GUELPH – Kween is in the spotlight again – this time receiving national recognition for her impactful leadership and devotion to community.
The Guelph entrepreneur and activist is one of Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch this year.
Canada International Black Women Excellence (CIBWE), a nonprofit organization that empowers and connects Black Women across Canada, will present the award at a Black Pearls Gala on Oct. 28.
Proceeds from the Gala will help mothers with HIV/AIDS in Cameroon send their children to school.
Impactful contributions
CIBWE officials wrote in an email to Kween: “This is a testimony of the impact you, your work and your accomplishment have on the people who witness and experience it around you.”
“For me,” Kween said, “it’s a really cool opportunity to celebrate Black women in all their glory for all the contributions they make” in a world where those contributions are often overlooked.
“One person really can make a difference, and this really shows and honours that” by celebrating Black women annually, she said.
Guelph Black Heritage Society president Denise Francis won the same award in 2022. Kween said she feels honoured and humbled to be following in Francis’ footsteps.
“That woman just does so many iconic things in very silent ways compared to me,” Kween said. “Denise is such a trailblazer for Black heritage and culture in this community, so it’s inspiring to be on that line of powerful Black women.”
When she found out she was chosen for the award, Kween felt a little shocked.
“There are just so many brilliant women who I look up to in our community – Black women who have forged the way or are currently forging the way, doing so many impactful things,” she said. “I’m always in awe of Black women and how much they do.”
‘A moment to pause’
The recognition is giving Kween “a moment to pause, and take into consideration all the work that has been done.
“I think it makes me a little emotional because the work has been so tireless for so long – this kind of feels like an opportunity to take a break, and take pause and celebrate.”
Kween said taking time to celebrate makes her feel warmed and loved.
“It feels like an opportunity to be at a cookout with my aunties,” and a chance to embrace “ancestral warmth.”
Community work
The impactful leadership that led Kween to receiving this award takes many forms. She led the Guelph Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020, and since then has done a range of community work with the Kween Company and the Guelph Black Heritage Society.
She organizes community events, sits on the Ontario Family Health Team committee as an anti-oppression advisor, and recently launched a project called “Beauty 2 the Streets” in collaboration with Your Downtown Guelph Friends.
At the core of her work, Kween aims to “bring joy to the conversation – find happiness among all the darkness.”
Kween said she intentionally puts Blackness at the forefront of her work, including the Black people alongside her in the community as well as “those we have lost along the way, and our ancestors – those who have done the work so that I can continue to use my voice.
“The goal for me is staying really community driven,” she said, “because the community has raised me and continues to raise me.
“I just want to honour and take time to thank all these beautiful humans who have contributed along the way, because really this award goes to all of us.”
For more information about the Kween Company, visit thekweencompany.com. For more about the CIBWE Canada’s 100 Top Black Women to Watch, visit cibwe.ca.
