At this time of year, it’s common to hear some Black people expressing frustration with the institution of Black History Month. “Why,” they ask, “do we celebrate Black history for only one month—and the shortest, coldest month of the year at that? Why do we only talk about Black history for just 4 weeks in the dead of winter?”
Well, the Playmas Montreal Cultural Association has come up with an answer: The Roots of OurEnglish Black Arts & Culture Program.
The Roots Program aims to help preserve and celebrate cultural practices from throughout the African Diaspora within Montreal’s English-speaking Black community. Launched in October 2024, the Program consists of 2 consecutive 7-week-long hands-on workshops. First, the “Griot Night” Workshop delved into two popular Black artistic genres, spoken-word poetry and calypso music, and explained their roots in the West African “griot” oral storytelling tradition. The facilitators, poets Roen Higgins and Kym Dominique-Ferguson and calypsonian Byron “Doggies” Cameron, trained attendees to compose their own calypso tunes and spoken-word poems, drawing on their personal experiences for lyrical inspiration.
Next came the “Crafting Connections” Workshop, which taught the history and practice of several manual Black arts. Guided by another three facilitators—engineer and entrepreneuse Nifemi Fagbohun, Caribbean Carnival costume designer Stephen Payne, and linguist and translator Adrienne Jackson—participants learned how to design and produce West African beaded necklaces and bracelets, Carnival costume headpieces, and African-American quilts, as well as each craft’s role in Black history.
And the Program’s facilitators and participants alike have attested to the results. Calling it “an honour and a privilege” to help animate the Griot Night workshop, poet Kym Dominique- Ferguson says, “I love seeing the evolution of an artist from a shy person hiding behind their book to someone who’s giving and sharing their work and the love that they have for their pieces.” Crafting Connections facilitator and quilting instructor Adrienne Jackson echoed this pride in her participants’ accomplishments: “So many of the students were a little nervous; some of them had never sewn before. [But] I must say, their finished products were most impressive; they did very, very good work.”
“The whole program was really something that we were longing for,” says Jewel Jones, who
attended both the Griot Night and Crafting Connections workshops. “It was somewhere to get some feeling of your own Blackness and to learn from others about their Blackness.” And Griot Night participant Zephrine Carline attests: “It feels like a rebirth. It feels like coming to know other parts of myself—to learn what it means to have this heritage…and how to respect it and carry it on.”
Though the main body of the Roots Program is now past, its climax is still to come. On Saturday,
March 29th, Playmas Montreal will hold a concert to showcase the vibrant artistry that was learned through months of learning and practice. Titled “Crafting Our Roots: An Exhibition of Our English Black Arts & Culture,” the event will display the beaded necklaces, costume headpieces, and quilts that were crafted during the workshops, while the participants themselves will perform the poems and calypso songs that they composed. The evening will also offer entertainment from a number of prominent Black Montreal artists: Poetry by Kym-Dominique Ferguson, calypso music by Doggies, traditional Afro-Caribbean dance from the West Can Dancers & Drummers, and steelpan music from Fatima Wilson, among others.
This spectacular wrap-up is in keeping with the Program’s mission. “The Roots Program was designed to be more than just a series of workshops,” says Roots Program co-creator and Manager Latoya Belfon. “It’s a movement to reclaim, celebrate, and sustain the diverse artistic traditions of the English-speaking Black community in Montreal, ensuring that our cultural heritage remains vibrant for generations to come.”
Tickets are for sale on Eventbrite and through the Playmas Montreal website
(www.playmasmontreal.com), as well as at several West Indian outlets across Montreal—
Caribbean Paradise Restaurant in LaSalle; Marche Colonnade in the West Island; Samail Image on Victoria Street in Cote-des-Neiges; and Long Mango in Châteauguay on the South Shore.
Celebrating Black Root & Culture Beyond Black History Month
