSTS… The beneficiaries of others’ centuries of repression must be implicated in the 21st century change. It’s so easy to become distracted by the predictability and redundancy of [things] Christmas and ignore more pressing historically rooted social matters and how they continue to impact Black people in North America. But I can’t. While I see omnipresent signs of Christmas and hear all the seasonal sounds, I can’t be oblivious to the thousands of people comprising the human colour spectrum (as lovely as Christmas decorations themselves) I’ve been seeing for several weeks now marching/protesting, and their urgent, resonating chants… …