REFLECTIONS ON CARIFIESTA 2014
By N Oji Mzilikazi
Originally published in the Montreal Community Contact Volume 24, Number 14 July 10, 2014
The 39th staging of the Carifiesta Parade on July 5th was one of the best in years.
While my heart welled with pride for the thousands of community members that were participants — revellers as well as on-lookers — I couldn’t help but weigh the power of their presence, the financial and voting power they collectively constitute in their hands against community laissez faire attitudes, divisiveness, paralysis, and other shortcomings.
I couldn’t but weigh the potential power in our numbers against the continuous underfunding of Carifiesta by City Hall, the absence of funding from the Quebec government and the Montreal Tourist Board, and that Carifiesta is without a corporate sponsor…