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Join the movement
Coming from the heart of Montreal city, UMR was founded in 2004 by a group of young street-smart minds that come from different ethnical backgrounds and live in different boroughs of the 514. Some were born here; others had immigrated to Montreal at some point in their life. Nevertheless, we all faced the same struggles and obstacles whether it was our financial limitations, past language barriers, the segregated communities we lived in, broken family ties, police harassment or the ignorant discrimination we were subjected to. These trials and tribulations went on to show that even with a Canadian citizenship, a person belonging to a visible minority group would still be looked at and treated differently.
Therefore, in these turbulent days and times, it became inevitable that we would unite to fulfill a commonly shared dream: Bringing all ethnicities, all neighborhoods, all clicks and crews under one aim, one name, one movement…
UNITED MINORITIES
The sole purpose is to make things better for today’s generation and the ones to follow. If we don’t try to make a change, no one will do it for us. We need to support each other in whatever it is that we do in our everyday lives, wheither it be rapping, singing, dancing, DJing, hustling and so on. Whatever it is, we need to stop looking at each other like strangers because we all have similarities. We need to stop concentrating on each other’s weaknesses and focus on our strengths. We, as individuals, need to step up and think about our families, our communities, and all the people that we care for. A third world country will remain a third world country if its people do not strive to develop it. No wealthy country will show pity and offer a helping hand. Instead, it will try to capitalize on a civilization’s weaknesses and use them to its own advantage. That’s why we all need to stick together and unite, because one voice can speak out, but many voices can make a point heard. One fist can hit a wall, but many fists can bring it down.
Through our music, we share our stories and life experiences in the hopes of opening the eyes of those who are blind and those who can’t see this reality, which is camouflaged by the government and the media. We also hope to reach out to many others that relate to our words in this multicultural society. Recent racism surveys* conducted in Quebec did not only show which minority group is at the top of the list and which one is at the bottom, but more importantly that racism still exists today all around us.
Current global events are unfortunately a significant influential factor on the views and opinions that local people have towards foreigners. Nowadays in North America, especially in the US, Arabs and Muslims are seen as terrorists first and people second. This is yet another unjust stereotype that has been added to the shameful list where Blacks are seen as criminals, Hispanics as illegal aliens, and Asians as whatever else they can come up with. This prejudice is subliminally being pushed more and more through the controlled media outlets and emerging new governments, such as Harper’s, that supports the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and many more to come. That’s why UMR tries to expose the motives and hidden truths behind the lies, so we can unite all minority groups to face these money thirsty empires as one.
But before achieving this goal on a wide scale, we, UMR, need to make changes within our own city, where youths are feuding over their colors or the neighborhood that they belong to instead of clicking together and creating something that can be beneficial for both sides and for people around us. So, by creating opportunities for the younger generation like developing artistic talents, organizing and participating in community events, UMR doesn’t want to represent a specific neighborhood, but the 514 city as a whole.
Join the movement and invite your friends, because…