Reviving tradition of Black feminist organizing in Montreal

Leaders in Montreal’s Black community are coming together to revive the tradition of Black feminist organizing.

They are launching a feminist collective called Harambec, which focuses on the contributions of Black Women and non-binary individuals they say are too often ignored in the history of feminism.

“Harambec is a fruition of Black women in Quebec rising up against racism, misogyny and other forms of oppression,” said the group’s co-founder Marlihan Lopez.

“Black feminist, Black women, the stories of Black women are being erased through history,” added Claire-Gaëlle Champagne, the communications coordinator at the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation. “And we need these stories to be highlighted. We need a support system, and also we need a collective for and by Black women.”

Harambec seeks to highlight intersectional feminism, one that centres on the lived experiences of Black Women and non-binary individuals.

“I never felt that my experiences as a Black woman were acknowledged or centred,” said Lopez. “I would always have to fight to have them acknowledged. So I think it’s important to have collectives of our own where we can underline and centre our experiences.”

Harambee: African principle of self-help

“Harambec” is a portmanteau word that combines the Swahili word Harambee – the African principle of self-help – with Quebec. The term was coined by writer and community organizer Shirley Small.

“In this context, Black women rising up together,” said Lopez, who is also the coordinator at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute.

The other two co-creators of Harambec are Jade Almeida, a co-project coordinator at the Quebec LGBT Council, and Pauline Lomam, an interdisciplinary artist and artistic, public and cultural programmer.

In collaboration with Concordia University’s SHIFT, the collective will receive $50,000 in funding.

The aim is to revive the tradition of Black feminist organizing in Montreal, which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s – notably within the Congress of Black Women at Concordia.

“Our goal is not only to first of all support Black women, non-binary folks, but also to unearth those contributions through research in the archives and fight against the systemic erasure of Black feminist contributions,” said Lopez. “And also to continue building on those contributions through programming in the arts and academia, through a Black feminist curriculum.”

‘Victimizes minority communities’ 

Martine Biron, the Quebec minister responsible for the status of women, recently told Le Devoir in a statement that intersectional feminism is not “our vision of feminism,” after a motion was presented for it to be recognized in the National Assembly.

“It’s a worry that we have a government that doesn’t acknowledge systemic racism, that pushes for legislation that excludes and that victimizes minority communities,” said Lopez.

“This is another reason why Black women need to organize and need to engage in advocacy if we want our experiences and our needs to be acknowledged.”

The collective hopes to serve as a hub for Black feminist organizing and as a space to connect to the wider community.

“Black women have been organizing here in Montreal, here in Quebec, have been resisting racism, misogyny for many years,” said Lopez. “And we want to pay tribute to that legacy of organizing that was done before us. And we want to continue doing it.”