Posts in category News

On November 22, Barbadians and friends of Barbados will celebrate the Caribbean nation’s 48th anniversary of Independence and the 45th anniversary of Barbados House Montreal Inc. at a grand Banquet and Ball. The event will feature an appropriate combination of tributes and commendations together with a free flow of music and entertainment from a lineup exciting performers. One of the highlights of the evening will be a feature address by Maya Johnson, a trailblazing TV journalist with CTV Montreal and a committed supporter of all things community. And the performers already carded for the evening are two Montrealers, Ray Amsterdam …

After millions stricken with dreaded chick V virus… Contact STAFF The news from home was touching. It was mostly about the nephew battling his second bout with the Chikungunya virus. He is a tough guy: military man, soccer player and saga boy, but was no match for the pain that racked his entire being. His joints were on fire, every individual part of his body hurt, together with a constant headache and fever. At the time of the conversation,  he hoped that he wouldn’t get the rash across his belly to his back and the eye irritation. The nephew is …

Miss Spicy Grenada 40-plus Contact Staff When the seven participants in the Miss Spicy Grenada 40 Plus  event take to the stage at Le Manoir on November 15, the audience can look forward to an evening of good old-time entertainment and fun. This event is an important one on the calendar for the Grenada Nationals Association and is expected to be a showcase of women who beam with confidence and style as they have been doing for many decades. Participants include Joan Berkley, Betty Alexander, Rita Alexander-Samuel, Lona Williams, Hazel-Anne Cato-Perry, Jennifer John and Theresa John. And each is expected …

Mama J. encourages indulgence and culinary decadence Contact Staff Think about “Cakes, Cupcakes and Culture” as you wait expectantly for another evening of indulgence at the 5th anniversary of Mama J’s “For The Love Of Cakes.” This year, Montrealers will give in to their never-ending cravings… on Saturday, November 29, at The Hive Cafe Lounge on Loyola Campus of Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West. As usual, it promises to be an evening of culinary decadence as guests sample a never-ending variety of cakes, cheesecakes and cupcakes. Among the special offerings will be GA peachez & cream, southern-style red velvet, …

“Love for gas. Gas for cash. Cash for living. Living for love.”     It’s a story that is universal and specific, about survival at any cost and balancing dreams versus reality. Gas Girls is a politically charged play chronicling the lives of Gigi and Lola, two teenage prostitutes who are paid in gasoline, which their pimp then converts to cash. Despite having wildly different personalities, Gigi, the eldest of the two, is somewhat hardened, while Lola exudes a youthful naiveté despite being 15-years-old. The young women rely on each other as they navigate the sex trade and try to …

The Road Home Contact Staff In the preface of MONTREAL’S OLDEST BLACK CONGREGATION, the late educator, author and historian Dr. Leo W. Bertley, writes, “Union Church is one of the cornerstones on which the modern Black population of Montreal is founded… At the moment, it is facing one of its most important challenges. Its home for more than 60 years has been expropriated, will be destroyed and be replaced by a subway station…” One of these predictions has come to fruition with the construction of Lionel Groulx metro station, but Union United Church is still standing. However, as much as …

Ebola Crisis: Africa stays strong while world dithers Egbert Gaye The panic over the much-dreaded Ebola virus is almost full-fledged in the United States and slowly making its way across Canada and around the world, as governments and health officials stumble in their response to the outbreak and ordinary people are driven crazy by fear. In the U.S., where the only two cases of the disease have been contracted outside of West Africa, misinformation and irrational concerns are running rampant. Take this woman, an African American traveling from Dallas to Chicago on American Airlines. Poor thing, she must have vomited …

    The Canada government is in full offensive mode following what were deemed terrorist attacks that left two soldiers dead and two injured   in Quebec and Ottawa. The first attack occurred on October in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec when 25 year old Quebecer Martin Couture-Rouleau described as a radicalized Muslim convert drove his car into a group of Canadian soldiers killing Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and injuring another soldier. Couture-Rouleau was shot and killed by police after a short chase. Then on October 22, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, another 25-year-old Quebec born man, approached Corporal Nathan Cirillo who was a ceremonial guard at the …

   Last September, th e family and extended family of Adassa Scarlett wallowed in grief at what seemed to them to be her untimely passing. Ms. Scarlett, matriarch of a large, well-known and tightly knit family of Montrealers, imprinted her mark on our community and Montreal with her exceptional talent and capacity as a seamstress. To family and friends, she was Dassy… Wassy Dassy a name that engendered her daring, her confidence, free spirit and her style. In the well over 40 years that she lived and sewed in Montreal, Mrs. Scarlett counted among her clients a mass of church-goers …

To the outside world, it may seem like you’re living the dream. You went to university, got a prestigious degree (or two) and then earned a highly sought-after position at a renowned business. You make decent money and maybe you even like your job, but you still hear that faint inner calling to break out of the hamster wheel and blaze your own path. You appreciate that “you have it good” but you feel inspired to create something “great.” You feel the urge to start your own venture and bring something important into the world. Still, you understand the importance …