Sherwins Jean

Hi, I’m Sherwins! I’ve recently graduated from Concordia University with a BA in History, and I am eventually looking to pursue training in archival preservation to complement my degree. I am passionate about historical research, formal and informal, TV series binge fests, and baking.

Coming from a Haitian background, I would argue my community has been more accepted and included in Quebec society due to our attachment to the French-speaking world. The Anglophone Black community, however, as double minorities, has been overlooked and forgotten. For me, this project represents an opportunity to learn more about Montreal’s underrepresented Black Anglophone history, but also to teach others about its significance in the city’s rich multicultural heritage.

For this book, I am writing on the years between 1914 and 1919. My chapter will cover the First World War (1914-18), during which an all-Black battalion was created in response to military segregation. Simultaneously, during those years, Marcus Garvey’s Pan-Africanist ideologies were circulating amongst Black communities worldwide, which culminated in the creation of a Montreal chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) chapter in 1919.