These Montrealers Created A Heartwarming New Talk Show & It's Like A Much-Needed Hug

Canadian media, despite its claim to the opposite, has what the Canadian Association of Black Journalists and Canadian Journalists of Colour call a "glaring racial inequity." In an industry with a serious lack of representation, Black and marginalized communities have had to carve out their own unique spaces. Cindy Charles, host of the new Montreal-based talk show Sister Talk aims to break down the barriers in Canadian media while empowering and inspiring women.

Sister Talk features Charles and her co-hosts, Anne-Lovely Etienne, Cherizar Walker, and Drea Wheeler discussing everything from relationship advice to how to deal with the loss of a loved one.

With a bottle of wine and dishing on topics literally fished from a dish, the women of Sister Talk are as funny as they are unapologetic. 

"What really sets the show apart is that nothing is rehearsed and the questions aren’t known in advance," says Charles. "The reactions are all very authentic and nothing is taken out." 

MTL Blog sat down with Charles (minus the wine) and found out more about what to expect from Sister Talk. 

Questions and responses have been edited for clarity. 

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What do you hope to achieve with Sister Talk? 

My first intent is always to empower women in whatever I do. Storytelling is an amazing way to empower women, and all people, I think. 

And even though the show is lighthearted and fun for the most part, the girls and I dig a little deeper and talk about what kind of obstacles we face, personal stories, and how we’ve dealt with death even.

Hopefully, people are entertained with funny episodes and with the deeper ones — maybe even feel a connection and even learn something.

With the political climate now, it’s also about having better representation in the media and showing well-educated, well-spoken Black Canadian women.

I want them to feel like they’re being represented in a positive way.

How do we break down barriers for Black and marginalized communities? 

With the traditional route, the opportunities for us are few and far between. I encourage anyone who has the creativity and the means to create original content, do it and don’t worry about the feedback. Just do it.

If you love and do it and are talented, it will come across. It can open a lot of doors for you.

You know, no one was going to hand me a talk show. I had to create my own content. Have a vision, be original, and bring other people with you! It’s so much fun having co-hosts to share this experience with.

Would it be fair to call the Sister Talk a sort of Montreal version of Sex and the City? 

Hell no! (laughs) Don’t get me wrong, I love the show and was one of the first in line when the movie came out. However, as someone who has lived in New York, the show is absolutely unrealistic — no one can sustain that lifestyle, especially not as a blogger!

Of course, there are some parallels between us — the four girls with four different personalities, the fashion — I guess I’d be kind of the Charlotte of the group!

One of the criteria for the show, when I chose my co-hosts, was that they had to be completely 100% honest.

I made sure that I chose people who are unapologetic about their truth, their opinion, and aren’t worried about being politically correct.

I did everything I could to keep it as authentic as possible so I think it would be unfair to that effort to compare it to a scripted show like Sex and the City.

New episodes of Sister Talk air Tuesdays on YouTube.