1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:03:20,896 --> 00:03:22,419 We as Canadians do this thing 4 00:03:22,593 --> 00:03:24,291 where if we don't talk about it, 5 00:03:24,465 --> 00:03:26,336 we don't have to take ownership of the fact 6 00:03:26,510 --> 00:03:27,816 that some of the more negative things have happened. 7 00:03:29,034 --> 00:03:30,732 A lot of that history just gets lost. 8 00:03:31,907 --> 00:03:33,300 That's why it becomes really important 9 00:03:33,474 --> 00:03:35,127 to tell those stories. 10 00:03:35,302 --> 00:03:37,129 If we really wanna look at where we are now, 11 00:03:37,304 --> 00:03:38,914 you wanna get a real understanding 12 00:03:39,088 --> 00:03:40,698 of the progress that's been made, 13 00:03:40,872 --> 00:03:43,092 and the progress that's still yet to be made. 14 00:03:43,266 --> 00:03:45,137 Then you have to look at the journey that got us here. 15 00:03:55,974 --> 00:03:57,889 When I first got introduced to hockey, 16 00:03:58,063 --> 00:04:00,979 I would have been probably around the age of... 17 00:04:01,153 --> 00:04:02,416 three, three-and-a-half 18 00:04:02,590 --> 00:04:03,982 was when I started skating. 19 00:04:08,073 --> 00:04:10,946 My dad being from Jamaica, my mom being from Montserrat, 20 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,385 um, they wanted us to still see ourselves as Canadian. 21 00:04:21,696 --> 00:04:24,220 So everybody had to know how to skate in our family. 22 00:04:26,266 --> 00:04:28,093 So when I was about three years old, 23 00:04:28,268 --> 00:04:31,401 my dad brought me to the pond and taught me how to skate. 24 00:04:31,575 --> 00:04:33,751 And I remember him teaching me how to skate 25 00:04:33,925 --> 00:04:36,580 because it was the most unique thing I'd ever done. 26 00:04:40,236 --> 00:04:42,673 He had emigrated from Trinidad and Tobago 27 00:04:42,847 --> 00:04:44,458 when he was just very young 28 00:04:44,632 --> 00:04:46,286 and never got the opportunity to play hockey. 29 00:04:47,548 --> 00:04:49,811 And when I was born and came along, 30 00:04:49,985 --> 00:04:51,595 he introduced me. 31 00:04:58,254 --> 00:05:00,387 My dad used to bring me ice skating. 32 00:05:01,344 --> 00:05:03,215 Public Skates, downtown Montreal. 33 00:05:03,390 --> 00:05:05,043 Um, you know, we'd go there. 34 00:05:05,217 --> 00:05:07,002 We start once a week, twice a week, 35 00:05:07,176 --> 00:05:09,134 and then next thing you know, I just love skating. 36 00:05:09,309 --> 00:05:11,441 I just love being fast out there 37 00:05:11,615 --> 00:05:13,225 and, uh, just fell in love with it. 38 00:05:16,403 --> 00:05:18,143 I was five years old 39 00:05:18,318 --> 00:05:20,320 when I first saw the game of ice hockey, 40 00:05:20,494 --> 00:05:22,800 and I kept seeing how fast the game was 41 00:05:22,974 --> 00:05:24,628 and how physical they were 42 00:05:24,802 --> 00:05:26,587 and the smell of the ice. 43 00:05:26,761 --> 00:05:28,545 Once I found it, it clicked, 44 00:05:28,719 --> 00:05:31,592 and I never wanted to give it up. 45 00:05:31,766 --> 00:05:33,463 Some of my first memories are just walking around the house in my skates. 46 00:05:33,637 --> 00:05:36,336 Finally, I was able to go to some learn-to-skate programs 47 00:05:36,510 --> 00:05:38,990 and-- and get on to a couple outdoor rinks. 48 00:05:39,164 --> 00:05:41,906 And-- and that's really where I-- I fell in love with the game. 49 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:43,821 A lot of us in the game are most comfortable 50 00:05:44,996 --> 00:05:47,608 - on this ice right here. 51 00:05:47,782 --> 00:05:49,305 It's my truest self. 52 00:05:49,479 --> 00:05:51,481 And I-- and I can express that through my game. 53 00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:53,701 It's an escape. 54 00:05:54,832 --> 00:05:56,617 Deep down inside, there was just that burning desire 55 00:05:56,791 --> 00:05:58,358 to-- to play hockey and to-- 56 00:05:58,532 --> 00:06:00,925 and to be the best hockey player I could be. 57 00:06:01,099 --> 00:06:03,014 I played because I loved the sport 58 00:06:03,188 --> 00:06:04,364 and, and still do. 59 00:06:21,772 --> 00:06:25,341 So I started playing, um, by the norms pretty late. 60 00:06:25,515 --> 00:06:27,648 Um, just before turning ten years old. 61 00:06:27,822 --> 00:06:30,172 Uh, I moved to Canada at-- at eight. 62 00:06:30,868 --> 00:06:32,217 There's hockey everywhere, so... 63 00:06:33,088 --> 00:06:36,221 I think the-- the culture and the environment got me into it. 64 00:06:36,396 --> 00:06:38,310 I wanted to give it a try because it was almost like 65 00:06:38,485 --> 00:06:40,095 I was kind of getting left behind. 66 00:06:40,269 --> 00:06:41,705 All my buddies were going to play hockey 67 00:06:41,879 --> 00:06:42,880 and I was going home, you know. 68 00:06:44,099 --> 00:06:46,101 But as soon as I got into the game, 69 00:06:46,275 --> 00:06:49,191 the barriers started stacking up. 70 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,760 It was the financial barriers of how expensive it is. 71 00:06:53,674 --> 00:06:55,937 I had to buy skates from a garage sale, 72 00:06:56,111 --> 00:06:57,504 they were leather skates, 73 00:06:57,678 --> 00:06:59,375 and this is like, not that long ago. 74 00:06:59,549 --> 00:07:02,117 So you can imagine what-- what the looks that I got 75 00:07:02,291 --> 00:07:03,684 when I was wearing leather skates, 76 00:07:03,858 --> 00:07:05,381 and I'm looking to my left and to my right 77 00:07:05,555 --> 00:07:06,730 and my equipment looks different. 78 00:07:06,904 --> 00:07:09,211 So you kind of become insecure. 79 00:07:09,385 --> 00:07:11,474 And then you realize that you're the only person of color. 80 00:07:12,519 --> 00:07:14,782 Everywhere I went, I just felt a little bit off. 81 00:07:14,956 --> 00:07:17,349 It was either appearance, the language that I spoke. 82 00:07:17,524 --> 00:07:20,527 Financially, was really tough to find a spot to, like, 83 00:07:20,701 --> 00:07:21,876 really fit in and call home. 84 00:07:26,097 --> 00:07:30,493 I was just constantly running into a wall at-- at every turn. 85 00:07:47,379 --> 00:07:48,424 How's that? 86 00:07:54,169 --> 00:07:55,213 Fuck. 87 00:07:57,041 --> 00:07:58,347 You gonna try and get on the ice? 88 00:07:59,000 --> 00:07:59,957 I... 89 00:08:00,610 --> 00:08:02,177 I can't do a single leg squat, like, 90 00:08:02,351 --> 00:08:03,787 well, how much am I gonna do on the ice? 91 00:08:03,961 --> 00:08:06,703 Like, all my other 12 surgeries, 92 00:08:06,877 --> 00:08:08,662 I was, like, excited to get back on the ice. 93 00:08:08,836 --> 00:08:10,490 I'm, like, intimidated with this one. 94 00:08:10,664 --> 00:08:11,795 Contract your knee. 95 00:08:12,796 --> 00:08:13,971 Man, I had 13 surgeries 96 00:08:14,145 --> 00:08:16,365 before I turned 30 years old. 97 00:08:16,539 --> 00:08:18,062 I don't know if I'm gonna be able to walk up the stairs 98 00:08:18,236 --> 00:08:20,064 in five, six, seven years 99 00:08:20,238 --> 00:08:21,675 because of what I've given to the game of hockey. 100 00:08:22,589 --> 00:08:23,894 How's this one here? 101 00:08:24,068 --> 00:08:26,201 It's better. It's getting better. 102 00:08:26,375 --> 00:08:27,985 I got a cup of tea at the National Hockey League level 103 00:08:28,159 --> 00:08:29,987 and nobody can ever take that away from me. 104 00:08:33,338 --> 00:08:35,340 But weighing the pros and cons now 105 00:08:35,515 --> 00:08:37,691 of what I've done to my body, what I've done to myself, 106 00:08:38,343 --> 00:08:41,172 and I still wasn't able to have a long career, 107 00:08:41,346 --> 00:08:44,349 um, or any-- any career for that matter. 108 00:08:44,524 --> 00:08:46,743 Then they paint this picture of you as being somebody 109 00:08:46,917 --> 00:08:48,353 that's difficult to deal with 110 00:08:48,528 --> 00:08:51,095 because I won't get along to get along 111 00:08:51,269 --> 00:08:52,706 when I know I'm being mistreated. 112 00:08:57,493 --> 00:09:00,278 The culture is-- is so ingrained in our minds 113 00:09:00,452 --> 00:09:02,629 that whatever happens, we gotta put our head down 114 00:09:02,803 --> 00:09:04,848 and shut our mouth and not speak on any type of issues 115 00:09:05,022 --> 00:09:06,371 and just do your job 116 00:09:06,546 --> 00:09:08,591 is-- is what's wrong with our game. 117 00:09:20,908 --> 00:09:23,650 Akim Aliu claims that Flames head coach, Bill Peters, 118 00:09:23,824 --> 00:09:25,390 directed racist language at him. 119 00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:27,828 For the first time in NHL history, 120 00:09:28,002 --> 00:09:30,004 the future of a coach is on the line 121 00:09:30,178 --> 00:09:32,006 over a locker room incident. 122 00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:33,877 A player Peters coached in the minors 123 00:09:34,051 --> 00:09:36,619 is accusing him of using the N-word repeatedly. 