Montreal hosts 27th edition of the Week of Action Against Racism and for Equal Opportunity
Posted March 20, 2026 9:40 pm.
Last Updated March 21, 2026 12:17 am.
“Resist and Unite: Rethinking Tomorrow’s Society Together” — that’s the slogan for this year’s 27th edition of the Week of Action Against Racism and for Equal Opportunities (SACR) — which made its official launch on Friday.
Leaders and members of the community came together for the event at Montreal’s City Hall, where an opening ceremony was held and led by Josué Corvil, the councillor responsible for culture, diversity, inclusion, relations with Indigenous peoples and community harmony.
“I think it’s really, important to hold this type of event with people who are important to this city, not only just the people who were elected, but also the people who are organizing around the city,” said Naïla Lounas, a political scientist and ethic and transformative justice consultant, who attests that it felt necessary to make the trek all the way down to the Old Port to attend this year’s opening ceremony.
And for others in attendance who, like Lounas, agree that the event feels all the more important this year, as the world faces turbulent times and where minority groups across the world are seeing their rights stripped from them.
“Today, looking at the world around us, we can see that things are bleak — we’re living in an era of the far right, fascism, war, violence, xenophobia, racism, and hatred,” SACR Coordinator, Samira Laouni, began to say.
“I believe in the cause of justice, fairness, and giving everyone the chance to find their place just as they are, with respect for their dignity and their differences. We have the right to be different, and so for me it is very important to keep fighting for this cause.”
A cause which hits close to home for some.
“Right now in Quebec there are lots of legislations that are being passed, that are clearly biased, and that clearly discriminate Muslim women,” said Lounas, referring to the passing of Quebec’s secularism law, which bans certain public servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols at work.
“We are in an era where it is hard to be a person of color, it is hard to be a Muslim woman in this city.”
A feeling echoed by many, including SACR award recipient and local journalist, Oumou Mohamed Diakité, who herself is being lauded for her ongoing commitment to fight against racism and discrimination.
“I think that militarism helped us at one point to make our voices heard, but I think that today it’s no longer about being a strong minority,” Diakité began to explain. “It’s about being a majority, a strong collective.”
That’s why Diakité said she’s not only continuing to help youth in her community learn to express themselves through writing, she’s also a panelist at a conference in this year’s event, taking place Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
“It’s called “Don’t Touch My Hair,” Diakité said.
“We’ll be discussing all the pressure that Black women and men —or at least people of African descent— face regarding their hair. We want to try to break down stereotypes. Curly hair isn’t dirty hair it isn’t unprofessional hair. It’s hair that deserves to simply be hair,” she added.
Diakité’s conference is an example of the numerous activities that can be found during SACR’s 27th edition.
Organizers say this year’s activities are built around a single goal: preventing and combating exclusion based on skin colour, ethnic origin or national origin.
And to achieve this year’s objectives, programming includes returning symposiums, exhibitions, workshops, and artistic events, with expanded online conferences following last year’s success.
“We had over 2,000 people attend our in-person events, but online we had over 8,000 people watch our videos —both live and on-demand. And we reached one million website views last year,” boasted Laouni, of the event, which she said seems to be reaching wider audiences with each passing year.
All the events are free and take place daily across Montreal and surrounding regions, culminating in a closing ceremony on March 31st — where three individuals will receive the SACR-2026 awards for their commitment to equality and the fight against racism.
A calendar depicting the schedule of this year’s 12-day event can be found on their website: www.sacr.ca
