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A&C: Celebrate Black history month with BIPOC Music Series
S BIPOC voices at the heart of Hamilton Arts Council’s music series
Hamilton Arts Council celebrates diversity in local talent through BIPOC hART Music Series
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Subin Park A&C Reporter
The second annual Black, Indigenous and People of Colour hArt Music Series presented by the Hamilton Arts Council took place on March 22 at Bridgeworks with a pay-what-youcan ticket. Supported by the Ontario Arts Council and funded by the Royal Bank of Canada, the music series showcased diverse emerging artists from the greater Hamilton area and Six Nations of the Grand River.
The concert featured Lil’ America, a Salvadoran-Canadian songwriter and singer; Luckystickz, a songwriter, steelpan aficionado and Berklee College of Music alumni; Nezqwik, a band inspired by a variety of genres and artists and Keith Silvers, a singer-songwriter.
DeShaun Jones, a music industry consultant, artists and repertoire rep and producer, returned to curate and host the second annual BIPOC hArt Music Series. He has been in the music industry for about 20 years, working with record labels, radio stations and distribution companies in various capacities from grant writing to artist consultation.
Throughout his work, his primary goal has always been helping emerging artists. The music series perfectly aligned with this vision and he looked forward to introducing folks the wide range of artists in their community.
“The main focus has always been with helping independent artists with artist development or building their music packages,” said Jones.
Jones describes the BIPOC hArt Music Series as not only a platform to showcase local, up-and-coming talent, but also a place to share diverse culture within the community. This year, through sound, dance, performance and costumes, more emphasis was placed on cultural appreciation and education compared to last year.
“[The artists will] be able to give the audience a little bit more education and entertainment in regard to the background of that artist . . . It’s really exciting to see more than just an artist coming up there and playing their instrument and singing a song,” explained Jones.
Being able to hold the concert in-person was another significant advantage in contrast to last year’s music series, which ran from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22, and occurred virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. The physical and live artist-audience connection is much stronger and fulfilling when facilitated in a physical space. However, the live connection was a crucial factor missing in most music and concert events during the past three years.
“We are now able to allow people to come in and experience the music and artists live and interact with them, which is really important for the artists in their development,” said Jones.
For those who could not attend the music series in-person, the event was pre-recorded and will be broadcasted during Hamilton Arts Week occurring from June 9 to 17.
The continuous support from the community and organizations is what allowed the BIPOC hArt Music Series to return for its second run. As the demand for more diverse representation continues to increase, the music series will evolve to find better ways of showcasing BIPOC talents and stories.
For any student musicians or artists, Jones shares advice to remain determined, persistent and most importantly, true to who they are.
“Stay true to your narrative. I always say music is the by-product of an artist’s story or even the art overall because an artist, let’s say a painter, when they paint, they are being inspired as well as being a conduit for things they have gone through in their life,” said Jones.
Efforts are being made by community leaders and organizations, like the Hamilton Arts Council, to make opportunities for self-development and collaboration more accessible for artists and performers. The BIPOC hArt Music Series, and other opportunities and events alike, will hopefully continue driving change and increasing representation in the music industry in Hamilton and beyond.
DeShaun Jones
Curator and Host of the BIPIC hArt Music Series
PHOTO C/O Hamilton Arts Council
New Blk-Owned Hamont and BACEL training program celebrate helping Blackowned businesses grow
Subin Park A&C Reporter
Blk-Owned Hamont, started in June 2020 by Ashleigh, Alexandria and Abygail Montague, continues to model what it means to celebrate, showcase, explore and support Black-owned businesses through the new Black Youth Entrepreneurship Hub: Trailblazer bootcamp.
BYEH: Trailblazer bootcamp was created in partnership with Black Business and Professional Association’s Black African and Caribbean Entrepreneurship Training Program. Trailblazer is an 8-week program, running from March 5 to April 14, for Black-identifying entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39.
As part of the program, attendees will have the chance to hear from guest speakers, mentors and coaches on topics such as marketing, sales, supply chain management and many more. The cost to sign-up is $200, however, the fee will be reimbursed by the BBPA upon successful completion of the curriculum.
Trailblazer consists of bootcamp and workshop days. Bootcamp days will explore multiple areas of business operation and management.
In contrast, the weekly Workshop Wednesdays will delve deeper into more specific topics covered during the bootcamp and are optional and free for the campers. The public can also attend the workshops for a fee of $25.00 per session. Registration can be done through BlkOwned Hamont’s Eventbrite.
“[The workshops] give the large community an opportunity to see what it is that we are teaching in our cohort program . . . We also saw it as a great opportunity for folks who may not yet be sold on the bootcamp that they could give these workshops a try,” said Ashleigh Montague.