124 00:09:36,793 --> 00:09:38,360 He wasn't behind the bench for tonight's game 125 00:09:38,534 --> 00:09:39,970 as the team investigates 126 00:09:40,144 --> 00:09:41,711 explosive allegations of racism. 127 00:09:41,885 --> 00:09:43,844 I think this was simple. 128 00:09:44,018 --> 00:09:45,846 And the second the young man's claims were corroborated, 129 00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:47,282 they should have fired him on the spot. 130 00:09:47,456 --> 00:09:49,153 I can tell you this. 131 00:09:49,327 --> 00:09:50,328 As far as I'm concerned, there's no tolerance 132 00:09:50,502 --> 00:09:52,243 for not just coaches, 133 00:09:52,417 --> 00:09:53,897 but players, management, anybody 134 00:09:54,071 --> 00:09:55,377 to conduct themselves that way. 135 00:09:55,943 --> 00:09:58,162 When Akim spoke out, 136 00:09:58,336 --> 00:10:00,904 he was really one of the first people to do it. 137 00:10:01,078 --> 00:10:02,776 And I knew that there was gonna be 138 00:10:02,950 --> 00:10:05,169 a lot of questions around the game. 139 00:10:05,343 --> 00:10:07,389 And I knew that people were also 140 00:10:07,563 --> 00:10:08,956 gonna start coming to me. 141 00:10:09,130 --> 00:10:10,653 That was really terrifying 142 00:10:10,827 --> 00:10:13,264 because I didn't really wanna share anything. 143 00:10:13,874 --> 00:10:15,963 This is a situation where you might have done something 144 00:10:16,137 --> 00:10:17,268 two weeks ago, two years ago, 145 00:10:17,442 --> 00:10:19,009 two decades ago. 146 00:10:19,183 --> 00:10:20,881 You might have been joking around. 147 00:10:21,055 --> 00:10:22,056 How far back are people going to go 148 00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:23,753 and bring something up? 149 00:10:23,927 --> 00:10:25,668 And is this a precedent setting move? 150 00:10:25,842 --> 00:10:27,365 Why do you think he chose now 151 00:10:27,539 --> 00:10:29,672 to come out and bring this to the forefront? 152 00:10:29,846 --> 00:10:31,805 I don't think he wanted to get labeled as that guy. 153 00:10:31,979 --> 00:10:34,938 As a Black hockey player, we tried so hard to blend in 154 00:10:35,112 --> 00:10:36,810 and not create new waves. 155 00:10:36,984 --> 00:10:38,333 There are definitely painful things 156 00:10:38,507 --> 00:10:40,944 that have come up through my career. 157 00:10:41,118 --> 00:10:43,207 When he stood up, it was scary, 158 00:10:43,381 --> 00:10:44,905 but also empowering in the same breath. 159 00:10:45,601 --> 00:10:47,516 This is the biggest story in a while 160 00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:49,518 because there are repercussions 161 00:10:49,692 --> 00:10:51,738 that we're gonna be talking about for quite a long time. 162 00:10:52,869 --> 00:10:55,219 Having someone in the position that he was in 163 00:10:55,393 --> 00:10:57,308 be brave enough to come forward and say that, 164 00:10:57,482 --> 00:10:59,876 I think definitely set off, you know, a spark of people 165 00:11:00,050 --> 00:11:02,313 coming forward and saying, "Well, this is what happened." 166 00:11:02,487 --> 00:11:04,751 I don't think we'd ever seen anything like that before. 167 00:11:41,396 --> 00:11:44,138 This is my silver medal from, uh, 168 00:11:44,312 --> 00:11:46,314 the World Championship in 2016. 169 00:11:47,402 --> 00:11:49,752 This here... This is from minor days. 170 00:11:49,926 --> 00:11:51,754 I played for the Oshawa Lady Generals. 171 00:11:51,928 --> 00:11:54,452 This was my first year playing competitive hockey. 172 00:11:58,935 --> 00:12:02,765 I was number three to start off with, so... 173 00:12:02,939 --> 00:12:05,768 What year this is... I would have been ten. 174 00:12:05,942 --> 00:12:07,596 Yeah, ten. 175 00:12:08,466 --> 00:12:11,339 I was always the biggest player on my team here. 176 00:12:14,777 --> 00:12:17,388 My dad grew up in Scarborough and he played hockey. 177 00:12:17,562 --> 00:12:19,216 Um, he really loved the game 178 00:12:19,390 --> 00:12:21,088 and he wanted to put his kids in hockey. 179 00:12:28,486 --> 00:12:31,707 I'm sure my dad will tell you, he kind of has a process when he walks into the rink, 180 00:12:31,881 --> 00:12:34,536 um, in terms of finding other Black individuals 181 00:12:34,710 --> 00:12:36,103 or knowing where to stand 182 00:12:36,277 --> 00:12:37,713 or knowing what parents to talk to. 183 00:12:39,149 --> 00:12:41,369 I told them a little bit about, like, how you have a process 184 00:12:41,543 --> 00:12:43,327 - when you walk into the arena. - Oh. 185 00:12:43,501 --> 00:12:45,503 - Yeah. My process is, 186 00:12:45,677 --> 00:12:47,984 I go walk around the arena, 187 00:12:48,158 --> 00:12:50,770 I look at all the pictures, and just to see 188 00:12:50,944 --> 00:12:53,381 if there is any Black history within the arena. 189 00:12:53,555 --> 00:12:55,296 And then, 190 00:12:55,470 --> 00:12:57,254 and I see if there's any Black faces in the arena. 191 00:12:57,428 --> 00:12:58,952 And, uh, 192 00:12:59,866 --> 00:13:01,824 usually, it-- it's not there. 193 00:13:01,998 --> 00:13:04,305 So, that's how I know 194 00:13:04,479 --> 00:13:06,220 the, uh, environment that I'm in, 195 00:13:06,394 --> 00:13:08,700 and I make sure I'm comfortable. 196 00:13:08,875 --> 00:13:11,268 And when I'm comfortable, I make other people comfortable. 197 00:13:11,442 --> 00:13:15,011 So that's my goal of how I deal with it. 198 00:13:15,185 --> 00:13:17,797 But, um, yeah. 199 00:13:17,971 --> 00:13:20,408 I just try not to make those things stress me out. 200 00:13:20,582 --> 00:13:23,890 Because it's not, it makes me feel uncomfortable. 201 00:13:24,064 --> 00:13:25,979 And I wanna make people feel comfortable. 202 00:13:26,153 --> 00:13:27,502 Then we're gonna do that little, uh, 203 00:13:27,676 --> 00:13:29,852 crossover squat, the T open squat. 204 00:13:30,026 --> 00:13:32,463 Feet come together, internally rotate the hips, 205 00:13:32,637 --> 00:13:34,988 open back in that 45 and drop into our squat... 206 00:13:35,858 --> 00:13:38,208 The first racist instance 207 00:13:38,382 --> 00:13:39,906 that I vividly remember, 208 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:41,559 um, I was around the age of 12, 209 00:13:42,386 --> 00:13:44,127 and I was in the dressing room with my teammates. 210 00:13:44,301 --> 00:13:46,434 We were all just kind of joking around, laughing. 211 00:13:46,608 --> 00:13:48,218 And I stood up to make a joke. 212 00:13:48,392 --> 00:13:50,742 And one of my teammates quickly replied, 213 00:13:50,917 --> 00:13:52,222 "Shut up, you stupid..." 214 00:13:52,396 --> 00:13:54,050 And proceeded to call me the N-word. 215 00:13:54,224 --> 00:13:56,270 Um, and at that point in time, I was about 12, 216 00:13:56,444 --> 00:13:57,662 so I didn't really know what to do. 217 00:13:57,837 --> 00:13:58,881 Everybody kind of just stopped 218 00:13:59,055 --> 00:14:00,187 and looked around the room. 219 00:14:00,361 --> 00:14:02,058 My trainer just looked at me, 220 00:14:02,232 --> 00:14:04,191 and I just immediately got up and ran out of the room. 221 00:14:04,365 --> 00:14:08,369 Yep! Right. Right. Left. 222 00:14:08,543 --> 00:14:10,066 After that, nothing really happened. 223 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:11,894 There was no accountability. 224 00:14:12,068 --> 00:14:13,678 Left. Right. 225 00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:15,289 That definitely led to me 226 00:14:15,463 --> 00:14:17,247 kind of questioning my place in hockey. 227 00:14:17,421 --> 00:14:19,467 Um, and, you know, whether these people were my friends 228 00:14:19,641 --> 00:14:21,512 and whether they really wanted me there or not. 229 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:29,477 I had never realized that they viewed me differently 230 00:14:29,651 --> 00:14:31,131 than they viewed themselves. 231 00:14:35,483 --> 00:14:37,267 In the first few years after that happened, 232 00:14:37,441 --> 00:14:40,009 probably until I was about 15 or 16, 233 00:14:40,183 --> 00:14:42,446 I definitely tried to change myself. 234 00:14:42,620 --> 00:14:44,927 Whether it was the clothes I was wearing 235 00:14:45,101 --> 00:14:47,060 or the music I was listening to, in order to make friends, 236 00:14:47,234 --> 00:14:49,714 and for my teammates to want me at their events 237 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:52,717 and want me to sleep over and, and wanna hang out with me. 238 00:14:52,892 --> 00:14:54,763 I felt like I needed to change myself. 239 00:15:37,980 --> 00:15:40,417 - You want juice or water? - I'll take a coconut water. 240 00:15:40,591 --> 00:15:42,028 - Coconut water? Okay. - Yep. 241 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:47,337 When I started out, I'll be honest, 242 00:15:47,511 --> 00:15:49,687 I couldn't barely even skate. 243 00:15:49,861 --> 00:15:51,385 As most kids start out, we can't really skate that good. 244 00:15:51,559 --> 00:15:53,691 But as a little kid, as my dad told me, 245 00:15:53,865 --> 00:15:55,737 I just kept on getting up and kept on trying 246 00:15:55,911 --> 00:15:57,652 to get out there trying to skate. 