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Thanks to
 Marcel Tremblay
Marcel Tremblay is an exceptional individual, who has always been committed to the construction of a broad-based metropolis that builds on diversity as a key factor in its growth and development.
Driven by a conviction that Montréal is more dynamic that ever before and that its multitude of projects present unlimited potential, Marcel Tremblay has consistently sought to unite the strengths and talents of every member of our society in bringing such efforts to fruition.
During the past eight years as city counsellor for the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, and member of the city’s Executive Committee, Marcel Tremblay worked with his heart and soul, giving generously to the people he served. All of Montréal’s ethnic communities look upon Marcel Tremblay as a friend, who is attuned to their needs and who is present in their various forums. Under his initiative, numerous projects have been carried out in our city on behalf of Montrealers of various traditions.
In his official duties, as well as among community associations and with individuals, Marcel Tremblay has always made it a priority to look out for immigrants and to help them create a new and successful life in Montréal. He has always placed great emphasis on helping Montrealers of different origins find work and develop professionally.
Marcel Tremblay’s efforts have also resulted, for example, in the establishment of the hugely successful Week-end du monde event at Jean-Drapeau Park for the past five years, and the development of the Children’s Festival, which over time has become a highly charged and exceptionally stimulating celebration for children whose parents come from every corner of the globe.
Marcel Tremblay’s work has certainly brought Montréal’s city administration closer to residents of different backgrounds. The tightly knit social fabric that has emerged from his contributions has made members of Montreal’s cultural communities feel more a part of the city in which they live. That is why many organizations, such as the Committee . . ., Créole Month, The Taste of the Caribbean and the Harmony Festival, organized by the Federation of Trinidad and Tobago Organizations, Reunification Juda-Israël, etc. have paid tribute to him in multiple ways.
The Black History Month Round Table recognizes Marcel Tremblay’s outstanding contributions in promoting harmonious intercommunity coexistence so as to make Montréal, a more open, welcoming and vibrant city.
This is an immense heritage that Marcel Tremblay has given his fellow citizens.
 Mention to
Frantz Benjamin
“The future belongs to those who still dare to dream outloud” -
Franz Benjamin
Frantz Benjamin was elected city councillor for the borough of Saint-Michel in 2009 and serves as the associate advisor to the ethnic diversity department. He is also a member of the “Commission de la Présidence du Conseil municipal de la ville de Montréal”.
He was school superintendant for three elective terms and sits on the “Comité exécutif du Conseil des commissaires de la Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’ïle”.
Mr. Benjamin presided over the “Conseil Interculturel de Montreal” from 2006 to 2008. Regarding the political, social, economic and cultural aspects of life here in Quebec, the Conseil facilitates integration and encourages participation within Quebec’s cultural communities.
His great interest in culture and his involvement in promoting social justice, citizen’s participation, and cultural diversity makes Benjamin a natural leader within such organisations as Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi, Culture X, Équipe RDP and CHAIS-Ressources Famille.
 Mention to
Monica Ricourt
Monica Ricourt, District Councillor
On November 1, 2009, Monica Ricourt was elected district councillor in Ovide-Clermont (Montreal-North) on Mayor Gerald Tremblay’s team with the Union Montreal municipal party. This dynamic young woman was born in Montreal-North to Haitian parents. A graduate in political science, her socio-community and socio-political commitments are strong. At a young age she inherited her father’s passion for politics.
Being an actively involved young woman, she collaborated on and created many projects, both in the local community and in Haiti. She founded “l’Associations des jeunes immigrants” (AJI), to involve ethnic youth. Ricourt started the Monica School of Dance, in Haiti, to encourage youngsters between 6 and 17 to experience cooperation and solidarity creatively. She mentored young adults to help them reach their goal of obtaining a high school diploma. She sits on the board of “Coop Cité Sion”. She is also involved in party politics at the municipal and provincial levels.
Her accomplishments and contribution have won her acclaim. Indeed, this young and involved woman was a 2007 Black History Month laureate. She garnered the “Coup de cœur du public de la Jeune chambre commerce haïtienne” from the JCCH in 2008. That year she was participant-grantee in the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program of the United States Information Agency (USIA) to examine the theme Energy Politics and Climate Change. This program’s mission is to recruit today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in competency domains around the world. In 2009, she was chosen by the “Science politique et de droit” faculty of UQAM as one of 40 ambassadors during the 40th anniversary of the University. After she was elected to municipal office, she was appointed to the board of the “Société de Transport de Montréal” (STM).
