Background:
On December 7, 2018, the Black Community Forum of Montreal held a conference on “Community Education and Development: perspectives on English-Speaking Blacks and Other Minorities”. The IJCDMS Journal has selected a number of the conference papers for publication in its Special Conference Series: “Collaborative Unity and Existential Responsibility.” This article serves as an overview to the conference; and provides a theoretical frame-work against which the reader can derive a better understanding of those papers. It allows the reader to reflect meaningfully on the optimal of the decision search rules adopted by various cultural subgroups, by comparing them to the behaviors of successful agent types in the computer simulated studies discussed in this paper. The targeted cultural sub-populations are the English-Speaking Blacks in Montreal.
Framework and presentational approach:
The overall research approach used is based on critical realism. We postulate that patterns in the responses of leadership in a social dynamic system may be impacted by values and uncertain events that are better explained by using a qualitative system analysis as opposed to traditional quantitative analyses based on positivist assumptions. We consider Montreal and Quebec societies diverse complex adaptive systems generating outcomes, not always predictable, in environments that vary from very hospitable to inhospitable.
Findings:
There is a history of Black social entrepreneurship initiatives aimed at reducing the negative impact of fragmentation, gaps in communication and knowledge states, and solving the problems of integration and development posed by exclusion, racial and systemic discrimination.
Who benefits:
This paper is of interest to social entrepreneurs, community developers and strategists; policy makers; government agencies, students and researchers.