Sly Toussaint: Finding your center

When entering the Toussaint Center, it is easy to imagine the bright premises, just renovated, buzzing with activity. It's because you immediately feel at ease and that the space is ready to welcome those who, young or old, are there to learn, chat and build relationships. “It is a place that brings each person closer to Afro identity and Haitian culture, through courses and workshops,” explains founder Sly Toussaint, who has made it her mission for three years. While there is something for everyone, with a varied program that offers classes in Creole, cooking, cooking, history, dance and more, the cultural center's offer meets a need that is felt at the community level — and beyond.

A heart that swings

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“It's a big question: it's the journey of a lifetime,” Sly laughs when asked how she got started on such a project. The idea behind the Toussaint Center is closely linked to the career of the woman who was born in Montreal. “When I was nine, I left to live in Haiti. The economic and political situation had stabilized, so my mother wanted to return.” Since a young age, her parents have been going back and forth between Port-au-Prince and Montreal. Her mother, who fell in love with Quebec, lives there full-time. “My father was not able to adapt to the Quebec climate and system,” she says. She spent her formative years there, until she was 16. “They were wonderful years,” she says. When I came back to Montreal, I saw the extent, the magnitude of the beauty of Haitian culture. A lot of people were asking me questions about Haiti, the language, the culture, asking me what was it like.”

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Ten years later, while she finished her studies and began working on other projects, she decided to share her experience by founding a cultural center. It must be said that for Sly, returning home was not the easiest. “It was very hard,” she said, describing the culture shock and depression that followed. I went to therapy for years.” She missed everything, especially the warmth, especially the warmth, both in terms of the temperature and the affection of a people, of a community. “I felt that life went on without me. I had friends there who had friends, a future. I no longer had a long-term vision of myself,” she says. Today, Sly is thriving. Time did its work, which helped put things into perspective, as did the people who have crossed his path since then. “You find people with whom you have things in common in terms of culture and values. They are the ones who helped me find myself and build the person I am today.”

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“What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? ”

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“I have a lot of passions,” Sly says with a laugh. And it shows. “I love singing, I love dancing, I love culture, languages.” After studying marketing and administration, and after pursuing a parallel career in the professional dance world, she chose to build a place that reflected her image and that of an entire community. Throughout her school career, the young woman is aware of the pitfalls of others and also experiences difficulties in a system she is not familiar with. “I saw a lot of school dropouts, people who did not know what they wanted to do in life. These are very nerve-wracking things, especially for people who are in full development, she points out. If you don't have the right math courses, you won't get to college, the job you want. It's a lot of pressure for young people.” It's a Beyoncé and Jay-Z song, Nice, which, 10 years later, inspires him. ” What would you do if you know you couldn't fail.

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It's a question I asked myself, to look beyond the obstacles.” The answer? A place to learn Haitian culture in Montreal. In passing, she underlines the contribution of all the actors of the Haitian community who came before her and worked hard within their community, especially in terms of immigration and integration. “For those who were born here and who grew up in this system, there is nothing. There is no place that allows us to experience our culture,” she explains.

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‍Reclaim your culture to better transmit it

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‍Such a place did not exist, so Sly created it. It testifies to the search for identity that characterizes those who navigate between two worlds. “Culture is a common past, a common history, a common way of doing things. It is something crucial in the quest for identity and for self-knowledge,” she believes. This is how the famous memes on social networks that evoke stories of Haitian parents, for example, rally millennials from this culture.

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In Quebec, or elsewhere, not all the children of Haitian immigrants learn the language, Creole. “In Rome, do as the Romans do,” some believe. Others are just too busy surviving. “Sometimes the breakup is unconscious,” Sly says of the language and culture of origin. “People don't take the time, they're doing the best they can to raise their families, give them opportunities they never had. We forget to give away the things we had,” she believes. She praises family members who teach children about culture, or who make the effort to educate themselves.

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“It is not given to everyone”, recognizes the founder. That's where the cultural center and the community come in. In addition to courses and workshops, support groups are also offered for parents-to-be. It is a space for discussion to meet people who are experiencing the same issues. “We saw that it was a great need for people who are starting to have children. [For example], if I don't speak Creole, how do I pass on something to my child that I don't have? ” she illustrates, describing the difficulties that those who navigate between two cultures may experience. Thus, the Toussaint Center is not only intended for those who have Haitian origins. Sly's family is itself multicultural.

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She calls on each member to be the caretaker of each culture, and for this to become a family effort, not an individual one. She invites anyone who loves a Haitian person, or culture, to explore that culture. “If you have a Haitian friend, why not learn more about their culture, their language, and communicate with them on another level? ” she asks. In addition, one of the goals of the Center is to be as intergenerational as possible. “You will see people of all origins in the groups: 30% to 40% are not Haitian. And not all blacks are Haitians,” she said.

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The story of yourself

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Sly Toussaint is also passionate about history. Moreover, the years spent in her country of origin allowed her to learn more about her personal history and that of the country. “Knowing history is something that helps to find yourself, to find your place in the world,” she says. At the Toussaint Center, history courses cover a range of topics, from pre-colonial imperial Africa to Black history in Quebec — a gap in history books and school curricula, according to the founder.

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“We start Black history with slavery, or to talk about the right to vote, and we don't talk about what was there before: before colonization, before America,” she regrets. “One of the problems with black history is that we teach it as being black history and not as being also white history, the history of the world,” she continues. In a dynamic, there are two people. If black people are fighting for their rights, who was stopping them on the other side? It's important to understand both sides of the coin, what was at stake on both sides. We all have a story that makes us end up here and we create what we create. It is important to recognize this above all, to take it into consideration.”

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At the Centre Toussaint, everything is done from a pan-African perspective. “We recognize that all Blacks come from the same place: Africa,” explains the founder, who affirms that Haiti is Africa in America — an observation that applies, in her opinion, to any region where there is an Afro-descent population. “You have crossed the ocean in one way or another at some point in history, whether it's from forced or by choice.”

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Entrepreneurship in community

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Managed masterfully by Sly Toussaint, the Centre of the same name is above all about community. “I am very proud and delighted to have the team that I have. Without these people, the Center would not exist and would not be what it is,” she said. At the beginning, she gave Creole language courses on her own and free of charge. An acquaintance approached her saying that it was something she wanted to do as well. “It was because she joined the team that I saw the entrepreneurial potential of the project. I told myself that if there were several people on the team who taught something else, I could focus on the rest.” Now a seasoned entrepreneur, Sly encourages anyone who wants to start a project to go for it.

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“We see entrepreneurship as something remote, inaccessible. However, we are all entrepreneurs,” she says. She gives the following example: “If you have already moved, it's a business.” You have to look for housing, choose it, stick to a budget, choose a neighborhood, the number of rooms, coordinate trips, ask for help, develop a new space. “If you have already asked for $5 for something, or done something in exchange for another service, you are an entrepreneur. Demystifying this concept helps a lot,” she says.

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“Many of our Haitian moms are the first entrepreneurs we know,” she continues, quoting cooking or hairdressing. And to get started, you have to go one thing at a time: you don't have to quit your job, you start and you go slowly. That's how things started for Sly and, three years later, the fallout speaks for itself. “I would like all people of Haitian descent to set foot in the Centre,” she says finally. We hope that people will continue to mobilize and support the Toussaint Center.