The Halton Black History Awareness Society (HBHAS) Holiday Celebration fundraiser took place over the weekend at Burlington’s Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 60) building. Attendees took the “jeans and sparkles” dress code to heart, with great effect when dancing to the soul, blues, and funk of Garnetta and Dagroovmasters.
The purpose of the night was not only to celebrate the holidays as a community, but also to raise funds to go towards bursaries for the 2023 HBHAS Black history and perspectives essay writing contest. This contest, whose inaugural year was 2022, asks students to research and write about Halton’s rich Black history; this year’s winners were Tobi Oyedele, Jackson Carter, Mya Tatem, and Zahra Ba. You can read their winning essays on Local-news.ca (click each winner’s name to go to their essay).
Lisa Scott, HBHAS board director of corporate and public relations, and sponsorship, got the crowd ready for Garnetta and her band after WhiteEagle Stonefish began the night with a land acknowledgement. Garnetta and Dagroovmasters quickly had people up and dancing with their high-energy set. Singer Garnetta’s charm and powerful voice, alongside the talented band, made for a fun night; Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman were seen boogying with the best of them.
HBHAS Chair Dennis Scott spoke in-between Garnetta’s sets about the importance of connectedness and celebrating diversity within our community, and the big plans the society has moving forward, of which the essay contest is just one aspect. The grand aim is to make Halton a Cultural Capital of Canada, where all cultures are regularly recognized and celebrated by all.
You don’t have to wait until next year’s holiday party to support HBHAS; they run a number of events throughout the year, including the Halton Freedom Celebration, the Emancipation Art Exhibition, the HBHAS Gospel presentation, and public speaking engagements. Find out more or donate to HBHAS through their website, https://www.hbhas.ca/.
