Growing up as a person of colour in Quebec was hard when I was younger. My parents came from Jamaica, looking to give their children better lives and a better standard of living than they were given growing up in Jamaica. I do not think my parents realized, that while they were going to have their children in a better country, the area that they had chosen was a lot more racist than it originally seemed.
I was born in Gatineau, Quebec just like most of the students in my school growing up. The only difference was that I was a person of colour and people made sure that I knew it. In the late 90’s Gatineau was very Caucasian, there were not a lot of kids of colour growing up there. I could tell growing up that I was different than the other kids in my school, but that did not stop me from trying to make friends. I learnt very quickly that a lot of children there had not grown up around people of colour. Their perception of us was tainted, full of negative stereotypes and harmful norms. There were a lot of kids that did not want me around but even worse, there were parents that did not want me playing with their children. That was hard for me to understand when I was younger. Children would call me names, and tell me how I was different, all because of the colour of my skin. It was hard for me to make friends growing up because of the social structures of racism that Quebec had been following for generations.
Even though it was hard to make friends, I never got discouraged from trying because my parents had explained to me that there were people in Quebec that were not racist and that not everyone had racist attitudes. My parents put me in a few different sports so that I would be able to make friends easier and soccer really stuck with me. At 4 years old, I started to play soccer and my father coached my team. I remember at my first practice, was the first time I had seen a lot of people talking to my dad laughing, smiling, and shaking hands. It really opened my eyes that there were people in Quebec that did not care about my colour. As a child, I did not think there were people like that because of my negative experiences interacting with Caucasians on my own.
I was the only person of colour on that team of 16 kids but it was also the first time that I was starting to get accepted. One of those kids was Dylan Aldwinckle. He was Caucasian, but he never treated me any differently. He always treated me like the other kids, and he was never racist, which was a huge change from what I was used to. It was not only Dylan that was nice to me, his whole family treated me like everyone else. Eventually, I learnt that Dylan’s grandmother lived in front of my house and she would have me over all the time.
I now believe that Dylan’s family was a representation of what was to come for people of colour in Quebec. Dylan’s grandmother had grown up in a time period that had a lot of negative beliefs about people of colour, but she did not abide by her society's norms and neither did her family. As the years went on, Gatineau became less racist, with more people of colour moving into the neighbourhoods. Although things have improved, there is still an underrepresentation of black-owned businesses, but Hades is a representation that change is coming.
I went to Guelph University and graduated with a minor in history with a major in anthropology. Both programs taught me about oppression and the plight of being non-white. Going to university showed me how fortunate I was, as a person of colour, to receive a university degree. I have met a lot of kids who had generations and multiple family members who went to university, almost all of them were Caucasian. That showed me how fortunate I had been to be born in this time period where I had the opportunity to move up in a society based on my own merits.
My father is an accomplished international businessman and he explained to me that even though we are people of colour, we could move up in society if we gave it our all. He explained it would not be easy but just because somethings not easy, doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish it. After university, I worked for the Canadian Government, I deceived to open up my own business in Gatineau. I had a solid plan but wanted to find a business partner to open and grow this business with. As soon as I asked Dylan, he was down. It was interesting, once again Dylan was willing to reach outside of the normative box our society had placed on us. I wanted to open up a Smoke shop in Gatineau because Marijuana had become legal in Canada but there were still a lot of negative stigmas attached to it.
Growing up in a society that has held so many negative stigmas and stereotypes towards me, I am ready to conquer and overcome these negative beliefs. Our business does not sell marijuana but because our products are marketed towards marijuana users, banks, credit card companies, and online creating websites made it nearly impossible to open our business. It took us almost a year to get all the proper licensing and to get our business registered with tax agencies. Even though it was hard, Dylan and I never strayed from our vision.
We are now open, receiving orders, and offering curbside pick-up. I don’t think this would have been possible without Dylan, and people like him and his family. When people are accepting and understanding of others, anything is possible. Gatineau has become a lot less racist than when I was a kid and it just goes to show that people are becoming more accepting of others. At Hades, we strive to create an environment that invites people to be themselves and feel accepted for who they are. Life is beautiful when we all help one another.
Hades is an online store in Aylmer, QC which offers unique bongs, rigs, pipes and smoking accessories!!
We also offer curbside pick-up in Aylmer Quebec. Come check us out for all your smoking needs https://thehades.ca/ Come follow us on Instagram for daily pictures of products and new products coming in @hades_smokeshop. Check out our Facebook page as well, Hades - Bongs, Rigs & Pipes.
By: Cory Golding - Owner of Hades Smokeshop
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