Montreal, March 6, 2021 – The laureates for the virtual fifth edition of Gala Dynastie were honoured during the awards ceremony that took place live at the Yoop eSpace in Place des Arts. During this ceremony—which was anchored in this year’s theme, The Rise of the Engaged—11 awards showcased figures and organizations that advocate for Black communities’ rights, freedoms, and empowerment. Each year, the Gala centres the talent and excellence of creators from Quebec’s Black communities in culture, the arts, and media.
An evening all about recognition
This emotion-filled evening kicked off with a retrospective of the major events that shaped 2020, with Vanessa Destiné surrounded by her guests: comedian Eddy King, TVA Sports host and sports analyst Andy Mailly-Pressoir, historian and hip-hop artist Webster, and journalist Valérie-Micaela Bain.
Gaël Comtois hosted the Black Carpet virtually this year, ensuring that the tradition lives on. Twenty-five people had the chance to attend the Gala for free and experience the Black Carpet live from their living rooms via Yoop. Participants were entitled to special access to the studio to celebrate the Gala’s fifth edition in style. For the third year in a row, comedian and web personality Preach masterfully hosted the evening, which was peppered with musical performances by artists ILAM, SHAH FRANK, Fredy V. & The Foundation, Imposs, Shreez, Tizzo, Rosalvo, Meryem Saci, as well as singer-songwriter Dominique Fils-Aimé.
Among the Gala’s most memorable moments was the awarding of the Hommage Prize to essential healthcare workers. This acknowledgement underscores the contributions of the women and men who risk their lives taking on this pandemic on a daily basis. Ms. Beverley John, Director of Nursing at the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, accepted the award on behalf of all workers.
“I would like to congratulate this year’s winners. They raised their voices to denounce injustices. Their courage, dedication and determination command our respect. I would like to thank TD Bank for their unwavering support of the Gala since its very beginnings,” declared Carla Beauvais, Co-founder and Executive Director of Fondation Dynastie.
Lots of prizes for the winners
Several laureates were awarded grants to support their projects. The Conseil des arts de Montréal awarded a $3,000 grant to the recipient of the Community-Oriented Artist award. Two grants valued at $2,000 each were provided by Bell and awarded to the winners of the Community-Oriented Web Personality and Community-Oriented Web Production categories. In addition to awarding a $2,000 development grant to the team that won the Community-Oriented Podcast award, Radio-Canada is providing them with a training session on starting a podcast led by Magnéto, as well as a bank of mentoring hours with the OHdio team.
The public had the chance to weigh in via voting to decide the laureates for the community-oriented personalities in each category. A total of 6,128 votes were tallied between February 3 and 15. The public’s votes (/60%) were combined with those of the jury (/40%) to determine the winners in each category.
The Gala Dynastie 2021 recipients are:
1. Category :
Activist
Laureate :
Will Prosper
Director, Co-founder of Hoodstock
2. Category :
Community Organization of the Year
Presented by:
The Round Table on Black History Month
Laureate :
My Mental Health Matters
Emithe Edmond, Fama Tounkara
3. Category :
Community-Oriented Business of the Year
Presented by:
Pharmacie Beverly Salomon
Laureate :
Librairie Racines
Gabrielle Kinte
4. Category :
Community-Oriented Artist of the Year
Presented by:
Conseil des arts de Montréal
Laureate :
Niti Marcelle Mueth
Multidisciplinary artist
5. Category :
Community-Oriented Media Personality of the Year (Radio/TV)
Presented by:
Publicis Groupe
Laureate :
Fabrice Vil
Founder of Pour 3 Points
Columnist, speaker
6. Category :
Community-Oriented Web Personality of the Year
Presented by:
Bell
Laureate :
Jessica Prudencio
Animator and content creator
7. Category :
Community-Oriented Web Production of the Year
Presented by:
Bell
Laureate:
Black Girls From Laval
8. Category :
Community-Oriented Writer of the Year (Web/Print)
Laureate :
Émilie Nicolas
Columnist
9. Category :
Community-Oriented Initiative of the Year
Presented by:
Mon Comptable CPA
Laureate :
Marche contre le racisme
La Ligue des Noirs Nouvelle Génération
10. Category :
Community-Oriented Podcast of the Year
Presented by:
Radio-Canada
Laureate :
Woke or Whateva
Tihitina Semahu and Rebecca G Joachim
11. Category :
Entrepreneur Showcasing Black Culture of the Year
Presented by:
CN
Laureate :
Gabrielle Kinte
Librairie Racines
The support of Gala Dynastie’s invaluable partners is critical to its continuing mission of showcasing creators in culture, the arts, and media—as well to the holding of the event itself: the City of Montreal and Government of Quebec (institutional partners); Yoop and Place des Arts (event partners); the Round Table on Black History Month (collaborating partner); Cook It, Avance (friend-partners).
About Fondation Dynastie
Founded in 2016, Fondation Dynastie actively campaigns to promote diversity and inclusion in the arts, culture and media. Through various cultural-mediation initiatives, it addresses diversity issues and puts forth actions to reduce disparities in representation of Black communities in culture.
Gala Dynastie is presented as part of the end of Black History Month celebrations. The event aims to reward individuals from Quebec’s Black communities who have distinguished themselves in the arts, media, or culture—and whose work and accomplishments are deserving of recognition.
For more info: https://www.galadynastie.com/
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Media relations:
Fondation Dynastie
info@galadynastie.com
