Black History Month amps up schedule, unifies heritage

Black History Month is more than just a historical examination. Officially recognized in 2008, the month-long celebration of culture has grown into so much more. Victoria African and Caribbean Cultural Society founder Pulchérie Mboussi says that Black History Month grows into a bigger festival of celebration every year.

“This year is going to be huge. It’s getting busier and busier each year, and we’re just trying to have more events going on. This year we have over 15 activities over the month,” says Mboussi. “We will be starting with a launch reception on January 31. This year we also will have what we call an African supergroup—there are about five African-born artists that are world renowned that are going to be here in Victoria to join one of our local artists. We have a lot more going on throughout the month.”

This year’s theme is “united by heritage.” Mboussi says they chose this theme because they want to help celebrate all heritage together as opposed to having separate events throughout the year.

“We chose the theme because we all come together for Black History Month, whether you’re from the Caribbean, Canadian born, American, or originally from one of the 54 African countries. In February we all come together because we are all African-descent people,” says Mboussi. “This is why we say this is the only time we can really say, ‘Yes, we are together.’ We are trying to just raise awareness about that. During the rest of the year we have plenty of events, but people don’t really know if they’re about Africa, the Caribbean, or somewhere else. We’re really trying to let people know that, February, we are all united by our heritage.”

Mboussi says that the name “Black History Month” can cause some issues; she hopes that in the future, people here will start to follow in other provinces’ footsteps and start calling it by a different name, one that can allow for other cultures to also have their own celebrations.

“I found that in some provinces, they’ve been calling Black History Month African Heritage Month. I think that it’s to help avoid this frustration that some people have about, like, ‘What about white month? What about this?’” says Mboussi. “If we say ‘African Heritage Month,’ it’s easier to talk to people because you could have Asian Heritage Month, or other ones, too. So that’s also another reason why we chose the theme this year.”

Mboussi says that part of what makes Black History Month important is that it allows people to come and learn about different cultures. She says that bringing the community together is rewarding and great to experience.

“Talking about Black History Month is, honestly, not my strength,” she says. “My strength is talking about the African continent, so if people want to learn about the diverse heritage of black people, we invite them to attend something this month and learn about our diversity. The artists in the music events will be representing around 10 African countries alone, so we want people to come and learn about this. I spend my days saying, ‘Please don’t say “black people” because we are all really different!’”

Black History Month
Various times, Wednesday, January 31 to Saturday, February 24
Various prices and venues
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