247 00:15:58,392 --> 00:15:59,697 After that, I played one game 248 00:15:59,871 --> 00:16:01,177 and I just fell in love with it, 249 00:16:01,351 --> 00:16:03,527 like, just right in there. 250 00:16:03,701 --> 00:16:05,181 And I looked at my dad, I told him, "I'm gonna be a goalie." 251 00:16:05,355 --> 00:16:07,444 And I know his reaction was, 252 00:16:07,618 --> 00:16:10,273 "Oh, no, I gotta pay all this expensive gear when he gets older." 253 00:16:10,447 --> 00:16:14,451 But, uh, I think he's fine with it now. 254 00:16:26,681 --> 00:16:28,248 I like being the goalie. 255 00:16:28,422 --> 00:16:29,945 I like being the guy 256 00:16:30,119 --> 00:16:33,253 who has to save the team in a way, 257 00:16:33,427 --> 00:16:35,124 but everyone's one big team. 258 00:16:35,298 --> 00:16:37,039 You know, we all help each other. 259 00:16:37,213 --> 00:16:39,563 You know, you're not on an island by yourself. 260 00:16:39,737 --> 00:16:42,088 You're on an island distant away from others, 261 00:16:42,262 --> 00:16:44,177 but it's still connected in a way. 262 00:16:50,052 --> 00:16:52,272 Kind of hit me a couple years back 263 00:16:52,446 --> 00:16:56,580 when I got called the N-word in a Pee-Wee game. 264 00:16:56,754 --> 00:16:58,539 I was 12. 265 00:16:58,713 --> 00:17:00,758 Player came in, I stopped him on a breakaway. 266 00:17:00,932 --> 00:17:02,499 He kind of went into me. 267 00:17:02,673 --> 00:17:04,371 I give him, like, a goalie push as we call it, 268 00:17:04,545 --> 00:17:06,068 you know, just to get-- get him off of me, 269 00:17:06,242 --> 00:17:07,896 and he didn't like that. 270 00:17:08,070 --> 00:17:11,117 So next face-off, the puck goes into the corner. 271 00:17:11,291 --> 00:17:15,164 He kind of skates by and says, "F you, you nigger." 272 00:17:15,338 --> 00:17:17,993 And right away, uh, that shook me. 273 00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:20,822 That threw me way off and shook me. 274 00:17:29,396 --> 00:17:30,832 When he told me what happened 275 00:17:31,006 --> 00:17:32,660 and I said, "Are you okay?" 276 00:17:33,443 --> 00:17:36,185 He said, "Dad, it made me feel I didn't belong." 277 00:17:36,794 --> 00:17:38,187 And that kind of hit me hard. 278 00:17:38,927 --> 00:17:40,755 And I said, "Well, you do belong." 279 00:17:41,930 --> 00:17:43,018 Back off! 280 00:17:44,933 --> 00:17:47,022 You do belong and you belong in the game. 281 00:17:47,805 --> 00:17:49,198 Oh, yeah. 282 00:17:50,286 --> 00:17:53,985 They were gonna talk to the coach of the other team. 283 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,639 Well, that was his father. 284 00:17:56,423 --> 00:17:57,424 So you know what happened. 285 00:17:57,598 --> 00:17:58,947 Didn't go anywhere. 286 00:18:01,297 --> 00:18:03,952 Was supposed to be like a suspension for 45 days, 287 00:18:04,126 --> 00:18:05,345 plus a written apology. 288 00:18:07,390 --> 00:18:10,263 But the father said there will be no written apology. 289 00:18:11,133 --> 00:18:12,700 And that kind of threw me. 290 00:18:14,789 --> 00:18:16,138 What kind of message are you sending? 291 00:18:16,312 --> 00:18:17,313 You should have insisted. 292 00:18:17,487 --> 00:18:19,315 But it didn't happen. 293 00:18:19,489 --> 00:18:21,665 We played that kid six times the following year. 294 00:18:22,797 --> 00:18:24,190 Whoo! 295 00:18:25,191 --> 00:18:27,454 Not once would he shake Mark's hand. 296 00:18:27,628 --> 00:18:28,759 He would turn away. 297 00:18:39,553 --> 00:18:41,032 Scott, how you doing? 298 00:18:41,207 --> 00:18:42,643 - Good. 299 00:18:56,352 --> 00:18:58,049 From the time I picked up a hockey stick, 300 00:18:58,224 --> 00:18:59,747 which was probably about the age of five, 301 00:18:59,921 --> 00:19:02,097 my goal was to play in the NHL. 302 00:19:04,491 --> 00:19:06,536 You know, I was told by several people 303 00:19:06,710 --> 00:19:08,147 that it would never happen, 304 00:19:08,321 --> 00:19:10,192 but that's where my mindset was. 305 00:19:10,366 --> 00:19:12,629 And, you know, I wasn't gonna let anything stop me. 306 00:19:13,891 --> 00:19:14,892 Score any goals tonight? 307 00:19:15,066 --> 00:19:16,503 Yeah, I got a hat trick. 308 00:19:16,677 --> 00:19:18,026 Excellent. Excellent. 309 00:19:20,333 --> 00:19:22,422 What did you like most about playing in the Air Canada Centre tonight? 310 00:19:22,596 --> 00:19:24,032 Uh, getting my third goal. 311 00:19:25,207 --> 00:19:27,209 To me, hockey was just something 312 00:19:27,383 --> 00:19:28,645 that I could do and feel at peace. 313 00:19:28,819 --> 00:19:30,125 ...my first goal. 314 00:19:30,299 --> 00:19:31,300 You know, be free and, you know, 315 00:19:31,474 --> 00:19:32,997 not think about what is going on 316 00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:34,303 in the outside world and just enjoy myself. 317 00:19:34,477 --> 00:19:35,870 It's all I ever wanted to do. 318 00:19:36,044 --> 00:19:37,785 It's like my art, my craft. 319 00:19:45,619 --> 00:19:46,881 Even growing up, 320 00:19:47,751 --> 00:19:49,884 people called me, you know, different racial epithets. 321 00:19:50,711 --> 00:19:52,365 I was fortunate enough 322 00:19:52,539 --> 00:19:54,628 to play with my best friends at a young age. 323 00:19:54,802 --> 00:19:57,239 I had a core group of four guys that always had my back, 324 00:19:57,413 --> 00:19:58,936 but at the same time, 325 00:19:59,110 --> 00:20:00,677 I don't think they even really understood, 326 00:20:00,851 --> 00:20:01,809 you know, how I felt. 327 00:20:01,983 --> 00:20:02,984 But they always tried. 328 00:20:03,158 --> 00:20:04,464 They always cared, 329 00:20:04,638 --> 00:20:05,334 you know, and they always asked. 330 00:20:06,422 --> 00:20:09,382 So, yeah, you feel isolated a lot. 331 00:20:09,556 --> 00:20:11,166 But at the same time, 332 00:20:11,340 --> 00:20:12,994 I was doing what I loved to do. 333 00:20:13,168 --> 00:20:15,475 So I wasn't gonna let anyone, you know, tear me down. 334 00:20:34,885 --> 00:20:36,365 I'm a child of the '60s. 335 00:20:37,540 --> 00:20:40,326 So I grew up with, you know, two channels on TV and, uh, 336 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,284 Hockey Night in Canada was every Saturday night. 337 00:20:53,556 --> 00:20:55,210 Saturday nights when I was watching Dave Keon 338 00:20:55,384 --> 00:20:56,994 and Darryl Sittler, and the boys playing-- 339 00:20:57,168 --> 00:20:59,606 because I was a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, still am-- 340 00:20:59,780 --> 00:21:01,956 um, I wasn't seeing anybody that looked like me that was out there on the ice. 341 00:21:02,130 --> 00:21:03,479 Over on the left side to Monahan, 342 00:21:03,653 --> 00:21:05,176 over the line with Keon 343 00:21:05,351 --> 00:21:06,787 and his pass was blocked by Seiling... 344 00:21:09,746 --> 00:21:12,271 One afternoon, I'm driving home, 345 00:21:12,445 --> 00:21:15,056 and I hear these two brothers, Darril and George Fosty, 346 00:21:15,230 --> 00:21:16,797 talking about the history of the Colored Hockey League. 347 00:21:16,971 --> 00:21:18,625 And I'm like, "Colored Hockey League"? 348 00:21:18,799 --> 00:21:20,888 And so I listened intently. And then, of course, 349 00:21:21,062 --> 00:21:22,890 like everybody else... 350 00:21:23,064 --> 00:21:25,196 You know, to a large degree, we started asking questions. 351 00:21:25,371 --> 00:21:27,068 "You know about the Colored Hockey League? 352 00:21:27,242 --> 00:21:28,504 "When did this happen? Where would this..." You know? 353 00:21:28,678 --> 00:21:29,766 And that's how I first connected 354 00:21:29,940 --> 00:21:30,680 with-- with George and Darril. 355 00:21:42,039 --> 00:21:43,606 Darril and myself, we were trying to put together a book 356 00:21:43,780 --> 00:21:45,608 on Canadian military history. 357 00:21:45,782 --> 00:21:47,567 And I said we should write a hockey history and he said, 358 00:21:47,741 --> 00:21:48,872 "Well, how long do you think it would take us"? 359 00:21:49,046 --> 00:21:50,309 So I said, "Well, 360 00:21:50,483 --> 00:21:51,875 it would take us probably six months." 361 00:21:52,049 --> 00:21:53,224 Not a hell of a lot history in hockey, right? 362 00:21:55,009 --> 00:21:58,882 So we started to, uh, research the history of hockey. 363 00:22:03,322 --> 00:22:05,411 And in the course of that, we found reference 364 00:22:05,585 --> 00:22:07,326 to a hockey league out of Nova Scotia. 365 00:22:07,500 --> 00:22:09,197 An all Black Hockey League. 366 00:22:09,371 --> 00:22:10,981 CHL or Colored Hockey League. 367 00:22:14,202 --> 00:22:17,466 What caught our attention was, we were reading one of the references to the CHL. 368 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,947 And they said one of the teams' names was Jubilee. 369 00:22:20,121 --> 00:22:23,080 And it was named, uh, in honor of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. 