Champlain Saint-Lambert marked Black History Month with a series of events aimed to highlight Black culture and heritage through food, music, dance and educational workshops.

This series of events was organized by Student Services and the Black Lives Allyship Mission (BLAM) student group with the goal of stimulating the intellectual, cultural and social growth of our Champlain community.

“At Champlain, the BLAM students take a lead on creating and implementing programming that keeps the conversation going throughout the year,” said Wanita Jones, a psychologist with the mental health team and advisor to leadership students.

“Black History Month is an excellent starting point upon which we build a year-long program to ensure that our community is educated not only about the past but also about the ongoing struggles of racial inequality and systemic racism, as well as the achievements, and contributions of Black individuals,” said Jones.

“Our BLAM students emphasize the importance of allyship within their mission as we aspire to create an inclusive community and foster an environment where allyship can thrive! This way, we can all unlearn and re-learn as a collective to be able to challenge systems of oppression and truly make a difference.”

The month kicked off with the Soul Food Cafe event which included free meals from Boom J’s Caribbean Cuisine and a presentation by Omari Newton from Overture With The Arts.

This year’s OWTA presentation focused on the often forgotten histories of early Black communities across Canada.

Student Services hosted a Black Entrepreneur Panel on Tuesday, February 27 with two guest speakers who shared their journey as entrepreneurs within the Black community.

This career event was organized by six first-year Entrepreneurship and/or Sports Marketing & Management students.

The event provided students with an opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs and participants found the speakers inspirational, motivating and willing to share wisdom and advice.

At the end of the month, a community block party was held to bring the Black History Month programming to a celebratory end.

Barbers from Kings Barbershop in Longueuil were on hand to cut hair in the Student Space.

It was a festive event with free food, music, and dancing. Break City Street Dance put on an amazing performance and got the students involved in a group demonstration.

“Celebrating diversity is also of great value as we bring together the unique features of Black culture and around music, food and dance,” added Jones.

To learn more about the BLAM student group, watch the video they created here.