POWER OF POSITIVITY
Turbulent year has Rebecca Makonnen considering what we take for granted
2020 has been a tumultuous time for Radio-canada host Rebecca Makonnen and it has made her think about the things people take for granted. Brendan Kelly reports.
Everyone has a story to tell. My Pandemic Year is a series in which Montrealers from all walks of life talk to Brendan Kelly about how the COVID-19 pandemic radically changed their worlds in 2020.
The routine question “How's it going?” has become fraught with meaning in 2020 for the very good reason that things are going in complicated fashion for most everyone on the planet.
“Honestly, I cannot complain, knock on wood, fingers crossed, all that stuff,” said Rebecca Makonnen, in answer to that question in a recent phone conversation.
Makonnen is well aware that things could be worse for her. Unlike so many, her employment wasn't affected by the pandemic. She never stopped working, hosting the ICI Radio-canada Première cultural show On dira ce qu'on voudra, which airs nightly on the radio network at 8:30. It is currently on its holiday-season break and will be back Jan. 11. There is a one-hour special Dec. 26 at 9 p.m. Makonnen also co-hosts, with Marc Cassivi, the Artv show Esprit critique.
“I've been really fortunate, considering everything,” said Makonnen, who began her career as a VJ on Musiqueplus in 2000. “When the first wave hit, it made me think about what we take for granted. I have beloved pets that I've had for the last 15 years. They were there when my mother died. They were there when my ex had cancer and was going through chemo. That's what pets are. They're witnesses to your life.
“In my family, there was never a period when we didn't have a cat or dog and one of my beloved animals was really sick (in early April). It was weird. It was a thing I wasn't ready for which I should be since it's part of life and it kind of knocked me over. It was hard focusing on that and going to Radio-canada every day to do my show. I kind of lost a lot of motivation.”
The beloved pet in question is a cat named Lolita and she's fine now. Makonnen has two cats. Lolita's brother is Oscar.
“It's like a family tradition, from before I came along,” said Makonnen. “When my mom and dad lived in Ethiopia, they had a litter of dogs and they're not just pets, they're members of the family.”
In fact, many turned to pets this year, to help them cope emotionally with the crisis.
“You can't travel,” Makonnen said. “You can't go to restaurants. That was fine. But (with my cat's health issue), I thought: `Oh no I'm not ready for this.'”
She feels the pandemic made people question a lot of things in their lives, perhaps realizing they weren't as healthy as they thought they were or things were out of balance.
“You have to get used to it and get through it and say: `Get your s--t together because this is not going away.'”
She kept going to the Maison Radio-canada every day.
“Already the ( basement) B level (of Radio-canada) is like a war bunker,” Makonnen said. “So then (during the pandemic) there were almost no people there and there were these maintenance people
dressed up like Ghostbusters. They'd come in to the studio between each session and like pulverize the air and sanitize the studios. It was like walking into a ghost town. Not good for your morale.”
That was her mood in the first couple of months. Then by the time the fall season rolled around, she was feeling more upbeat.
“I really made a big deal about being a beacon of light to others,” Makonnen said. “I was telling my team: `I'm here, holding the light. If anyone's having any issues, I will be there for you.' ”
In fact, the year started off in tough fashion, even before COVID hit here, when her boyfriend, popular singer-songwriter Louis-jean Cormier, lost his father, in January.
“It kind of set the tone for the year,” Makonnen said.
Then there was the death of
George Floyd and the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests that followed, something that also had a huge impact on Makonnen this year. It had her looking back at her own life and career as a Black woman.
“People stay fixed in their opinions and it's hard to have a dialogue,” Makonnen said. “In the media, I find that you go and interview someone who will comfort you in your position and in your beliefs.”
But she's encouraged by the emergence of more visible minority hosts in the local media.
“I just learned today that Mike Finnerty is being replaced (as host of Daybreak on CBC Radio) by Sean Henry, which is great news,” Makonnen said. “I welcome that with open arms. Also Maya Johnson ( becoming a news anchor) on CTV and Noémie Mercier becom
ing a news anchor on the Noovo TV network. This will change something, to have people of colour anchor the news. It'll bring nuance and different ways of covering stories. I think it's a step in the right direction.
“But then people say: ` What do you mean, there aren't enough Black people in the media? There's so-and-so and so-and-so.' And I tell them: `If you can count them, it proves there aren't enough. I can't count every white host.'”
She adds: “Activism comes in many forms and what I do is a way of doing it too. I might not be down on the streets with a Black Lives Matter T-shirt with tens of thousands of people, but I try to use my voice and use my show on Radio-canada to bring forth new voices and make you think about issues in other ways.”