370 00:22:23,254 --> 00:22:25,692 And I looked at that and I thought, 371 00:22:25,866 --> 00:22:27,998 "That-- that's not right. There's something wrong here." 372 00:22:28,956 --> 00:22:31,306 We saw a reference that this was a church league. 373 00:22:31,959 --> 00:22:35,397 And we found a Bible written pre-1900s. 374 00:22:35,571 --> 00:22:37,443 We pulled up the Book of Habakkuk. 375 00:22:37,617 --> 00:22:40,794 The Book of Habakkuk was the emancipator storybook. 376 00:22:40,968 --> 00:22:43,753 When the emancipators went on to the plantations, 377 00:22:44,624 --> 00:22:46,495 they said, "Behold, ye among the heathen." 378 00:22:46,669 --> 00:22:48,497 They were talking to the slaves. 379 00:22:48,671 --> 00:22:51,326 "I will work a work in your day, which you will not believe." 380 00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:53,372 That was the underground railroad. 381 00:22:53,937 --> 00:22:56,026 "We will give you your jubilee." 382 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,855 And sure enough, Jubilee meant "emancipation." 383 00:22:59,029 --> 00:23:01,075 Eureka meant "I will see God." 384 00:23:01,249 --> 00:23:03,991 Hammonds Plains team was named the Moss Backs. 385 00:23:04,165 --> 00:23:06,646 Well, we know that when slaves fled north, 386 00:23:06,820 --> 00:23:09,388 they used to touch the back of trees for moss, 387 00:23:09,562 --> 00:23:11,694 because moss grows on the north side of trees, 388 00:23:11,868 --> 00:23:13,740 the North Star going to Canada. 389 00:23:14,349 --> 00:23:16,960 We suddenly realized we were looking at a coded hockey league. 390 00:23:17,134 --> 00:23:19,789 We said, "Jesus, we've got a story here." 391 00:23:28,537 --> 00:23:30,539 So we went up to Nova Scotia 392 00:23:30,713 --> 00:23:33,455 to provincial archives, we went into the communities. 393 00:23:34,064 --> 00:23:35,892 We got talking and we found out that, 394 00:23:36,066 --> 00:23:38,329 uh, some of these families were, uh, family names 395 00:23:38,504 --> 00:23:40,114 that we recognized from our research. 396 00:23:44,727 --> 00:23:46,294 The Fosty brothers reached out to me 397 00:23:46,468 --> 00:23:48,992 to see if I could remember 398 00:23:49,166 --> 00:23:51,734 the, the teams and how the... Who the players were. 399 00:23:51,908 --> 00:23:54,911 I told them I had not heard that before. 400 00:23:55,085 --> 00:23:57,305 I said the only thing I know about Black people in hockey 401 00:23:57,479 --> 00:24:01,178 is a picture that used to be on the old mantel piece at home. 402 00:24:01,352 --> 00:24:03,137 We were kids, and I think 403 00:24:03,703 --> 00:24:06,880 almost all of us have the same picture on the living room walls 404 00:24:07,054 --> 00:24:09,665 of a group of guys with hockey sticks. 405 00:24:09,839 --> 00:24:13,103 And that was the amount of information we had. 406 00:24:17,325 --> 00:24:19,806 We were shocked and astonished and, uh, 407 00:24:20,937 --> 00:24:22,417 even the fact that my father 408 00:24:23,113 --> 00:24:25,028 played goalie for the-- 409 00:24:25,202 --> 00:24:28,249 for the Halifax hockey team in the 1930s, '40s. 410 00:24:29,729 --> 00:24:30,730 Quite a surprise. 411 00:24:43,003 --> 00:24:44,352 No, I'm feeling good today. 412 00:24:51,838 --> 00:24:54,318 Black folks are largely absented. 413 00:24:54,493 --> 00:24:56,843 Right? It's a verb. It's like an action. 414 00:24:57,017 --> 00:24:59,149 We're absented from the national narrative. 415 00:25:02,892 --> 00:25:07,593 The image of Canada relies on this allegorical Black Canada. 416 00:25:09,508 --> 00:25:13,381 Canada as the last stop on the underground railroad. 417 00:25:16,384 --> 00:25:18,299 Canada as this safe haven, 418 00:25:18,473 --> 00:25:20,910 from the tyranny of American racism. 419 00:25:21,607 --> 00:25:22,738 And then what, you know? 420 00:25:22,912 --> 00:25:24,523 What happens to those people? 421 00:25:24,697 --> 00:25:26,525 What are their stories? 422 00:25:26,699 --> 00:25:28,483 What do they do, how do they live? 423 00:25:28,657 --> 00:25:30,050 What is it like? 424 00:25:30,485 --> 00:25:32,356 What is it like for Black people in Canada? 425 00:25:35,011 --> 00:25:38,754 The stories have not made it into the mainstream. 426 00:25:42,062 --> 00:25:43,629 You know, what we teach our children. 427 00:25:46,414 --> 00:25:49,330 And so, we've had to write ourselves 428 00:25:49,504 --> 00:25:52,725 into the national narrative of this country. 429 00:25:53,421 --> 00:25:55,205 Pass! Pass! 430 00:25:55,379 --> 00:25:56,816 When we were researching this history, 431 00:25:56,990 --> 00:25:59,079 um, there was about 13 teams. 432 00:25:59,688 --> 00:26:03,170 Some played one season, uh, others played for a decade. 433 00:26:03,953 --> 00:26:05,607 One team was the Amherst Royals, 434 00:26:05,781 --> 00:26:07,478 they played for about two or three years. 435 00:26:08,479 --> 00:26:10,003 The Moss Backs, they played one season 436 00:26:10,177 --> 00:26:11,918 that we were able to identify. 437 00:26:12,571 --> 00:26:15,182 The Truro Victorias, they played for a decade or more. 438 00:26:15,356 --> 00:26:18,228 The Eurekas played for at least a decade. 439 00:26:18,402 --> 00:26:20,056 And you had the Africville Seasides 440 00:26:20,230 --> 00:26:21,754 who were founded in 1894, 441 00:26:21,928 --> 00:26:23,364 and played right up to the 1930s. 442 00:26:24,234 --> 00:26:25,584 Come on, let's go! Let's go! 443 00:26:27,586 --> 00:26:28,978 Over here, over here, over here! 444 00:27:16,373 --> 00:27:19,681 At one point, there were 52 Black historic communities across this province. 445 00:27:23,554 --> 00:27:25,818 Today, there's a handful, maybe, that are still really 446 00:27:25,992 --> 00:27:27,297 active and vibrant. 447 00:27:31,780 --> 00:27:33,869 At those times, we were really on the periphery. 448 00:27:35,262 --> 00:27:37,960 Africville was really on the outskirts of the city. 449 00:27:39,875 --> 00:27:40,963 Close enough because we might need you 450 00:27:41,137 --> 00:27:42,225 to still be laborers and work, 451 00:27:42,399 --> 00:27:43,923 or do lays work in our houses. 452 00:27:44,097 --> 00:27:45,185 But far enough you weren't living with us. 453 00:28:06,772 --> 00:28:08,382 Hockey was a big part 454 00:28:08,556 --> 00:28:11,211 of the way of life in Africville, right. 455 00:28:11,385 --> 00:28:15,563 And a lot of the men played on the Africville Seasides. 456 00:28:15,737 --> 00:28:18,697 So, that tradition of hockey 457 00:28:18,871 --> 00:28:22,178 and of us finding a way to play the game 458 00:28:22,352 --> 00:28:24,006 continued straight through 459 00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:25,747 into the '70s. 460 00:28:26,922 --> 00:28:28,532 The whole community, 461 00:28:28,707 --> 00:28:31,187 from the time you were born practically, 462 00:28:31,361 --> 00:28:34,277 as long as you lived in the community, you skated. 463 00:28:34,451 --> 00:28:36,192 It was normal. 464 00:28:36,366 --> 00:28:39,021 And when you skated, there was always a hockey game 465 00:28:39,195 --> 00:28:40,631 that was part of that. 466 00:28:40,806 --> 00:28:42,764 Hockey, it didn't cost that much. 467 00:28:42,938 --> 00:28:45,375 You give 'em a stick and a pair of skates. 468 00:28:45,549 --> 00:28:46,986 Every kid played. 469 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:48,727 When I was growing up, 470 00:28:48,901 --> 00:28:50,990 my life basically was the Black community. 471 00:28:51,164 --> 00:28:53,862 I don't think they realized the importance 472 00:28:54,036 --> 00:28:56,473 of what they were doing, and even what they were doing 473 00:28:56,647 --> 00:28:58,998 when they passed it down to the next generation because 474 00:29:00,129 --> 00:29:02,566 they didn't just pass down the skill of hockey 475 00:29:02,741 --> 00:29:04,873 but how you lived your life. 476 00:29:05,047 --> 00:29:07,615 And that's the most important thing that I take from it. 477 00:29:08,224 --> 00:29:10,574 Players conducted themselves with such dignity 478 00:29:10,749 --> 00:29:12,794 because that's the way they were raised. 479 00:29:25,285 --> 00:29:27,548 How many kids here are from Nova Scotia? 480 00:29:27,722 --> 00:29:29,768 Put up your hand. Or family from Nova Scotia? 481 00:29:29,942 --> 00:29:32,640 Anybody know why we're called Seasides? 482 00:29:32,814 --> 00:29:35,034 Anybody know the history behind the name? Go ahead. 483 00:29:35,208 --> 00:29:36,862 Black people that played hockey. 484 00:29:37,036 --> 00:29:38,559 The Black people that played hockey when? 485 00:29:38,733 --> 00:29:39,778 Um... 486 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,476 - A long time ago. - Yes. 487 00:29:42,650 --> 00:29:44,608 The Black people who played a long time ago. 488 00:29:44,783 --> 00:29:46,567 They-- they couldn't play with white people 489 00:29:46,741 --> 00:29:49,613 because, well, I have no clue about that. 490 00:29:49,788 --> 00:29:52,965 That was... Okay. Okay. Let me try one more. 491 00:29:53,139 --> 00:29:54,488 Why are we called Seasides? Huh? 492 00:29:54,662 --> 00:29:56,316 There was a team in Nova Scotia 493 00:29:56,490 --> 00:29:58,187 called the Africville Seasides. 