Since I started working at Dawson many years ago, I have always believed that it is not only an important educational institution but contributes much to the wider Montreal community. Another perfect example of that is happening at the McCord Stewart Museum right now.

Curated by Nadia Bunyan, Aunties’ Work: The Power of Care is a vital and stimulating exhibit that will provide much food for thought to all those who see it.

You may be wondering about the title. Aunties’ Work is a tribute to the often unacknowledged yet important work done by ‘aunties’ (women who are and are not related by blood) within the Black community of Montreal and elsewhere around the world. These women have played a crucial role in the raising of young and not so young members of the Black community. Educating them about what has come before them and playing a support role to young people.

With their guidance and knowledge, they have for generations passed on information and history that might have otherwise been forgotten, served as nurturers and been the pillars of social change within their communities.  A former employee of Dawson is featured in several ways in this exhibit.

Brenda Paris, a longtime employee of the College from its earliest days until the late 1990s, contributed in many ways, including playing a leading role in the creation of a Black and Third World Student Association.

Not only important to Dawson, Brenda has been a respected participant in Montreal and its Black community. Always someone who seeks to contribute to society around her, Brenda has been an activist, served on Quebec’s Conseil des relations interculturelles, sought election to Montreal’s city council on a couple of occasions, and was a member of several Montreal committees.

Born and raised in the Little Burgundy area of Montreal, Brenda received a bachelor’s degree in Applied Social Sciences from Concordia and is certified as a Family Life Educator by the same institution. Brenda has made a lasting impression wherever she has been.

In Nadia Bunyan’s exhibit you will be able to see the dress (pictured) of one of the women who Brenda considered an ‘auntie’ as well as a participant in a continuously running video of a roundtable discussion in which those involved discuss the importance and varied contributions of ‘aunties’ within the Black community.

You can learn more about the exhibit, which is running until April 12, 2026, here: https://www.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en/exhibitions/aunties-work/ and save $2 per ticket by purchasing it online.

By Carey-Ann Pawsey