Happy to participate in I Love to Read, BHM
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2021 (818 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It was so exciting this past month to visit classrooms virtually across St. Vital to share some stories with the students for I Love to Read Month.
Although this year looked a bit different compared to last year 0151— reading the books to my laptop was quite the change — I want to thank all the schools who invited me to participate.
A huge thank you as well to all the teachers and school staff who not only made I Love to Read Month a success in a year like no other; but who have been on the front lines ensuring that our kids safely get the education and support they need to learn and grow.
Sharing in the joy of reading with so many young learners in their classroom is one of the most enjoyable parts of my role. It was fun to read some amazing books by local authors like Deborah L. Delaronde’s Louis Riel Day: The Fur Trade Project. It was also great to celebrate Black History Month at the same time by reading Kadir Nelson’s Nelson Mandela.
For Black History Month, the BIPOC student committee at Dakota Collegiate created a video in which I was happy to participate alongside many fellow Black community members. It was fantastic to talk to them about prejudice has affected me but also how Black History Month inspires us to do more to promote equality in our community. Thank you to the organizers for hosting such an important event.
I was also happy to host an amazing discussion with some of our local Black-owned businesses this past month.
Thank you Ogo Okwumabua from Zueike; Odette Bahati Bueckert from Timely Staging & Design; Francine Bahati from Queenfidence Cosmetics; and Keisha Pinder from Diaspora Café for joining me in the discussion.
Odette and Francine are also responsible for the popular website blackownedmb.com. I loved hearing about these folks’ commitment and hard work in building local businesses for our communities to enjoy.
This past year has shown us that it is more important than ever to support small businesses and to shop local. Small businesses are a key part of our economic recovery and they need to be better supported by our provincial government.
As always, please feel free to get in touch with me by email at jamie.moses@yourmanitoba.ca or by phone at 204-219-5407.
Jamie Moses
St. Vital constituency report
Jamie Moses is the NDP MLA for St. Vital.