494 00:29:58,361 --> 00:30:00,886 Oh, give him a hand. Coach got it correct. 495 00:30:01,625 --> 00:30:02,844 Coach, got it correct. 496 00:30:04,541 --> 00:30:05,499 Right? 497 00:30:07,022 --> 00:30:09,285 Guys... [stammers] So just... 498 00:30:10,025 --> 00:30:11,374 Just a little bit of history, guys. 499 00:30:11,548 --> 00:30:13,942 The very first year, it was 1895. 500 00:30:14,116 --> 00:30:16,249 Africville Seasides, okay? 501 00:30:16,423 --> 00:30:17,990 That's why we're here. That's why our name is called Seasides. 502 00:30:18,164 --> 00:30:19,600 So, guys, that's a little bit of history. 503 00:30:19,774 --> 00:30:21,297 We'll go into it in more detail later 504 00:30:21,471 --> 00:30:22,559 when you get your team uniforms. 505 00:30:22,733 --> 00:30:24,257 Okay. Who are we? 506 00:30:24,431 --> 00:30:25,867 Seasides! 507 00:30:26,041 --> 00:30:27,347 One more time. Who are we? 508 00:30:27,521 --> 00:30:29,828 Seasides! 509 00:30:30,002 --> 00:30:32,091 Bring it in. Bring it in, guys, that was beautiful. Bring it in. 510 00:30:32,265 --> 00:30:34,310 Bring it in. Bring it in. Bring it in. 511 00:30:34,484 --> 00:30:36,878 You see, for me, I was always into the Black hockey history. 512 00:30:37,052 --> 00:30:38,662 My family is from Nova Scotia. 513 00:30:38,837 --> 00:30:40,186 I was born here in Toronto. 514 00:30:41,100 --> 00:30:43,058 Growing up in Canada, we played hockey 515 00:30:43,232 --> 00:30:44,668 from the time that we could stand up. 516 00:30:44,843 --> 00:30:46,105 We were on skates, we're Canadian-born. 517 00:30:46,279 --> 00:30:47,367 Saturday night was hockey night. 518 00:30:47,541 --> 00:30:48,934 We'd get around the TV, 519 00:30:49,108 --> 00:30:50,544 we would watch it, we would play it. 520 00:30:50,718 --> 00:30:52,589 We-- we'd go outside and play it all day, 521 00:30:52,763 --> 00:30:54,548 until our hands were numb. 522 00:30:57,159 --> 00:30:58,726 They would never convince me 523 00:30:58,900 --> 00:30:59,683 that I couldn't be part of the game. 524 00:31:00,771 --> 00:31:02,643 It was like, no, man, we're part of this game. 525 00:31:02,817 --> 00:31:05,211 I'm Canadian, so it's my game. We could play hockey. 526 00:31:05,385 --> 00:31:07,387 Like, no matter what happened, I just kept going. 527 00:31:07,561 --> 00:31:09,737 No matter what incident we went through, we just kept going. 528 00:31:09,911 --> 00:31:13,088 We just always tried to send the message 529 00:31:13,262 --> 00:31:15,569 that we are part of this game, no matter what. 530 00:31:16,613 --> 00:31:19,138 Let's go over there. I'm gonna show you how to tie these skates on tight. 531 00:31:19,312 --> 00:31:21,662 Come on. Let's go over here. Come on. Okay, now watch. 532 00:31:22,663 --> 00:31:23,620 Tight. 533 00:31:24,056 --> 00:31:25,187 - Mm-hmm. - Tight. 534 00:31:26,710 --> 00:31:27,842 Boom. 535 00:31:28,321 --> 00:31:29,452 Now you look like a hockey player. 536 00:31:29,626 --> 00:31:30,801 Now you're ready to go. 537 00:31:34,544 --> 00:31:36,329 The helmet's hurting right here, correct? 538 00:31:36,503 --> 00:31:38,331 Right? Right in here, right? 539 00:31:38,505 --> 00:31:40,333 You got to keep working it. It'll get looser and looser. 540 00:31:40,507 --> 00:31:41,856 Okay? But I need you to come back out there, man. 541 00:31:42,030 --> 00:31:43,379 - All right? - Okay. 542 00:31:43,553 --> 00:31:45,033 Don't let your mom make you miss weeks, man. 543 00:31:45,816 --> 00:31:47,296 Okay? 'Cause I had to call her twice 544 00:31:47,470 --> 00:31:50,038 to make sure you guys are here today. Okay? 545 00:31:50,212 --> 00:31:52,432 No more missing weeks, man. 'Cause if you're ready to start playing games, 546 00:31:52,606 --> 00:31:54,651 we can't miss no weeks. Okay? 547 00:31:57,045 --> 00:31:58,873 I've always tried to tell the wider hockey community 548 00:31:59,047 --> 00:32:01,310 that they're making this diversity thing too difficult. 549 00:32:02,137 --> 00:32:05,010 I just went to the areas in the city to where people were just neglecting. 550 00:32:06,272 --> 00:32:07,882 One thing that we found in talking to them 551 00:32:08,056 --> 00:32:09,666 is nobody ever asked them 552 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,538 if they were interested in playing hockey. 553 00:32:11,712 --> 00:32:13,322 So I-- I just started asking, and they said, 554 00:32:13,496 --> 00:32:15,107 "Yeah, we're interested. We're interested." 555 00:32:15,281 --> 00:32:16,847 And that's why we came up with Seasides. 556 00:32:19,154 --> 00:32:21,461 Right away, that way. Right away. 557 00:32:21,635 --> 00:32:25,073 We're at 85% of the children in the program are subsidized. 558 00:32:25,247 --> 00:32:27,728 'Cause we know that it's really, really, really, really expensive. 559 00:32:27,902 --> 00:32:30,209 So whatever it takes, whatever money that it costs, 560 00:32:30,383 --> 00:32:31,993 whatever equipment that they need, 561 00:32:32,167 --> 00:32:34,387 we're gonna follow all of our kids all the way up. 562 00:32:39,827 --> 00:32:42,656 Do I think hockey is really ready 563 00:32:43,265 --> 00:32:46,225 to welcome a diverse crowd with open arms? 564 00:32:46,399 --> 00:32:48,618 No. Not 100%. 565 00:32:48,792 --> 00:32:51,970 They're, they're-- Like I said, they're moving in the right direction, 566 00:32:52,144 --> 00:32:54,450 but they're taking the long route. 567 00:32:56,583 --> 00:32:58,498 We don't want the kids to get too comfortable and think 568 00:32:58,672 --> 00:33:00,587 that there's still not racism in the game. 569 00:33:01,501 --> 00:33:04,634 Hockey's done a really good job of disguising it. 570 00:33:06,114 --> 00:33:09,465 The NHL has been talking about diversity since 1993. 571 00:33:11,380 --> 00:33:12,599 They just don't know what to do with it. 572 00:33:13,513 --> 00:33:14,862 They don't know what to do with it. 573 00:33:15,036 --> 00:33:16,124 Still, today. 574 00:33:17,908 --> 00:33:20,694 For me, this beautiful, rich, 575 00:33:21,521 --> 00:33:23,436 and energetic country of ours 576 00:33:24,306 --> 00:33:27,309 can become a model of the just society 577 00:33:28,223 --> 00:33:29,703 in which every citizen 578 00:33:29,877 --> 00:33:32,010 will enjoy his fundamental rights 579 00:33:33,272 --> 00:33:36,579 and peoples of many cultures will live in harmony. 580 00:33:37,841 --> 00:33:39,191 Talking about racism in Canada 581 00:33:39,365 --> 00:33:41,541 really pushes at the-- the boundaries 582 00:33:41,715 --> 00:33:43,586 of the Canadian imagination. 583 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:45,936 Like, what we-- what we think is possible in this country, 584 00:33:46,111 --> 00:33:48,635 it goes to the core of who we think we are. 585 00:33:48,809 --> 00:33:51,203 That's, you know, that's a hard pill to swallow. 586 00:33:51,377 --> 00:33:52,987 The idea that racism exists here, 587 00:33:53,161 --> 00:33:55,468 when Canadian multiculturalism, 588 00:33:55,642 --> 00:33:57,383 Canadian-- Canadian tolerance, 589 00:33:57,557 --> 00:33:59,863 Canadian benevolence, is so built into the-- 590 00:34:00,038 --> 00:34:01,082 our core understandings 591 00:34:01,256 --> 00:34:03,476 of who we are as a country. 592 00:34:05,173 --> 00:34:06,827 ♪ A tapestry ♪ 593 00:34:07,001 --> 00:34:10,352 ♪ Of color, shapes and sounds ♪ 594 00:34:10,526 --> 00:34:14,139 ♪ We're a people bound together ♪ 595 00:34:14,313 --> 00:34:17,751 ♪ By the visions we have found ♪ 596 00:34:18,404 --> 00:34:21,059 Every country needs a national identity. 597 00:34:21,233 --> 00:34:25,411 For centuries, ours has been that we are not American. 598 00:34:25,585 --> 00:34:27,848 We are descendants of the British, 599 00:34:28,022 --> 00:34:29,371 whatever that means. 600 00:34:29,545 --> 00:34:31,069 And America is where-- 601 00:34:31,243 --> 00:34:32,940 is where real racism happens. 602 00:34:33,114 --> 00:34:34,942 It really goes against the core 603 00:34:35,116 --> 00:34:38,206 of who we think we are, and that is so challenging. 604 00:34:38,380 --> 00:34:39,903 That's such... 605 00:34:40,078 --> 00:34:43,777 Such a momentous thing to have to overcome. 606 00:34:50,305 --> 00:34:52,525 I was obsessed. I was in love with hockey. 607 00:34:53,178 --> 00:34:55,441 Uh, first year Pro, I was in Rockford 608 00:34:55,615 --> 00:34:57,007 with Chicago's farm team. 609 00:34:58,444 --> 00:35:01,316 We were, um, getting ready for a pregame skate. 610 00:35:01,490 --> 00:35:03,405 Guys were just doing the regular thing in the morning, 611 00:35:03,579 --> 00:35:05,277 taping their sticks, having a coffee, chatting, 612 00:35:05,451 --> 00:35:07,148 just getting ready for pregame skate. 