MONTREAL, QC – Wednesday, March 8, 2023: A press conference will be held at 9:30am at the SHIFT office located at 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W. Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 – Room LB-145 (Webster Library building) to mark the launch of the Black feminist collective, Harambec. We chose to hold the press conference on International Women’s Rights Day because all too often the contributions of Black women and non-binary Black people are ignored in the development and history of feminist struggles.
This new community project aims to revive the tradition of Black feminist organizing in Montreal, which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s. The project, called Harambec: Rebirth of the Black Feminist Collective, will offer rich programming that will serve to build bridges between the Black community, academia and the arts. It is funded by the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation Deep Investment Fund.
Coined by writer, educator and community organizer Shirley Small, Harambec is a portmanteau of harambee, the swahili principle of community help, and Quebec. This name is intended to represent the daily struggles that Black women face in this province and their resilience.
Marlihan Lopez (Program Coordinator at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute), Jade Almeida (Project co-Coordinator at the Quebec LGBT Council), and Pauline Lomami (indisciplinary artist), are the founders of the project. Harambec will offer artistic residencies, cultural events for the public, performances, an exhibition and archives related to Black feminism, among other initiatives.
We invite the press to attend and cover this event.
Participants:
Marlihan Lopez (she): Coordinator at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute
Jade Almeida (she): co-project Coordinator at the Quebec LGBT Council
Pauline Lomam (she/he): indisciplinary artist and artistic, public and cultural programmer
Claire-Gaëlle Champagne (she): Communications Coordinator at SHIFT.
Press contact:
Marlihan Lopez
marlihan.lopez@gmail.com