CBC Quebec is highlighting people from the province’s Black communities who are giving back, inspiring others and helping shape our future. These are the 2024 Black Changemakers.
Walking to a bus stop from the studio they rent in downtown Montreal, Frankieb Lambert looks at the GPS on his phone screen.
“It says St. Patrick’s Basilica,” says Lambert. Most bus stops are labeled by their nearest corner, but this is Montreal after all, and there is a church on most streets.
Lambert was born in Haiti, but grew up in Rouyn-Noranda, a city 630 kilometers northwest of Montreal, where they were adopted by a white Québécois family and raised Catholic.
“I think the church and all that stuff is so beautiful,” they said. “I find the concept of sin fascinating. The fact that someone one day was like, ‘You know, all those things you should enjoy in life? I’ll make you feel guilty about them and then you’ll pay me.'”
Lambert is no stranger to complicated, layered stories. At night, they are a burlesque drag clown performer. During the day, they work for a Montreal non-profit that supports drug users and sex workers called Cactus. The program they help run at the organization helps trans people with everything from accessing health care, to housing, jobs, food, and legal name changes.
Lambert began acting during the pandemic after they began experimenting with makeup out of boredom and a need for self-expression. They were also beginning to transition, using hormone therapy medications and documenting that process on Instagram as a sort of personal project.
The combination of clown-inspired makeup with the increasing amount of testosterone in her body became a way to subvert gender norms, and caught people’s interest.
“Someone contacted me and asked me if I ever acted and I thought, ‘No, but now you’ve planted a seed,'” Lambert said.
They went to an open mic variety show at Notre-Dame-Des-Quilles, a queer bar in Little Italia with a bowling lane, signed up and that’s how EnvyTheclown was born, and just in time to join a growing community of queer performance artists in the city.
“I loved it so much and kept going after that,” Lambert said. “I’ve always been, you know, what they call a theater kid.”
In the years since, Envy’s Law has taken on new meanings and also become a vessel for his activism. Last year, he took them to Paris alongside the likes of legendary street photographer Nan Goldin at Natalie Seroussi’s Gallery of Modern Art, where their work took the form of seven photographs depicting the seven deadly sins.
Some of their acts have touched on the history of slavery, while others address racism, gender, fatphobia, and sex work literally and abstractly.
A recent burlesque performance involved Envy covering her body in fake blood.
“I know for some people, it’s like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty intense,'” Lambert said, noting the number touched on issues of slavery and racism. “I don’t shy away from mentioning this even though it can invoke a lot of emotions.”
Rosie Bourgeoisie, a queer performer who started a burlesque show for gender non-conforming performers called Fatale, says the fake blood scene appeared in one of the shows.
“It was so messy and disgusting,” Bourgeoisie said. “I feel like they were expressing their blackness and were unapologetic about it.”
Some acts are lighter. The first time Bourgeisie saw Envy perform was at a Shrek-themed show where Lambert was putting a cat in a boot-inspired number.
“It was super, super cute, but also super sexy and provocative and kinky, and I really liked it,” Bourgeoisie said.
The art of burlesque
Lambert incorporated Burlesque into her work, almost from the beginning.
“As someone who has done sex work for a long time, it made sense to me to have an aspect of burlesque,” Lambert said.
Shortly after Lambert moved to Montreal at age 20, they lost their job at Christmas and were looking for a way to make money. A friend they met online showed them how they could get into sex work by posting their services online in a way that could make it as safe as possible.
“She really helped me understand what the industry was about and helped me eliminate all the preconceived notions I had about sex work and helped me realize that sex work is work, and it’s a job like any other.” Lambert said.
They’ve done it for almost eight years on and off, sometimes as a side hustle and other times as a way to make ends meet full-time. They help oversee a loose channel where sex workers post tips, rates and ways to stay safe. A Facebook group was closed after laws changed in the United States.
“It’s actually been very empowering, being my own boss, being able to claim my sexuality and my body,” they said.
Burlesque itself has a history of challenging social and gender norms. The root of his name comes from Italian derisionas practiced in the 15th century, and means to joke or make fun of something. Although Burlesque involves teasing and elements of striptease, it is also a self-conscious and almost self-reflective art, while remaining sensual.
This kind of wink and wink humor while exploring dark themes and dark stories is part of Envy’s signature.
They explained their interest in clowns as stemming from the joy associated with the form and its genderlessness. However, the clown’s roots embody contradictions. While mocking people in power, such as police officers and politicians, clowns were tied to gambler shows and blackface makeup in the 19th century.
“It was like reclaiming something that used to be dark and negative towards the black community and being like, I’m going to make it fun and use it to empower the black community,” they said.
Have a direct impact
Growing up in the remote and mostly white Abitibi-Temiscamingue region of Quebec, Lambert said they regularly experienced racism at school and felt the need to educate their family and health care providers about racism.
“Everything I talk about comes from a place of my own lived experience. And I have been affected by systemic racism in the past,” Lambert said, noting Quebec Premier François Legault’s continued refusal to acknowledge the presence of the phenomenon in the province.
“So for me, it’s important to talk about it so that we can as a society and as a community find solutions so that it doesn’t continue to happen to people.”
After moving to Montreal and working in marketing at a non-profit advocating for drug users amid the opioid epidemic, Lambert realized they didn’t just want to promote counseling work, they wanted to do the work .
Her experience with gender, racism and sex work helped her land positions at a few organizations before she started working at Cactus seven months ago.
Carlin Holmes, who created a drag showcase for black artists called afro dragNominated Lambert for CBC Montreal’s Black Changemakers series.
“Frankie is a very marginalized person within the black community and the type of work that they do is not necessarily recognized,” Holmes said.
“The work they’re doing is so important and their art is just beautiful. I want more people to see it.”
Find beauty and joy
Lambert seems to embrace her presence in opposing worlds, finding beauty in the concept of sin within a sometimes oppressive religion; Finding joy in clowns despite their dark past and mixing humor with sensuality. It is the dance of your existence.
Being black in a white family wasn’t always easy, Lambert said, but the family is very close.
“My mother is one of my best friends. We say everything to each other. And I’m very close with my dad and my sisters,” they said.
After Lambert was adopted, his parents were able to have two biological children, although they had previously struggled with fertility. “My mother calls me her lucky charm,” they said.
His mother worked for school boards and his father worked in a copper mine.
“They’ve always been willing to educate themselves and learn about my experience and the way I see the world,” Lambert said.
“My dad always told me, ‘I’m always going to be proud of you no matter what you do.'”
Black Changemakers is a special series that recognizes people who, regardless of background or industry, are driven to create a positive impact in their community. From addressing issues to showing small gestures of kindness every day, these changemakers are making a difference and inspiring others. Meet all the change makers here.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians, from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community, check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
