The founders
Jade Almeida, Marlihan Lopez and Po B. K. Lomami have decided to join their efforts to set up Harambec. Through this initiative, they aim to use their complementary backgrounds for the benefit of reviving the Black Feminist Collective.
Jade Almeida
CofounderBorn in Guadeloupe, Jade Almeida (pronoun elle/she/her) completed her PhD in Sociology under the supervision of Sirma Bilge. Her thesis focuses on Black women who love women: resistance to entangled power relations. As a content creator, she shares training on her website about issues related to anti-racist, anti-imperialist and anti-carceral struggles, among other topics.
Marlihan Lopez
CofounderMarlihan Lopez is an Afrofeminist activist and community organizer who tackles issues related to anti-black racism, gender-based sexual violence and its intersections. She coordinated the intersectionality division for the Regroupement québécois des centers d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel, where she led advocacy work and raised awareness about how gender, race, class and ability intersect in the context of sexual violence. She has collaborated with movements such as Black Lives Matter-Montreal on issues such as racial profiling and police brutality, and is a co-founding member of the Coalition for Police Defunding.
She is a former vice-president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec and is currently coordinator of community engagement at Concordia University’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute. As part of her work and activism, she is the initiator of the Hoodstop les violences sexuelles project in Montreal Nord.
Po B. K. Lomami
CofounderPo B. K. Lomami is an organizer, coordinator of socio-artistic projects, performer, writer, musician, zine creator and activist congodescendant (DRC) from Belgium. Her anti-colonial, Afrofeminist and anti-capitalist commitment links militant actions and artistic and performative art forms. Through the prism of her activist journey, she shares her critical vision of the art world. She studies the paradoxical nature of these institutions in their discourse, programming and organization, in the face of the concrete challenges of emancipatory struggles, but she also shows the potential of art to develop common understanding and language.
The collaborators
Samia Dumais
archivistSamia Dumais is completing her Master’s degree at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and will begin her PhD in fall 2023 at Concordia University. Her master’s thesis focuses on the schooling and educational strategies of Montreal’s English-speaking Black community organizations in the 1970s. More broadly, she is interested in African-Canadian history from the second half of the twentieth century, and in the contemporary experiences of Afro-descendant and immigrant communities within Quebec and Canadian school structures, as well as within the healthcare system. A member of the editorial board of HistoireEngagée.ca magazine, Samia has worked on a variety of research projects in Ontario and Quebec. She is currently coordinating the project ” Gynecological and obstetrical health of Black women: their experience in the Quebec healthcare system ” and research officer for the project ” The racialization of a disease: Black women and breast cancer in Quebec “. She is also involved with the Afrofeminist collective Harambec.
Noka Hunter
Graphic designBorn and raised in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal), Noka’s practice lies in creating work that stems from the vividness of the Afro-diaspora/Caribbean culture and the interconnected realities of the neuro-expansive experience. Noka is drawn to geometric compositions and the exploration of merging socio-political issues with futurism and surrealism.
Misanka Mupesse
Summer programming CoordinatorMisanka is a sexual health educator. Through her work in sexual health, she strives to create a more holistic and intersectional approach to learning about sexual health than is currently offered. Her area of expertise is sexual assault, and she is interested in creating culturally sensitive healing methods for Black women survivors of sexual assault, as well as their healing journeys and relationships with grief. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Ottawa. She is the co-founder of ChamPaint, a social initiative that brings BIPOC people together to celebrate and support each other over a glass of champagne and painting therapy.
Princess F. H. Symonds – Côté
Organizational Development ConsultantPrincess Symonds-Côté is a connector at heart and an active volunteer within the Black community of Montreal. Originally from Bermuda, she lived on three continents before immigrating to Canada 6 years ago. She is currently completing her Graduate Diploma in Community Economic Development and working for the Office of University Advancement at Concordia University. In addition to her work and ongoing studies she facilitates a monthly community consultation space for Black community workers. She is a co-member care Coordinator for BMHCMtl, an Ecosystem Activation Hub member at S.H.I.F.T and a passionate advocate for issues concerning the Black community in Montreal.
Adama Kaba
Education CoordinatorAdama is a community educator born and raised in Guinea, West Africa, who has extensive professional experience in various learning spaces. Her work focuses on understanding Black girls’ schooling experiences and exploring intersectionality in non-formal community-based education programs in Tio’tia:ke (Montreal). Adama is currently pursuing a PhD in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University.
Lise Chovino
Web development and integration, videoLise carries out a wide range of digital projects, from technical support to the creation of interactive content tailored to the needs and objectives of different requests.
Working with a concern for digital ethics, Lise is constantly training to deliver relevant digital advice and services: web development and integration, video editing, graphic animation vignettes, technical support, webcasting.