613 00:35:08,149 --> 00:35:10,978 I had my iPod going. I'll never forget, it was a Lil Wayne song. 614 00:35:12,197 --> 00:35:13,937 The doors come flying open, 615 00:35:14,112 --> 00:35:16,201 and Bill Peters comes flying in and... 616 00:35:17,158 --> 00:35:19,639 runs up to the iPod and rips the aux cord out. 617 00:35:20,292 --> 00:35:21,989 And he goes, "Whose shit is this? 618 00:35:22,163 --> 00:35:23,164 Whose music is this?" 619 00:35:24,122 --> 00:35:26,515 And I was just like, kinda, 620 00:35:27,299 --> 00:35:29,127 "Like a-- it's me that's playing it." 621 00:35:29,866 --> 00:35:31,172 And he goes, 622 00:35:31,346 --> 00:35:33,000 "I'm tired of this nigger shit. 623 00:35:33,174 --> 00:35:34,480 Get your nigger shit out of here. I don't want it-- 624 00:35:34,654 --> 00:35:35,611 I don't wanna hear it ever again." 625 00:35:37,265 --> 00:35:38,527 And I kind of like... 626 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:41,835 Like, it makes my-- Like, I'm shaking right now. 627 00:35:42,009 --> 00:35:43,837 Like, I was like... 628 00:35:44,403 --> 00:35:46,013 I'm 20 years old, man, like... 629 00:35:46,709 --> 00:35:48,233 And I was the youngest guy 630 00:35:48,407 --> 00:35:49,843 in that-- in that dressing room. 631 00:35:50,017 --> 00:35:52,411 And I'd lock eyes with one of the players, 632 00:35:52,585 --> 00:35:53,977 and then they'd like, look away. 633 00:35:54,152 --> 00:35:55,631 Then I'd look this way 634 00:35:55,805 --> 00:35:57,372 and then they'd look-- they'd look away 635 00:35:57,546 --> 00:35:58,634 because they were so uncomfortable, 636 00:35:58,808 --> 00:35:59,983 they didn't know what to do. 637 00:36:00,158 --> 00:36:01,898 And it was just dead silence. 638 00:36:02,072 --> 00:36:04,597 And then I was like, "Well, what do I do now?" 639 00:36:04,771 --> 00:36:08,296 Like, do I respond to him, 640 00:36:09,471 --> 00:36:12,344 or do I suck it up because he controls my fate? 641 00:36:14,259 --> 00:36:17,262 I'm this far away from getting to the National Hockey League, 642 00:36:17,436 --> 00:36:19,046 and he holds all my cards. 643 00:36:19,220 --> 00:36:20,569 I've worked my whole life. 644 00:36:20,743 --> 00:36:22,441 Like, I grew up on welfare 645 00:36:22,615 --> 00:36:25,792 to get to an inch from the National Hockey League. 646 00:36:25,966 --> 00:36:27,576 And this is really tough for me to say 647 00:36:27,750 --> 00:36:29,361 and eats me up inside, like... 648 00:36:30,057 --> 00:36:31,232 In that position... 649 00:36:32,190 --> 00:36:34,844 Y-yes, the right thing would have been to-- 650 00:36:35,018 --> 00:36:36,237 to call it out as what it is. 651 00:36:36,411 --> 00:36:38,152 But I have to know 652 00:36:38,326 --> 00:36:40,285 what the consequences to that are gonna be. 653 00:36:41,155 --> 00:36:42,200 And... 654 00:36:43,592 --> 00:36:45,290 it came to fruition because... 655 00:36:45,899 --> 00:36:47,901 even after that incident, he wanted-- 656 00:36:48,075 --> 00:36:49,119 He didn't want me on the team 657 00:36:49,294 --> 00:36:50,860 because he felt that I was 658 00:36:51,470 --> 00:36:53,298 shunning him a little bit, disrespecting him. 659 00:36:53,472 --> 00:36:55,778 And now, I'm walking on eggshells 660 00:36:55,952 --> 00:36:57,432 after coach called me an N-word 661 00:36:57,606 --> 00:36:59,478 and making sure that he's okay. 662 00:37:00,174 --> 00:37:03,003 And I just, like, that's a lot to, like, wrap in your mind. 663 00:37:03,177 --> 00:37:05,179 Like, I know what happened was wrong, 664 00:37:05,353 --> 00:37:06,920 but there's nothing I can do about it. 665 00:37:07,094 --> 00:37:08,313 And I've got to make sure that the guy 666 00:37:08,487 --> 00:37:10,532 that did it to me is okay 667 00:37:11,098 --> 00:37:12,360 so I can reach my dream. 668 00:37:24,938 --> 00:37:27,027 I feel like sometimes I'm going in circles and stuff, 669 00:37:27,201 --> 00:37:29,159 but it's just like, hard stuff to talk about. 670 00:37:30,944 --> 00:37:32,424 You just gotta spit it out. 671 00:37:37,733 --> 00:37:41,215 I think it happens right off the bat. 672 00:37:41,389 --> 00:37:43,086 It's a reality that you're living. 673 00:37:43,261 --> 00:37:46,786 Racism. And how deeply it's ingrained in the game. 674 00:37:47,961 --> 00:37:50,790 My mom's Filipino and my dad's white. 675 00:37:50,964 --> 00:37:53,662 She comes from a huge blended family. 676 00:37:53,836 --> 00:37:56,883 Black, Asian, First Nations. 677 00:37:57,623 --> 00:38:00,278 Growing up here you're the butt of every joke. 678 00:38:00,930 --> 00:38:02,758 I think the ignorance of little kids 679 00:38:03,368 --> 00:38:06,458 not knowing exactly like, what ethnicity I was, 680 00:38:07,067 --> 00:38:09,374 you kind of just get the book thrown at you. 681 00:38:09,548 --> 00:38:11,724 See what sticks and see what-- see what hurts me. 682 00:38:11,898 --> 00:38:13,203 But I just... 683 00:38:13,682 --> 00:38:15,510 I just knew all my family, like... 684 00:38:16,294 --> 00:38:17,643 Uh, kind of everything hurt me. 685 00:38:18,121 --> 00:38:19,384 So you're-- you're constantly 686 00:38:19,558 --> 00:38:20,646 standing up for those people 687 00:38:20,820 --> 00:38:22,691 and, and wanting to, you know, 688 00:38:22,865 --> 00:38:25,651 represent them or, you know, not let anything slide, but... 689 00:38:27,043 --> 00:38:28,741 It's a lot, it's hard work. 690 00:38:28,915 --> 00:38:31,309 That's exhausting, you know, constantly doing that, 691 00:38:31,483 --> 00:38:33,615 especially in hockey, with how frequent it is. 692 00:38:36,705 --> 00:38:38,185 I know there was a time when I was younger, 693 00:38:38,359 --> 00:38:39,534 like, at a teen tournament. 694 00:38:39,708 --> 00:38:40,709 Um... 695 00:38:42,276 --> 00:38:43,582 Guys would call me the N-word. 696 00:38:43,756 --> 00:38:44,844 I was just... 697 00:38:45,671 --> 00:38:48,978 It's fucked up, like, why are you saying this? I... 698 00:38:49,501 --> 00:38:50,545 Don't call me it again. 699 00:38:51,503 --> 00:38:53,331 It's done. 700 00:38:53,505 --> 00:38:56,682 They're like, you know, "you're not Black. You're Filipino." 701 00:38:56,856 --> 00:38:58,379 Like, why-- "why are you mad about that?" 702 00:38:59,380 --> 00:39:00,947 It's-- it's not right. 703 00:39:01,426 --> 00:39:03,341 They're like, "well we'll give you something to be mad about." 704 00:39:03,515 --> 00:39:05,081 And then they start calling you like, "chink." 705 00:39:07,301 --> 00:39:08,737 And... it's like, in that moment, 706 00:39:08,911 --> 00:39:10,391 I just-- I just fought the guy. 707 00:39:11,044 --> 00:39:12,088 I didn't... 708 00:39:12,393 --> 00:39:14,177 It was like, 709 00:39:14,352 --> 00:39:16,354 my first, like, probably real, real fight, like... 710 00:39:17,616 --> 00:39:19,182 And I didn't win. 711 00:39:19,357 --> 00:39:21,010 I was-- I was playing up. 712 00:39:21,184 --> 00:39:22,360 I was-- I was a rookie on the team, so... 713 00:39:23,578 --> 00:39:25,754 I got my shots in, but took a beating 714 00:39:25,928 --> 00:39:27,408 and then went back to my room and... 715 00:39:28,017 --> 00:39:30,193 like, just crying. 716 00:39:32,805 --> 00:39:34,720 Just wondering, like, "Why am I even playing?" 717 00:39:34,894 --> 00:39:36,243 Like, "Why am I playing hockey?" 718 00:39:37,505 --> 00:39:39,159 It's not right... 719 00:39:39,333 --> 00:39:40,595 Little kids shouldn't have to do that, you know. 720 00:39:40,769 --> 00:39:42,989 I was like, like, 13 years old. 721 00:39:45,252 --> 00:39:46,296 It's just bullshit. 722 00:39:47,385 --> 00:39:49,256 Growing up, I was definitely the only, 723 00:39:49,430 --> 00:39:51,693 uh, Black player on every team I played on. 724 00:39:52,955 --> 00:39:54,566 I was a shy, timid kid, 725 00:39:54,740 --> 00:39:56,437 didn't want really to speak out, ever. 726 00:39:56,611 --> 00:39:58,570 When you start playing hockey at a young age, 727 00:39:58,744 --> 00:40:00,789 you gotta act a certain way, you gotta dress a certain way. 728 00:40:00,963 --> 00:40:02,704 You gotta talk a certain way. 729 00:40:02,878 --> 00:40:04,619 You will never cause a scene, cause trouble, 730 00:40:04,793 --> 00:40:06,404 um, you know, that's just a hockey mentality. 731 00:40:06,578 --> 00:40:07,709 It's always been like that. 732 00:40:08,275 --> 00:40:09,929 I was probably nine, ten years old, 733 00:40:10,103 --> 00:40:11,931 we were in a tournament, some hockey tournament 734 00:40:12,105 --> 00:40:14,194 in Montreal, and, um, you know, 735 00:40:14,368 --> 00:40:16,370 we had played the semifinals that morning. 736 00:40:16,544 --> 00:40:17,850 We had one big game 737 00:40:18,024 --> 00:40:19,678 and then we had an afternoon finals, 738 00:40:19,852 --> 00:40:21,636 and obviously as a kid, you know, playing the finals 739 00:40:21,810 --> 00:40:23,246 or whatever tournament, you know, you're-- 740 00:40:23,421 --> 00:40:24,552 you're obviously excited, you're pumped. 741 00:40:24,726 --> 00:40:25,727 I mean, you're-- you're a kid. 742 00:40:25,901 --> 00:40:27,381 You're playing hockey 743 00:40:27,555 --> 00:40:28,426 for the love of the game, right? 