The CUPE Atlantic Region is proud to support the 2025 African Heritage Month Gala presented by the Black Cultural Center for Nova Scotia. This year’s event will take place at 5:00 pm on Saturday, February 22nd at the Halifax Convention Center and will include a Cultural Village Reception, a dinner, and a dance with live music. The Gala will be a showcase of Black art and culture and the musical guests this year will include the award-winning Canadian singer and song writer Reeny.
CUPE will be purchasing a table at the Gala which will allow ten members to attend. If you are interested in attending please email dchurchill@cupe.ca at the Atlantic Regional Office to reserve your ticket by February 14th, 2025. The tickets will be allocated to the first ten members who request them. More information on the event can be found here: https://bccns.com/gala2025/
February is African Heritage Month and every year CUPE honours a Black ancestor, or someone who is making history today. This year CUPE is celebrating and honouring Marjorie Villefranche, Executive Director of Maison d’Haïti in Montreal where she has spent more than 40 years empowering immigrants to fully participate in their community. She has made her mark as a feminist, anti-racist activist fighting discrimination and all forms of exclusion. For more information, please visit the CUPE National website: https://cupe.ca/event/black-historymonth where you can read more and order materials such as bookmarks, stickers, posters, and buttons to recognize African Heritage Month within your local.
While CUPE’s work to address racism in our society, workplaces, and unions is ongoing, year round work, African Heritage Month is an opportunity to reflect on the contributions of Black people to our society and union and renew our commitment to stand against racism while working toward a more inclusive and fair future. CUPE’s anti-racism strategy contains ten key goals and actions locals can take to help us get there, from increasing representation to education to political lobbying (https://cupe.ca/cupes-anti-racism-strategy).