Three high-profile members of Quebec’s black community were honoured Monday with Medals of the National Assembly to highlight their dedication to the community.
Noel Alexander, who has been president of the Jamaican association for 35 years, Fabienne Colas, actress and founder of Montreal’s Black Film Festival, and Benoit Songa, physicist, engineer and founder of RIRE 2000, an organization that helps immigrants find jobs in Quebec, were presented with the medals at a ceremony in Montreal.
“As it is Black History Month, I had to seize the opportunity to recognize the remarkable work these people do every day, “said Kathleen Weil, minister of immigration, diversity and inclusiveness, who presided over the event.
Alexander said that when he arrived in Montreal in 1974, he was shocked at the thinly-veiled racism he saw.
“I remember picking up a newspaper and it said ‘Room for rent. No blacks, no dogs, no Irish, no kids,’” he said.
“When I came to Montreal, they won’t tell you you can’t rent a room. They’ll tell you it was gone and still advertise it.”
He said the struggle for Anglophone black youth today is overcoming racism and also the language barrier. He challenged the government to hire and appoint more visible minorities to powerful positions.