In addition, the program offers mentorship and networking for participants.
“What we’re hoping the business owners will take away are new skills they can use to tap into their business for growth, resources they can take away and apply to their businesses for growth, as well as, hopefully an expanded network,” said Montague.
The idea for Trailblazers came about last summer. The Montague sisters behind BlkOwned Hamont wanted to address barriers for Black business owners and they conducted a feasibility study to better understand the existing gaps. From February through June 2021, the Montague sisters connected with over 100 business owners in Hamilton and ran a focus group.
The results of the survey and their focus group showed a need for Black business owners to develop skills, have greater access to resources and build networks. The sisters also found most of the Black Hamilton business owners were young, in the age group of 17 to 45. Efforts to launch BYEH began shortly after.
In total, 11 entrepreneur and business owners signed up to the pilot program and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. The feedback form after the first bootcamp day revealed the participants enjoyed being able to engage in the program in-person, felt safe to share their experiences and enjoyed hearing from the speakers and facilitators.
“It was just so amazing to hear that our hard work over the last year was for something positive,” said Montague.
Aside from the Trailblazer program, BlkOwned Hamont has organized numerous markets and grown drastically over the past year.
Through counsel with their advisory team, lawyers and consultants who helped conduct the feasibility study, Blk-Owned Hamont launched their social enterprise, BMRKT, to continue highlighting local businesses while continuing Blk-Owned, which will continue to focus on education, advocacy and research.
During Black history month, Blk-Owned Hamont also organized a merchandise box in partnership with McMaster Innovation Park. Purchase of one vendor boxes allows folks to support up to nine business owners in the greater Hamilton area. It has been a success and they have already sold over 90 vendor boxes. The organization released Black History Month hoodies as well, designed by Aaron Parry, a McMaster alumnus. The colours in the BLK logo are representative of various skin tones.
Coming soon, Spring Ting market is scheduled to be held in St. Catharines on April 10. It is open to vendors in the greater Hamilton and Niagara regions. In May, they are hoping to organize a party event on James Street North. It will be in collaboration with local Black-owned storefronts.
With all the work Blk-Owned Hamont has done and is continuing to do, the Montague sisters continue to be at the forefront of change in support of local Black-owned businesses.
Ashleigh Montague
Blk-Owned Hamont Co-Founder
PHOTO C/O Lohifa Pogoson Acker
Ashleigh Montague
Blk-Owned Hamont Co-Founder
Who’s a good boy?
Max Adams
Community Partnerships Assistant
On March 18, 2022, McMaster’s Student Wellness Centre hosted an event with Mochii the Shiba Inu puppy. The event took place in PGCLL 201 and over 40 students attended.
Mochii captured the hearts of students after several other recent visits to campus.
The Silhouette spoke to Mochii’s owner, Willis Grunwald, a second-year humanities student about Mochii and the positive reaction from students.
Willis originally wanted a bigger dog, but because he’s moving into an apartment, he settled for something smaller. He considered getting a yorkie, a dachshund, or a shiba inu. After searching for breeders, Willis met Mochii. “[The breeder] took him out, and I was like, that’s my dog,” Willis stated after describing how he felt when he first saw Mochii.
Mochii got his name from Willis’ experience working at a hibachi restaurant. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake dessert, which is quite fitting for the Japanese dog breed.
Willis never anticipated Mochii’s visits to campus would elicit such excitement.
“I was just trying to socialize him,” said Willis.
Little did Willis know, Mochii was helping McMaster students too.
“Single handedly (pawdedly?) carrying the mental health of every mac student rn,” wrote user comedownmachiine on Reddit’s r/ mcmaster.
Photos of Mochii have circulated on Mochii’s Instagram, on McMaster’s social media channels and on Reddit’s r/mcmaster,
In only a few days, @snoofin.mochii has amassed over 400 followers on Instagram and
Willis Grunwald Mochii’s Owner
u/comedownmachiine
Reddit User
PHOTO C/O markchen627, Reddit
PHOTO C/O markchen627, Reddit features some of Mochii’s cutest photos.
Mochii also made an appearance on McMaster’s Instagram, which generated over 6,100 likes.
“Mochii should be our mascot,” commented Instagram user @_aaryaravi.
Mochii even received a professional photo shoot, and the results are adorable.
If departments within the university are holding events with Mochii and Willis, does that mean that Mochii actually is now an official McMaster icon?
One thing’s for sure, we cannot get enough of Mochii!
PHOTO C/O markchen627, Reddit
PHOTO C/O markchen627, Reddit
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