 Michelle Obama
This is Michelle Obama’s World & We’re Just Living in it.
Me? A Barackanista? Well, I have been following the President since before he went mainstream and I did host an electoral party in Montreal and an Inaugural lunch to follow the momentous events live. Oh, and the President’s picture is the wallpaper on both my laptop and my mobile phone. So, Baracknista? Yes. Guilty as charged.
It took me a little longer to warm up to Michelle. For months during the electoral campaign, I feared her sharp tongue and wit could harm the President-to-be and I knew the media were waiting for her to mess up. But she didn’t. Au contraire. Michelle Obama, with her authenticity and overall badassness, not only charmed us all but she’s also showed the world that this, is what a real sister is like.
Still, the Michelle Obama love fest camouflaged somewhat of a troubling current. Could it be that until then, mainstream media hadn’t realized that such accomplished Black women existed beside Oprah? Too often and for too long, the images of Black women in most media were oversexed, stereotypical, passé or simply distorted. The reality is that our mothers, our aunts, our sisters are Michelle Obamas and they always have been. Smart, dedicated, successful, fit, beautiful, multi-tasking and fashion-conscious.
With her philosophy spread out in television and magazine interviews, Michelle Obama has also sent us a reminder: let’s hail brains and not celebrity. Let’s encourage civil service and not promiscuity. Let’s seek balance and not the paparazzi. Let’s put family first, fashion after. The last decade was about over-consumption and superficialities. The First Lady has given us the cue for the new decade. Let’s follow her lead.
 Nelson Mandela
11 February, on this date Nelson Mandela walked out of prison a free man !
On 11 February 1990, the world’s most renowned case of political imprisonment ended in justice. After 27 years of incarceration, Nelson Mandela was set free as the ruling F. W. de Klerk government lifted their ban on the ANC. Mandela was 72. In 1964, he had been tried for treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. The struggle against the regime of apartheid elevated him to become a symbol of South African Black’s struggle for freedom.
In Madela’s prison memoir and autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”, he recounts the years from childhood to his 1994 election as South Africa’s president. Highlights include: a child who loses his father to then be adopted by a Xhosa chief; his law studies; a passion for the boxing ring; practicing as a Black lawyer; ANC militancy; the Rivonia accusations and trial in 1964, and then a quarter-century spent in prison. Finally, the book tells of his freedom, the scenes of reuniting, and his travel abroad as a global diplomat for the new South Africa.
Between 1993 when Mandela was released and 1994 when he won the presidential election and became the country’s first Black president, the Oslo committee awarded their Nobel Peace Price to be shared between Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk.
Madiba is Mandela’s surname, and it was this same foster son of a Thembu chief who eventually went on to accomplish what some called impossible right up to the day apartheid fell. Once elected, Mandela pledged to stay on for only one term of office, and thus in 1999 Mandela took up his world renowned role as a champion of human rights, dignity and the fight against HIV / AIDS.
The Nelson Mandela Fondation, as part of celebrations on his 91st birthday in 2009, declared July 18 as Mandela Day. The UN’s General Assembly has followed suit, and South Africa has declared the day a national holiday. Everyone is encouraged on Mandela Day to symbolize the 67 years of Mandela’s struggle for equality in South Africa by taking 67 minutes of their time to devote their energy to a worhwhile cause and an activity with special personal meaning.
Nelson Mandela’s trajectory is now leading to the big Hollywood screen and more legends. Clint Eastwood is directing Invictus, with star actors playing rugby as the entire nation rallies together under President Mandela and his campaign to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup game.
The word Invictus is drawn from the poem by William Ernest Henley. Henley had his leg amputated. He refused to give up to self-pity, scribing these intense verses while in his hospital bed. Decades after they were first penned, Nelson Mandela, jailed on Robben Island, etched these words on his cell wall to steel himself and to never forget the courage of their author.
[...] It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Tribute to the departed
 Henri Salvador
The velvet voice, the great crooners like Sinatra and Nat King Cole, these are the music giants with whom he stood; Henri Salvador has produced a rich, multi-faceted oeuvre as comedian, actor, singer, and composer.
