P.E.I. youth celebrate start to Black History Month
'I think that it really just fosters understanding and compassion'
The Confederation Centre Library in Charlottetown and the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. gave Island families an opportunity to learn about Caribbean culture on Saturday.
The event started with a reading from Malaika's Costume, a story about a child getting ready for a Caribbean Carnival while her mother is away in Canada. Then children were invited to make their own carnival masks and learn a dance to a Bahamian song.
"I think it's important here right now especially because the population of Charlottetown is changing, for sure," said Tamara Steele, president of the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I.
Steele said she thinks it's important that children are also included in events like this.
"I think that children are, and everyone is, encountering more people that come from different cultures," she said.
"I think that it's really good for children to just understand that maybe the new students in their school have come from a different background than they did, and maybe these are some of the activities that they experience or things that they grew up with."
She said events like this are important for the Island as a whole.
"I think that it really just fosters understanding and compassion for other cultures and for newcomers to the Island. And I think, not to say that I think people are afraid, but I really do think there's fear in the unknown and I think this just nipped that in the bud."
The library has been partnering with the Black Cultural Society on events like this for a few years.
"I hope that for some of the kids they maybe learn something new about a culture they're not familiar with, or for some kids here today they're celebrating their own culture in a beautiful way," said Jennifer Howard, the children's librarian at the Confederation Centre Library.
"Depending where they're from they may not realize how multicultural our little town is, and our Island, and it's great to kind of showcase different cultures from around the world."
The Black Cultural Society is holding events like this at libraries across the Island throughout February.