Family, friends, former colleagues, community leaders, even politicians, congregated Monday to remember the life of civil rights activist, Dan Philip.
Those who showed up for his funeral at the the Holy Family Catholic Church on Lajeunesse Street, remember Philip as force to be reckoned with.
“Well, you know, Dan was a stalwart in our community,” George Grant, Honorary Consul for Jamaica points out. “I mean, Dan was Black Lives Matter before ‘Black Lives Matter’ was a slogan.”
Philip, the longtime former president of the Black Coalition of Quebec, died earlier this month. The activist co-founded the Coalition more than 50 years ago to draw attention to racism.
“It was a pressure group,” explains friend Dr. Euclid Rose. “It evolved into more of a human rights activist group and Dan has done a pretty good job.”
Former Montreal city councillor and interim director for United against Hate Canada, Marvin Rotrand, stresses that Philip’s work forced many changes, not just in Montreal, but across the province.
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“He was the one that desegregated the taxi industry in Quebec,” Rotrand recalls. “He was the one that got rid of overt discrimination in housing at a time when black tenants applying for housing would be turned down without a reason.”
Black politicians at he funeral, like Quebec’s minister responsible for the fight against racism, and Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa, say they owe their success in politics to Philip’s trailblazing fight. Katahwa says she is inspired by by the many tributes recounting Philip’s courage in the face of pushback.
“He would never stop before he gained something from the fight that he was taking on,” she smiles, “even though those fights were not popular.”
The people who initially opposed him would come to see his way eventually, she points out. What struck Rotrand was that Philip’s fight against racism wasn’t limited to just the Black population.
“Dan said, ‘We are there to help the Jewish community, the Muslim community and others,’ ” Rotrand tells Global News. “‘We stand against antisemitism, we stand against Islamophobia.’ ”
That is his legacy, along with the success of the Black Coalition to effect change, according to mourners.
“Our biggest success is the mobilization on people,” states Ryan Cox, a board member with the Black Coalition.
Mourners at the church to celebrate Philip’s life stress that it’s now up to those left behind to carry on the mission he started.
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