All posts on June 27th, 2016

Call it a street party. Call it a parade. Call it what you will, but Carifiesta is still one of strongest drawing forces of all the summer events in this city. And on July 2, tens of thousands will gather on St. Catherine Street in downtown Montreal for the annual Black and Caribbean parade that begins at the corner of Fort Street at 12 noon and makes its way down to Philips Square. As usual, it’s expected to be another spectacular session of color and sound for spectators and participants. One or two masquerade bands will fill the streets with …

Carifiesta Weekend: MONTREAL SOCA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2016 Egbert Gaye Come Friday July 1 and Saturday July 2 you’d think that Montreal was Trinidad. You see the big carnival/ soca party makes a return to the city in the biggest of ways. And for the first time in a long time party lovers will get an opportunity to take in some of the biggest names in Caribbean music, including Chutney Soca’s mega superstar Ravi B together with the king of Jab Jab music Tallpree and other soca big names such as Flipo, GBM Nutron, Jamesy P and local fire starter Daddy …

The 16th edition of the Montreal International Steelpan Festival on July 3 Contact Staff The sweet sounds of pan return to the McKenzie-King Park in Cote des Neiges on Sunday, July 3, for the 16th edition of the Montreal International Steelpan Festival, which will feature a line-up of school bands ready to impress steelband lovers in the city. Six bands will perform a repertoire of calypsos, soca, reggae and contemporary songs. The bands are Coronation Elementary Steelband; St. Monica’s Elementary Steelband; John Grant High School Steelband; CDNBCA Seniors Steelband; Westmont Park Steelband, and Special Connections Ensemble. The evening will feature …

Montreal Community CONTACT launches 25th Anniversary celebrations Contact Staff On September 11, Montreal Community CONTACT launches its 25th anniversary celebration with a Gala at the Crowne Plaza, 1252 Cote de Liesse Road TMR paying tribute to an exceptional group of Montrealers who have laid the foundation in the building of the Black and Caribbean community in Quebec. We’re calling it A Tribute to Community Builders, and 15 of these individuals have been identified to be celebrated and honored. It’s an exceptional group that has contributed significantly not only to our community but also to Montreal and Quebec. Among this group …

Avice Roberts-Joseph Egbert Gaye The best way to gauge Avice Roberts-Joseph’s dedication to the activities that she has been involved in over the past four decades is by her lingering enthusiasm. Forty-six years as a sports administrator, 40 years as an educator and 12 years as a school volunteer, Mrs. Joseph still describes them all as “my babies.” And treats them as such. So, although she has been retired since 2004, it’s not unusual to find her at St. Monica’s Elementary School in NDG at 8:00 AM every school day tending to the 75 or so students who might have …

Local Author Svens Telemaque Contact Staff “There’s a book in each and every one of us…” so goes the cliché. Well, if you’re ready to unleash yours, local author, motivational speaker and youth advocate, Svens Telemaque, stands ready to help you navigate the oft-times complicated process of self-publishing. He promises to save you time and money and help relieve the headache of editing, marketing, and selling your book. He is offering a workshop on July 30 that will walk aspiring authors through some of the basic steps in writing and publishing from conception to writing techniques to ISBN, to marketing, …

500 Trinidadian young women and under-aged girls caught in Internet sex net Over the last couple of weeks nude photos of more than 500 Trinidadian young women and under-aged girls have been showing up on international pornographic sites. Upon hearing this, my first reaction was to question the wisdom of these women (some of whom were posing for or sending nude pictures to their boyfriends) until I found out that a large number of the photos were of current and past students of the University of the West Indies’ St. Augustine Campus. I then realized that they were simply educated …

MUHAMMAD ALI POSTSCRIPT On Friday, June 10, I was among those hundreds of millions of people around the world who witnessed–via television–the celebration of the life of a wonderful, great (most call him “the greatest”) man, and greater human being, Muhammad Ali. I was unable to see the ceremony in ‘real time’, but through the wonder of the Internet (and a younger and more internet-savvy person than myself), I was able to watch the entire ceremony through that ‘streaming’ phenomenon. It was a veritably 21st century event, “one for the ages.” If you missed the Muhammad Ali celebration, then you …

Contact Staff After almost seven  years as a part time commissioner , Professor Adelle Blackett has recently resigned from the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, effective May 26 ,2016. Blackett was unanimously appointed by the National Assembly of Quebec on 18 June 2009.  Her service to the Commission was  honorary and non-remunerated, and undertaken alongside her full time academic position as a Professor of Law and William Dawson Scholar at McGill University. She participated in regular meetings of the Commission, which issued public comments on law reform proposals like the proposed “secular” Charter/ Charter of Quebec values.  She …

Chelsea Tavarez  BA (Applied Human Sciences) Concordia University Chelsea Tavarez graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, major in Human Relations. You did it! Congratulations on your out standing achievement! Wishing you Success & Happiness in all that you do. You make us proud! Love Mom, Dad and Amber Jalisa Gittens: BA (Applied Child Psychology) McGill University Jalisa Gittens graduated from McGill with a Bachelor of Arts. Jalisa, who is following in the path of a long list of achievers in her family, is on her way to a career as a Child Psychologist and has already been accepted into the …