City of Longueuil offers Black History Month programming for the first time

For the first time ever, the City of Longueuil will be hosting its own free activities to mark Black History Month.

Affine Lwalalika spoke to CityNews about the programming. She is a municipal councillor and is responsible for intercultural relations within the executive committee of the City of Longueuil.

Longueuil has a large Black community – just under 10 per cent – and this is an initiative that was created by the community. Why is this first official celebration so important for the Black community and all citizens?

It was very, very important for the community because it was something that had never happened before in Longueuil. And, the Black community has been here for years and centuries and have participated in building Longueuil.

So it’s something that is long overdue to tell you the truth. When we got elected in November 2021, Catherine Fournier, the mayor of Longueuil, has a very diverse city council and among the elected officials, there are 16 of us, there are 3 Black women.

So in February 2022, we made it official for February to become the Black History Month, which means the city has to have programming every February that reflects that fact. That’s something that was very, very well received. It was long overdue. Montreal, it’s been 32 years, and for us, it’s the first year. This was very important for it to be official.

We were looking on the website at the programming this year and there really is something for all ages. What are some of the events that you’re most excited about?

I’m very excited about the artistic exposition that’s going to be in la Maison de la culture in Longueuil. There’s going to be some very talented artists showing their art and how the Black community contributed to the history of Quebec.

Also, something that I’m very excited about is an activity that will talk about the Black woman’s beauty through her hair. It’s something that is very particular to the Black community because our hair have that their own mentality, you could say.

That’s something that we’re going to be talking about and we would love little girls from the Black community to go because we have to teach our daughters to love their hair because it’s not something that’s really represented as a symbol of beauty. So I’m very excited about that one.

And, there’ll be a conference about mental health. It’s also a subject that we don’t talk much about in the Black community. That will be important also for us to break the ice and talk about mental health issues, that it’s okay to talk about, it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s okay to ask for help. So, I’m very excited about that.

There will be also some historic stories for kids. That will be for the 3 to 6-year-olds, so even kids will have something in the programming.

And, what better way to know each other, to understand each other, to meet each other and talk than through food? So there will be a big culinary degustation that’s going to happen in Greenfield Park. I’m inviting everybody to come and get to know each other through food. Even if we’re all from the Black community, there’s a very diverse Black community, some from Africa, from Haiti, from Jamaica.

So we’ll get to know each other and discuss food. I’m very excited about that and how to be a parent also – of Black kids in Quebec. I’m excited about all of them because I was part of the committee that actually got the programming on. So I’m very happy about that.

The free events will be happening all through the month of February. To see the full list of programs visit the Longueuil website.