Drimonis: Devenir Keb puts human face on immigrant experience

Montreal Gazette

a day ago

I've written two books and countless columns on migration and the politics of 'belonging' — and I still sometimes feel like I'll never fully understand the complex, challenging, sometimes lonely and almost always deeply hopeful process of leaving everything you know behind for the promise of something better.
Immigration isn't and never has been one size fits all. One's integration can vary considerably based on individual motives, personality, expectations, tolerance for change, ease of language acquisition, ties to motherland and ability to adapt to a new reality.
How newcomers are perceived and welcomed by their new society and how quickly they're given essential integration tools (think francization in Quebec!) also are key in their successful immigration.
Immigrants are not a monolith. They're unique human beings who shouldn't be expected to seamlessly fit into clichéd or antiquated notions of what makes a Quebecer or Canadian or how they're expected to behave, talk, look or think.
Neither are immigrants all that different from the rest of the population. We all pretty much want the same things: peace, prosperity, opportunity, a better life for oneself and loved ones.
Those currently being welcomed into the fold will influence and continue to shape Quebec's ever-evolving society, and they, in turn, will be influenced by everything that embraces them. Done right, immigration is a culturally enriching and mutually beneficial exchange.
Which brings us to a new French-language docu-series that broaches the topic of Quebec immigration. Created, directed and hosted by real-life partners Noémi Mercier and Philippe Desrosiers, Devenir Keb (Becoming a Quebecer) explores the topic of Quebec identity by giving immigrants the mic — and a voice.
We meet Naoufel, a teacher from Tunisia; Rosa, a single mom and dentist from Cuba; Stella, a nurse from Cameroon; the Kachiche family from Lebanon; and many more. All six episodes focus on economic and humanitarian immigration and are primarily stories of resilience, with each respective title focusing on an integration stage and the challenges that come with it: Arrive. Speak. Work. Heal. Grow. Put down roots.
What I appreciate most about the series is how it profoundly humanizes immigration for those who may not have a first-person experience of it. It also serves as an important reminder of the many everyday Quebecers working hard to help integrate newcomers into our society with kindness and a helping hand, easing them into our collective 'we.'
In her moving 2020 essay 'Qui ça, nous ?', Mercier — whose Haitian mom arrived here in 1965 at age 20 — notes: ''We' is more than a cocoon, it's a boundary; it excludes at the same time as it envelops. With tangible consequences for those kept outside.'
The sixth episode of Devenir Keb explores exactly that — how 'othering' affects immigrants' sense of belonging and often prevents them from identifying as Quebecers.
The series' resident immigration expert, Mireille Paquet, director of Concordia University's Institute for Research on Migration and Society, is someone whose expertise I've sought often. Her insight is invaluable in dispeling popular, often damaging, myths around immigration and the process of asylum.
Mercier says the best way to overcome our preconceived ideas about strangers we might distrust is to be in contact with them. But, as she points out, not all Quebecers have the same opportunities to be around immigrants. 'The only representation they have,' she tells me, 'is what they see in the media, and that's necessarily reductive.'
At a time when too many governments continue to treat immigration as a liability and a threat to the host society, Devenir Keb reminds us that the best way to make someone part of our 'we' is to fundamentally not treat them like an 'other.'