Black in B.C.: Issamba Centre hosts focus groups on inclusion, art, culture, identity, and more, through August
The Victoria-based African Arts & Cultural Centre founded by Pulchérie Nketsap Mboussi is a hub for people of African descent throughout B.C.
The ISSAMBA Centre founder and executive director, Pulchérie Nketsap Mboussi.
EVER SINCE PULCHERIE Nketsap Mboussi arrived in Canada from Cameroon about three decades ago, she has been working to bring the cultures, history, and traditions of the African continent to her new home.
Mboussi created the African Arts and Cultural Society in 2012 and went on to launch ISSAMBA, a group of world-renowned African musicians and dancers that takes its name from the Cameroonian Beti dialect meaning “come together”.
As part of her efforts to advocate for the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent here in B.C., last year she founded the ISSAMBA Centre, the first physical hub for people of African descent in B.C. Among the Victoria-based organization’s objectives is to promote and preserve Africa’s cultural heritage.
Mboussi, the centre’s executive director, was a recipient of a 2021 BC Achievement Foundation community award.
Now, the ISSAMBA Centre is hosting a survey and series of community conversations and focus groups to better understand the needs of Black people and people of African descent in B.C.
The Black in B.C. survey pertains to anti-Black racism and a meaningful implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent. (It’s part of the Black in BC Community Convener project, for which African Arts and Cultural Community Contributor Services (AACCCS) is the convener.)
The community conversations and focus groups, meanwhile, will look at topics such as employment mobility (August 7); immigration and inclusion (August 21); art, culture, and Black identity (August 28); and more.
For more information, see the ISSAMBA Centre.
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