Posts in category Life & Style

“Every generation faces their own problems. I can’t say for certain that this generation is interested in confronting the problems we face today.”   Egbert Gaye On a hot summer day, Dan Philip, head of the Black Coalition of Quebec was sitting in his office on Decarie reading a recent article by Richard Martineau published in the Journal de Montreal. Of course, he and his organization came in for a lot of slag from Martineau who fancies himself a columnist and a commentator as he muses on the legitimacy of advocacy groups such the BCQ. “Dès qu’il y a un …

Egbert Gaye Ed Note: In 2014, Caylah Cruickshank entered Tulane University as a top-rated student athlete on a full scholarship amid wild expectations of success on the basketball court and in the classroom. After three years of hard work and exciting highs at the highly rated university, she leaves having met those expectations and some. Here’s how she sees her journey forward… My name is Caylah Cruickshank and I recently graduated from Tulane University. On May 19, 2018, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Minor in Marketing. As a Division 1 scholarship student-athlete, I …

We have come to know Zafirah and Zarina Archer as the youngest steelpan playing duo with Martin Albino Savoys and performing under the name “Z Connection.” As students at Riverdale High School, the sisters are equally outstanding in their achievements and their aspirations. This past semester, Zafirah graduated with honors and received a   special scholarship from the Pearson Teachers’ Union for her “exceptional achievement.” The scholarship is awarded to a student wishing to pursue a career in the educational field. Zafirah plans on becoming a psychologist and Special Aid Counselor. Zarina, who will graduate next year, also made her parents …

Jada Burke is blazing a trail of excellence as she leaves Mother Teresa High School in Barrhaven, Ottawa. In addition to copping several major academic awards, the 17 year old, who participated in the   Provincial Women’s Hockey  League, as a power forward,  has earned a scholarship to the  prestigious Lindenwood University in Missouri where she will play in the  NCAA Division 1 for the 2018-19 season. Jada, who is the daughter of  Eton and Sharyn Burke and sister of Jaren Burke who was featured in the pages of the CONTACT after he received a scholarship to attend the prestigious RPI  …

A group of former players of the West End Recreation Soccer League made their way to the home of Mr. Earl Gordon in NDG on June 30, to pay a special tribute to the man they call “Mr. G”, who was the driving force behind the league, and who played an instrumental role in their development as young adults. The day was flavored by a tasty Caribbean BBQ together with appropriate choices of refreshments, lots of “old soccer talk”, and highlighted by the presentation of a plaque to the man who ran the league almost single-handedly for close to three …

Egbert Gaye Richard Parsram is a child of our community, who so many of us saw grow up at his family restaurant, Caribbean Paradise, in LaSalle. What we weren’t aware of is the creative fire that has been raging in his gut from his teenage years and now fueling his desire to make his name on today’s cultural landscape with his music, his film projects, and through merchandizing. Although the young Richard of yesterday is still the shy big-little kid at the restaurant, these days his relentless energy is driving him to build his empire on the foundation of his …

Contact Staff Inspiration and goodwill were in free-flow at the Laval Convention Centre, where officers and members together with supporters of the Montreal West Church Of God Of Prophecy gathered for an Appreciation Dinner to celebrate Bishop Donald Lee and his wife, Mrs. Dottie Lee’s 60th Anniversary in Ministry. Among the luminaries who made the journey to Montreal to honor a man and his wife, acknowledged as warriors and stalwarts of the church, were its founding pastor Pastor Aston Cole and his wife. He was joined by a line-up of the spiritual leaders who succeeded him at Montreal West COGOP, …

Bishop Donald Lee answered the call 60 years ago: The greatest decision I’ve made in my life Egbert Gaye Looking back at that fateful day in Jamaica in 1957, when he answered the call to devote his life to Christ and to the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP), Bishop Donald Lee is unequivocal about what it meat to him. “It’s the greatest decision I’ve made in my life,” he says. “I had such a passion in my heart for Christ and for the church that there was nothing else I wanted more than to serve,” he says. Almost six …

Egbert Gaye It’s easy to tell that Ms. Thelma Johnson is a giant, just look at the amount of people who’ve been standing on her shoulders. From the hundreds of students in Canada and Jamaica whose educational journey has been made easier by the bursaries and scholarships that she helped to facilitate to the community of women who has been empowered by her activism and advocacy, Ms. Thelma stands tall among us. More than that, so many of those who are infirm, marginalized and shut-in can still depend on her for a visit and a caring hand. But don’t expect …

Ms. Emily Robertson is a long-standing advocate of her church and community Contact Staff On Sunday June 3, there was a packed house at Union United Church as the congregation was joined by other Montrealers to pay homage to Emily Robertson, a dedicated educator and community worker who made it her life duty to take a stand on behalf of the vulnerable. In Montreal since the late 1950s, Ms. Robertson taught for several years with the Protestant and Catholic school boards before consolidating her career as a librarian with the PSBGM. Her passion for community work led her to lend …