February is Black History Month. Michaël P. Farkas is director of the youth association of Little Burgundy, Youth in Motion, whose mission is to encourage young adolescents to make positive and enlightened life choices. For more than 20 years, he has also been president of the Roundtable for Black History Month. A passionate man who has his vocation to intervene at heart.
“It is really a stakeholder who is present. He works 6 days a week and often even more ”shares Patrick Benjamin, community organizer who has known him since his arrival at the OMHM, that is to say for 14 years. Michaël P. Farkas is known everywhere in Little Burgundy, as much by young people as by families, he is a must in the neighborhood. He is also very well known throughout Montreal.
Not only does he work with the youth of Youth in Motion, but he is involved in projects at yield and he founded the Energy Club which offers artistic workshops to young people in the district where he has been leading since the very beginning, music, song and poetry workshops. In addition, he is involved in the project BUMP (Burgundy Urban Mediation Project) which was set up in 2002 to reduce the problems of violence specific to the neighborhood. The workers patrol the neighborhood’s public places, identify the potential sources of violence or family problems, and accompany the young people to the available resources.
“The neighborhood was experiencing a number of security and street gang issues. I have seen the changes over the years. A man like Michaël literally helped change what was going on in Little Burgundy. He is connected with everyone, his priority is the community. He is the first to say yes, but imposes essential conditions for the projects to work: you have to work with the community. He often says: the US is in community. He’s right! »Says Patrick Benjamin who shares the same vision. A project is successful when we manage to reach all the people affected in a neighborhood.
Take 5 minutes to listen to him tell us about the history of the Blacks of Little Burgundy and Quebec by clicking on this link: here
Check out the program for Black History Month: https://moishistoiredesnoirs.com/fr/
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