Black Writers Congress, 50 years on
On the occasion of Black History Month, Espace de la diversité, in collaboration with Editions Mémoire d’encrier, Maison d’Haïti and Protests and Pedagogy, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Montreal Black Writers’ Congress (1968) and the student protests against racism at Concordia University (1969).
Two pivotal moments in Montreal’s literary and intellectual life, and in the struggle against racism and discrimination. Why don’t these moments figure in Quebec’s history books?
Where do we stand 50 years later? What battles bind us together, and which ones have we lost sight of? How do we express solidarity and resistance today? What words and ideologies are needed to think about them, to confront them, and to put emancipation and social justice into action? How can we imagine black conditions, their contours and fractures?
This February 10, 2019, some fifty authors, activists and artists are joining forces for a day of celebration, reflection and commemoration.
Let’s retrace the steps of these events that forever shook Montreal’s history.
Animation
Maguy Métellus
Participants
Adeline Chancy
Ali Idres
Anne Kichenapanaïdou
Carla Beauvais
Carlyle Williams
Cawn Mala Osne
Christiana Abraham
Claire-Anse Saint-Éloi
Clarence Bayne
D. Mathieu Cassendo
Dalila Awada
Daniel Grenier
Elena Maria Stoodley
Elvira Kamara-Nangnigui
Émilie Nicolas
Fatima Wilson
Franz Benjamin
Frantz Voltaire
Gabriella Kinté
Gaël Stephenson Chancy
H. Nigel Thomas
Isaac Bazié
Jan J. Dominique
Joël Des Rosiers
Josette Pierre-Louis
Lorrie Jean-Louis
Marilou Craft
Marjorie Villefranche
Mireille Métellus
Nalini Mohaber
Oumalker Idil Kalif
Philippe Fils-Aimé
Rito Joseph
Rodney Saint-Éloi
Webster
Yara El-Ghadban
Yvonne Greer
Music
Ali Idres
Elena Maria Stoodley
Fatima Wilson
Webster
Partner organizations
La Maison d’Haïti
Protests and Pedagogy
La Librairie Racines
Le Mois de l’Histoire des Noirs
Les éditions Mémoire d’encrier
Logos Readings
Centre International de Documentation et d’Information Haïtienne,
Caribéenne et Afro-canadienne (CIDIHCA)
Financial partners
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Conseil des arts de Montréal
La Fondation Béati
La Maison d’Haïti
Les éditions Mémoire d’encrier
Espace de la diversité