He passed away February 13, 2008 after a career of more than 50 years. Born in French Guyana July 18, 1917 to parents of Caribbean origin, he arrived in France in the 30s, where his knowledge of the guitar drew him into the jazz scene and the great era of Django Reinhard and Ray Ventura.
As a diehard autodidact, he invented French rock ‘n’ roll with his friend Boris Vian. They also collaborated on more than 400 songs. They made music legends. Salvador composed and performed countless popular hits, such as “Syracuse”, “Une chanson douce”, “Zorro est arrivé”, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, “Fugue en rire”, “Juanita Banana”, and “Le Travail C’est le Santé”.
In his eighties he made a enlivened return with his hit album “Chambre avec vue” in 2000 We still hear his songs and remember his laugh.
 Miriam Makeba
If courage has a voice, it would sing like Mama Afrika. I grew up with the music of Miriam Makeba on vinyl 33 1/3 albums. Born in Johannesburg, March 4, 1932, as a child she was orphaned. In her early twenties, Uzenzile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama’s artistic career launched when she sang accompaniment to South Africa’s hit group The Manhattan Brothers. Having acquired star status, including through the global success of her song “Pata Pata” (1956), Miriam Makeba began to sing in Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, with lyrics of tolerance and peace. Her voice symbolized the fight against white apartheid rule. Persona non grata considered an enemy of the Pretoria regime, the expatriate singer sang to the entire world of the dignity of her people. She won fame as the first South African to win a Grammy (for the album “An Evening With Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba”. 1966). Then her fame rekindled again on the “Graceland” album produced by Paul Simon (1987). Persecuted in the United States for having links to the Black Panthers, Makeba stuck to her humanist convictions. She returned to South Africa in 1990 at the request of Nelson Mandela. Appearing in the movie “Sarafina!” (1992), which recounts the Soweto riots of 1976, Miriam Makeba awoke to the dream of a great united Africa. “We must grow up,” she told all brothers and sisters. “Blacks and whites must learn to know one another, to live together.” Despite her announced retirement in 2005, Makeba never stopped speaking out to champion causes dear to he heart. She died as she had always lived, giving a benefit concert in Naples, November 9, 2008, in support of author Roberto Saviata, a victimized man hunted down by the Neapolitan mafia.
texte/written by : Stanley Péan
 Michaeal Jackson
Like many of today’s singers, songwriters, and producers, I have been influenced by Michael Jackson. My name is Alan “Funt” Prater, and the influence that Michael had on me was more than just musical. Because I was blessed with the opportunity to tour and record with him, the Michael Jackson I knew was very different from the Michael Jackson most of us saw on stage or in the media. Indeed, Mike touched my life in a very special way.
Michael Jackson is a Giant – his talent certainly made him so, but I wish to honour the man behind the image, I want to pay homage to his kindness, his child-like ways, his genuine love for humanity – to all the things that made him so big in my eyes.
Back when I was a trombone player and background singer for The Jacksons, I experienced first-hand Mike’s kindness. The Michael I knew was always attentive to the needs of those around him. Once, during a soundcheck at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Security announced that there would be no complimentary tickets for that show, which was reserved for the media. I found myself in a bad situation – I had friends driving from Rhode Island for the show. I explained the situation to Michael, who right away told Security: “We can’t let Funt be embarrassed in front of his friends. We have to fix this.” Not only did Mike provide them with tickets and backstage passes, he took the time to come meet each and every one of them before the show.
Michael’s child-like ways were greatly misunderstood by many, and most of all by the media. But to those of us who knew him, this quality was a delight and a joy. The Michael I knew was very curious, wanting to know every little detail of the lives of those around him. In my hotel room, after the shows, he would ask about my childhood, about playing ball, about being in the marching band. When his friends came around to visit him, he would whisper to me, his voice full of child-like excitement, “Funt, come meet my friend Elizabeth Taylor,” or “Funt, have you met my friend Liza Minnelli?” surprised when I said I hadn’t.
Michael showed his love for humanity through the many charities he created and supported. He taught the whole world – through his music and lyrics – the importance of loving one another. I truly believe that he was here on Earth to do just that. The Michael I knew taught me to be a better man, a better friend, a better person. How I wish I had just one more day to spend with Mike, one more chance to tell him how much I appreciate the Love for Others, for Life, and for Music he’s given me.
I am forever grateful to have stood next to a Giant. I love and miss my friend, Michael Joe Jackson.
Agapao . . . Alan Prater
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