744 00:40:30,079 --> 00:40:31,603 Before the game, for some reason, 745 00:40:31,777 --> 00:40:33,735 there was, uh, opposing team's parents, 746 00:40:33,909 --> 00:40:35,607 uh, in the hallway. 747 00:40:35,781 --> 00:40:37,347 Two or three of them were, you know, 748 00:40:37,522 --> 00:40:39,524 making monkey noises and calling me the N-bomb. 749 00:40:40,176 --> 00:40:41,961 You know, at the time, I'm just like... 750 00:40:42,135 --> 00:40:43,266 "Who's-- who's the adult right now?" 751 00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:45,530 Like, who, who, like... 752 00:40:45,704 --> 00:40:47,793 "What is going on?" Like, "This is not right." 753 00:40:47,967 --> 00:40:50,056 And obviously, as a-- as a ten-year-old kid, 754 00:40:50,230 --> 00:40:52,101 like, you don't know what to say, you don't know what to do. 755 00:40:53,059 --> 00:40:55,017 My teammates behind me, you know, are seeing this, 756 00:40:55,191 --> 00:40:56,628 like, they don't know what to do. They're-- 757 00:40:57,367 --> 00:40:58,368 They're in shock as well. 758 00:41:03,243 --> 00:41:06,420 You hear stories about little kids, you know, quitting hockey. 759 00:41:06,594 --> 00:41:08,030 But, you know, luckily for me 760 00:41:08,204 --> 00:41:10,119 the love of my game, you know, 761 00:41:11,164 --> 00:41:12,774 it was just, was so much deeper than that, 762 00:41:12,948 --> 00:41:15,081 and, um, I just wanted to shut them up 763 00:41:15,255 --> 00:41:16,865 by telling them, like, "Hey, like, I'm out here. 764 00:41:17,039 --> 00:41:18,606 Yeah, I'm Black. I'm a hockey player. 765 00:41:18,780 --> 00:41:19,999 And I'm gonna show you." 766 00:41:33,578 --> 00:41:35,667 That's one of the interesting things about 767 00:41:35,841 --> 00:41:37,451 the Colored Hockey League. 768 00:41:37,625 --> 00:41:39,888 The innovation in terms of the sport. 769 00:41:41,934 --> 00:41:44,066 What made this unique was, 770 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:48,288 because the league didn't have an official rule book, 771 00:41:48,854 --> 00:41:51,247 they had adopted the white rules, 772 00:41:51,421 --> 00:41:54,468 and, uh, had a looseness 773 00:41:54,642 --> 00:41:57,079 in their interpretation of these rules. 774 00:42:01,736 --> 00:42:03,259 At that time, 775 00:42:03,433 --> 00:42:05,044 players could not lift their sticks 776 00:42:05,218 --> 00:42:06,219 off the ice. 777 00:42:11,180 --> 00:42:14,793 Eddie Martin, like many other Blacks at that time, 778 00:42:14,967 --> 00:42:16,664 played baseball in the summers. 779 00:42:16,838 --> 00:42:20,668 And so during the course of a game in 1903, 780 00:42:20,842 --> 00:42:25,020 he ended up breaking in on the goaltender 781 00:42:25,194 --> 00:42:28,937 and decided to raise that stick waist high 782 00:42:29,111 --> 00:42:30,504 and fire a shot. 783 00:42:30,678 --> 00:42:32,550 The teams and the officials 784 00:42:32,724 --> 00:42:34,900 got into arguing about that, 785 00:42:35,074 --> 00:42:37,467 though, eventually, it was resolved. 786 00:42:37,642 --> 00:42:40,688 And, uh, Eddie had pioneered 787 00:42:40,862 --> 00:42:43,038 what would become the slap shot. 788 00:42:43,212 --> 00:42:45,432 Come on, go, go, go, go. 789 00:42:48,783 --> 00:42:50,611 Come on! Your stick was way up there. 790 00:42:52,308 --> 00:42:56,095 And it wasn't until 25 years after 791 00:42:56,269 --> 00:42:59,315 when Frank "Bun" Cook of the New York Rangers, 792 00:42:59,489 --> 00:43:02,754 he introduced it, as well as Andy Bathgate. 793 00:43:05,060 --> 00:43:07,541 But ultimately, it was the Golden Jet, 794 00:43:07,715 --> 00:43:11,893 Bobby Hull, who popularized the slap shot. 795 00:43:12,067 --> 00:43:13,939 Going through the defense, getting set, 796 00:43:14,113 --> 00:43:16,376 he may pass or shoot, he drives one, scores! 797 00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:21,860 Back in 1895, 798 00:43:22,034 --> 00:43:25,559 another rule was that the goalie had to stand in the net. 799 00:43:25,733 --> 00:43:29,781 But those rules were thrown out in, uh, Colored Hockey League. 800 00:43:29,955 --> 00:43:32,174 The talk about some of it being somewhat unorthodox 801 00:43:32,348 --> 00:43:34,655 compared to the white leagues for instance, 802 00:43:34,829 --> 00:43:36,788 the goaltender being able to go down on the ice to stop a shot, 803 00:43:36,962 --> 00:43:38,659 something that was unheard of at that time. 804 00:43:38,833 --> 00:43:40,530 But Henry Franklyn, who was a goaltender 805 00:43:40,705 --> 00:43:41,967 with the Dartmouth team, 806 00:43:42,141 --> 00:43:43,446 you read in the articles 807 00:43:43,621 --> 00:43:45,144 how he went down to block a shot. 808 00:43:49,539 --> 00:43:50,932 That style of goaltending 809 00:43:51,106 --> 00:43:54,109 uh, predated the NHL. 810 00:43:54,283 --> 00:43:57,286 Great save! Played it on the left wing. 811 00:43:57,460 --> 00:44:00,507 People like Glen Hall, back in the '50s and '60s, 812 00:44:00,681 --> 00:44:03,205 Tony Esposito in the '60s and '70s. 813 00:44:03,379 --> 00:44:05,947 ...by Tony Esposito. 814 00:44:06,121 --> 00:44:07,645 He faked three men. 815 00:44:08,254 --> 00:44:11,518 Not only was Franklin innovative in that regard, 816 00:44:11,692 --> 00:44:13,694 he would wander outside of his net 817 00:44:13,868 --> 00:44:14,956 to play the puck, 818 00:44:15,130 --> 00:44:16,784 and pass it to the forwards. 819 00:44:16,958 --> 00:44:18,786 Uh, he sort of set the standard, 820 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:23,095 and it wouldn't be until the late '50s, 821 00:44:23,269 --> 00:44:25,793 Jacques Plante copied that style. 822 00:44:26,881 --> 00:44:28,709 New York Rangers shoot the puck in, 823 00:44:28,883 --> 00:44:31,320 Plante came way out of the net and he's gonna hold it. 824 00:44:32,017 --> 00:44:34,889 So that style of goaltending 825 00:44:35,063 --> 00:44:36,935 changed the face of hockey. 826 00:44:39,024 --> 00:44:41,330 Look at the writings in the Acadian Recorder 827 00:44:41,504 --> 00:44:43,550 and you see it there written by the reporters 828 00:44:43,724 --> 00:44:48,076 that those innovations began in the Colored Hockey League. 829 00:44:48,250 --> 00:44:50,949 When you read about what the reporters were saying 830 00:44:51,123 --> 00:44:53,603 of the style of play, of the speed of the play, 831 00:44:53,778 --> 00:44:55,780 the innovations that-- that were there, 832 00:44:55,954 --> 00:44:57,520 um, you start to realize the fact 833 00:44:57,695 --> 00:45:01,089 that this league had gave a lot to the sport. 834 00:45:01,263 --> 00:45:03,222 And, and, and, you know, 835 00:45:03,396 --> 00:45:05,790 the NHL and hockey as we know it today 836 00:45:05,964 --> 00:45:07,966 has really never looked back to claim any of it. 837 00:45:13,623 --> 00:45:14,929 Yeah! 838 00:45:27,550 --> 00:45:29,204 Okay. This is one-- 839 00:45:29,378 --> 00:45:31,380 this is one of my little cubby holes. 840 00:45:32,817 --> 00:45:35,254 And I have some prized possessions in here. 841 00:45:36,516 --> 00:45:38,039 These are my father's... 842 00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:40,825 hockey cards. 843 00:45:40,999 --> 00:45:42,478 Some of the originals. 844 00:45:44,089 --> 00:45:46,091 I can get it open. Here we go. 845 00:45:48,702 --> 00:45:50,312 Yeah, this is... 846 00:45:50,486 --> 00:45:53,968 This is one of the original hockey cards. 847 00:45:54,664 --> 00:45:57,711 Uh, two of the originals, the little one. 848 00:45:58,973 --> 00:46:00,018 And, uh... 849 00:46:01,889 --> 00:46:06,589 these are a couple of the others that have come out since. 850 00:46:12,508 --> 00:46:13,858 My treasures. 851 00:46:16,512 --> 00:46:17,513 Amazing. 852 00:46:17,687 --> 00:46:19,472 To me, this was a gift. 853 00:46:23,955 --> 00:46:28,786 Because I have my father's real feelings on tape. 854 00:46:36,881 --> 00:46:40,101 Herb Carnegie was the best Black player 855 00:46:40,275 --> 00:46:42,147 never to play in the NHL. 856 00:46:42,321 --> 00:46:44,236 I think he's the best Black hockey person 857 00:46:44,410 --> 00:46:46,064 who is not in the Hall of Fame. 858 00:46:46,847 --> 00:46:50,329 Herb played in various leagues in Canada. 859 00:46:50,503 --> 00:46:51,809 Played with distinction. 860 00:46:51,983 --> 00:46:53,898 He was a center, a setup man. 861 00:46:54,637 --> 00:46:58,293 Played on a famous all-Black line called the Black Aces. 862 00:46:58,467 --> 00:47:00,861 His brother, Ossie Carnegie and Manny McIntyre 863 00:47:01,035 --> 00:47:02,080 were the linemates. 864 00:47:02,515 --> 00:47:04,604 And they were a prolific line. 865 00:47:08,347 --> 00:47:09,478 You do? 866 00:47:31,152 --> 00:47:33,241 So, uh, anyway, now I get on the train. 867 00:47:33,415 --> 00:47:35,504 I come to Montreal and then from Montreal... 868 00:47:37,463 --> 00:47:39,204 I had met Herbie Carnegie 869 00:47:39,378 --> 00:47:41,597 in Sherbrooke, uh, with the Quebec Aces. 870 00:47:43,512 --> 00:47:46,428 Herb was by far the better of the three players. 