All posts on August 3rd, 2020

Egbert Gaye As Charmaine Nelson prepares to take her leave of McGill University on her way to a dream position in Halifax the highly respected professor of Art History has laid out a number of outstanding tasks for both the institution and the city to undertake in order to formally recognize their involvement in the enslavement of Africans and indigenous people and its continuing impact on their descendants. ‘It’s well known that James McGill was a slave owner and I think it’s important that the university which he founded investigate its historical links and connections to Transatlantic Slavery,” she told …

That ship has sailed. But one way to salvage the glory of the storied institution of yesteryear is by working to strengthen our community today…. Next time you’re at the edge of the water, look way into the distance, a little beyond the horizon, the little speck that you see, that’s the Negro Community Centre… a ship that has sailed decades ago. And it’s only fair that someone should convey that message to the cadre of good, well-intentioned individuals and groups who have banded themselves around something called the NCC-Charles H Este committee with a commitment to bringing it back. …

Egbert Gaye Efforts to set up a coalition among groups representing various Caribbean nationals in Montreal are generating cautious optimism among those who are involved in the initiative. It follows a meeting that took place at the Jamaica Association on Jean Talon Street on Sunday July 19, which brought together representatives from several island associations including Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent and Grenadines, Montserrat, Grenada and Jamaica. Mark Henry, president of the Jamaica Association is the initiator of the coalition as a great way “to encourage and support each other” also as a potential opportunity “to bolster each organization and their …

Rosie Awori- (Local Journalism Initiative) As restrictions slowly started easing in late May, nine young men took to the courts to enjoy a game of basketball. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a de-stressing activity resulted in them being slapped with a fine of nearly $12, 000 in total for apparently violating COVID 19 measures in the Repentigny area. Many are saying that it is more evidence of racial profiling that has been on the rise in a borough where Black residents have been complaining about bias treatment at the hands of the police. At a news conference on Sunday …

Racism and Coronavirus COVID-19 Conversations… Novel Thomas Will there be a cure for the man-made viral pandemic, racism, in all its forms once all the talk-ing has ended?When George Floyd had his life squeezed out by police officer Derek Chauvin in that brazen spectacle on May 25, I knew there would be a tumultuous after-math: racism and Coronavirus talk ad nauseam… Over the years of civil rights activism and uprisings it’s how these inci-dents/events have played out. I remember in the 60s and into the 1970s it’s how these social uprisings trig-gered by the same old (let’s say traditional and …

Senegal has lost a star, the death of singer Balla Sidibé, one of the founding members of the legendary Senegalese Afro-Latin band Orchestra Baobab group, on Wednesday, July 29, in Dakar, has come as a shock and devastation to many. The Association des Métiers de la Musique du Senegal (AMS) announced the news that, “Balla Sidibé, did not wake up this Wednesday morning after a busy rehearsal day with his fellow musicians.”Born in 1942, Sidibé worked in the police force in Senegal before he decided to pursue music full time. He went to the then cultural hub of Casamance in …

Let’s be honest… Sometimes life is just hard. I heard someone once say, that the struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow, so we can’t give up hope. We all go through stuff in life…and we sometimes wonder why we have to go through the things that we do and you might even question: is God really with me? Charles Stanley wrote: Often times God demonstrates His faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive.
He does not change our painful circumstances. He sustains us through them. God is always with us, …

Our anthem, our prayer, our duty… God keep our land glorious and free! Do you recognize that line that I’ve just quoted from the Canadian national anthem? It is in fact a line of prayer. It is a prayer to God followed by a bow to stand on guard for the land. We have fought many wars in the past and sent many soldiers on the battlefield in defence of the enemies abroad. Now however, when the enemy has already penetrated and gained ground on our territory and has yet to be captured because it is invisible; we must understand …

Rosie Awori Local Journalism Initiative Following the election of President Trump in 2017, Samba was among the 27,000 migrants who made their way into Canada using Roxham Road- where Quebec and New York meet. This number was a dramatic rise from the 2000 migrants who crossed over in the year before. “I didn’t know what my fate would be I had already demanded for asylum and been refused I didn’t want to get deported I had nothing back home what would I be going back to?” he explains to the CONTACT. “I followed what people who had managed to get …

Contact Staff Over 15,000 viewers clicked in on YouTube and Facebook to enjoy The Spice Island Cultural Festival held on Saturday, July 11. The event got off to a great start with the Royal Grenada Police Force Band playing both the Canadian and Grenadian national anthems. Welcome messages came from Hon. Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada as well as from Dr. the Right Honorable Keith C. Mitchell, prime minister of Grenada. Hon. Justin Trudeau invited everyone to “bring some spice into your homes and dance in your living room”. This message carried widely during the day as many viewers …