871 00:47:46,602 --> 00:47:48,039 Should have been in the National Hockey League, 872 00:47:48,213 --> 00:47:49,736 uh, before me. 873 00:47:49,910 --> 00:47:52,957 Um, had all the skills and the ability to play. 874 00:47:53,131 --> 00:47:56,134 Uh, just unfortunate circumstances, you know, 875 00:47:56,308 --> 00:47:59,267 kept him from, you know, from being chosen. 876 00:48:00,921 --> 00:48:04,229 Conn Smythe, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 877 00:48:04,403 --> 00:48:06,622 saw him playing at Maple Leaf Gardens. 878 00:48:06,796 --> 00:48:09,277 And by all accounts, Conn Smythe was impressed, 879 00:48:10,104 --> 00:48:12,193 but not so impressed that he wanted to make history 880 00:48:12,367 --> 00:48:14,587 by signing the first Black player. 881 00:48:14,761 --> 00:48:16,328 Instead, Conn Smythe 882 00:48:16,502 --> 00:48:18,678 was widely quoted by journalists as saying, 883 00:48:19,679 --> 00:48:22,377 "I'd give any man $10,000, 884 00:48:22,551 --> 00:48:24,597 who could turn Herb Carnegie white." 885 00:48:26,077 --> 00:48:28,296 Now, I got that statement when I was 18. 886 00:48:31,996 --> 00:48:33,519 How would you feel? 887 00:48:33,693 --> 00:48:34,912 I'd feel awful. 888 00:48:35,956 --> 00:48:37,392 I can't forget it. 889 00:48:38,132 --> 00:48:40,047 Because he cut my knees off. 890 00:48:41,092 --> 00:48:42,658 He broke my legs. 891 00:48:50,666 --> 00:48:51,972 It's horrible. 892 00:48:53,147 --> 00:48:55,541 So I don't want people to go through that. 893 00:49:03,505 --> 00:49:06,508 My father said when he was told this, 894 00:49:06,682 --> 00:49:10,208 he decided that he would just try even harder. 895 00:49:11,731 --> 00:49:14,212 He actually said, "I played every game 896 00:49:14,386 --> 00:49:17,824 like a scout was watching me and that they would see me. 897 00:49:17,998 --> 00:49:21,871 They'd actually see me and recognized my talent." 898 00:49:25,919 --> 00:49:28,791 In 1948, Herb finally got an offer 899 00:49:28,966 --> 00:49:30,793 to go to the New York Rangers training camp 900 00:49:30,968 --> 00:49:32,447 in upstate New York. 901 00:49:32,621 --> 00:49:34,058 Have a chance to make the team. 902 00:49:34,972 --> 00:49:38,976 My father and mother were on pins and needles. 903 00:49:39,802 --> 00:49:45,460 And it's like, "Oh, I finally have my chance. 904 00:49:45,634 --> 00:49:47,854 A chance that I've been waiting for." 905 00:49:48,028 --> 00:49:50,335 And he played well. 906 00:49:50,509 --> 00:49:51,945 And they told him so. 907 00:49:52,772 --> 00:49:55,470 And the offer is half of what he was earning. 908 00:49:56,515 --> 00:49:58,865 The Rangers' first two offers to Herb Carnegie 909 00:49:59,039 --> 00:50:02,347 were lowball offers. 910 00:50:02,521 --> 00:50:05,437 After another few days of impressing the Rangers at training camp, 911 00:50:05,611 --> 00:50:07,352 and impressing the front office, 912 00:50:07,526 --> 00:50:09,615 they made him another lowball offer. 913 00:50:09,789 --> 00:50:11,182 So he turned it down. 914 00:50:12,748 --> 00:50:16,883 It's as if they may have found Herb Carnegie, uppity, 915 00:50:17,057 --> 00:50:19,190 if you wanna use a racial stereotype. 916 00:50:19,364 --> 00:50:22,454 "You, you didn't take the offer we-- we gave you. 917 00:50:23,020 --> 00:50:24,586 Who do you think you are?" 918 00:50:27,285 --> 00:50:30,418 And as a result, the Rangers never made him another offer. 919 00:50:32,464 --> 00:50:34,857 Herb Carnegie never played in the NHL. 920 00:50:36,294 --> 00:50:37,991 Which is because, you know, 921 00:50:38,165 --> 00:50:40,428 because he-- of his color, you know. 922 00:50:40,602 --> 00:50:44,258 They just weren't ready for a Black hockey player. 923 00:50:54,007 --> 00:50:56,140 My father was never the person 924 00:50:56,314 --> 00:50:57,489 who put his name forward 925 00:50:58,794 --> 00:51:01,971 to be in the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame. 926 00:51:03,277 --> 00:51:05,758 There have been many attempts through the years 927 00:51:05,932 --> 00:51:07,629 where people came to us and said, 928 00:51:08,413 --> 00:51:10,197 "We believe he should be in there." 929 00:51:13,331 --> 00:51:15,202 But, of course, he was never an NHL-er, 930 00:51:15,376 --> 00:51:18,292 so they kind of threw that out there. 931 00:51:18,466 --> 00:51:20,033 But they do have other categories, 932 00:51:20,207 --> 00:51:21,382 like builder. 933 00:51:22,253 --> 00:51:24,385 He was someone whose contributions 934 00:51:24,559 --> 00:51:27,084 make the sport of hockey better. 935 00:51:29,042 --> 00:51:31,000 In his post hockey days, 936 00:51:31,175 --> 00:51:34,047 he started a school, the famous Aces School. 937 00:51:34,961 --> 00:51:36,745 If it was not the first such school, 938 00:51:36,919 --> 00:51:39,487 it was one of the first, and it taught hockey skills 939 00:51:39,661 --> 00:51:43,709 as well as sportsmanship, handling yourself with class 940 00:51:43,883 --> 00:51:47,800 and dignity and grace, producing better citizens. 941 00:51:47,974 --> 00:51:50,803 And even that was not looked upon 942 00:51:50,977 --> 00:51:54,372 as worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame. 943 00:52:00,508 --> 00:52:02,902 It's a shame that avid hockey fans 944 00:52:03,076 --> 00:52:04,860 don't know the name "Herb Carnegie." 945 00:52:05,034 --> 00:52:08,342 It's a shame that his contributions as a player 946 00:52:08,516 --> 00:52:10,388 has been overlooked by so many people. 947 00:52:38,416 --> 00:52:39,808 You know what I feel like right now? 948 00:52:39,982 --> 00:52:41,419 It's like mental. I'm scared. 949 00:52:41,593 --> 00:52:43,377 - To... to drown. - Yeah, okay. 950 00:52:43,551 --> 00:52:46,032 But you're in water. Worst case scenario, you fall over. 951 00:52:57,522 --> 00:52:59,741 Dealing with all this shit on the ice and off the ice. 952 00:52:59,915 --> 00:53:01,700 These racial incidents. 953 00:53:01,874 --> 00:53:03,397 I don't even talk about the mental side of things. 954 00:53:03,571 --> 00:53:05,312 How many sleepless nights, man? 955 00:53:05,486 --> 00:53:07,532 Sleeping pills just to try to get to sleep. 956 00:53:07,706 --> 00:53:09,621 I was in a dark hole for a while. 957 00:53:09,795 --> 00:53:10,926 And that was an altering point. 958 00:53:11,100 --> 00:53:12,580 Not in my hockey career, my life. 959 00:53:12,754 --> 00:53:14,060 My mindset changed from that. 960 00:53:15,409 --> 00:53:16,454 So how was it? 961 00:53:17,542 --> 00:53:18,543 It hurts, man. 962 00:53:19,500 --> 00:53:20,458 But it's okay? 963 00:53:22,242 --> 00:53:24,897 - Yeah, it's just-- it's just weak, and... - Right. 964 00:53:25,071 --> 00:53:27,552 - ...still getting that sharp pain, but... - You've got to get stronger. 965 00:53:27,726 --> 00:53:29,510 You got to start pushing all day. 966 00:53:33,775 --> 00:53:35,386 That's when I started feeling 967 00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:37,257 a type of way about the game of hockey 968 00:53:37,431 --> 00:53:39,433 and the stakeholders in the game of hockey 969 00:53:39,607 --> 00:53:41,218 and the power brokers in this game. 970 00:53:47,876 --> 00:53:50,792 The world right now has had this incredible attack 971 00:53:50,966 --> 00:53:52,707 with social injustice. 972 00:53:52,881 --> 00:53:54,709 And now we're sort of grappling with, uh... 973 00:53:54,883 --> 00:53:57,756 Yes, but the infrastructure or the institutions 974 00:53:57,930 --> 00:53:59,192 or everything that was... 975 00:54:00,019 --> 00:54:02,239 What does it mean for that 976 00:54:02,413 --> 00:54:03,892 if we move forward here? 977 00:54:06,025 --> 00:54:07,896 With that comes a lot of fear. 978 00:54:08,070 --> 00:54:09,898 And you're seeing us kind of move through that, uh, 979 00:54:10,072 --> 00:54:11,683 period of fear uncomfortably. 980 00:54:12,510 --> 00:54:13,772 There are certain things 981 00:54:13,946 --> 00:54:15,426 that are very specific to hockey 982 00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:17,254 that you just don't get elsewhere. 983 00:54:17,428 --> 00:54:18,820 And a big part of that 984 00:54:18,994 --> 00:54:20,387 is the insular nature of the sport. 985 00:54:24,522 --> 00:54:26,611 No one player is greater than the team. 986 00:54:26,785 --> 00:54:29,266 That's what's been preached in hockey for so long. 987 00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:31,398 They always say No one's above the team, 988 00:54:31,572 --> 00:54:33,661 which, I believe in that. No one is above the team. 989 00:54:33,835 --> 00:54:35,272 You're supposed to work together. That's how you win. 990 00:54:35,446 --> 00:54:37,274 That's how a team game is played. 991 00:54:37,448 --> 00:54:39,319 But at the same time, I think players are trained 992 00:54:39,493 --> 00:54:41,016 to do what is told of you 993 00:54:41,190 --> 00:54:43,280 and not question, kind of, the system. 994 00:54:44,150 --> 00:54:46,674 With hockey, you have a lot of great values 995 00:54:46,848 --> 00:54:48,502 or a lot of great ideals. 996 00:54:48,676 --> 00:54:50,156 Playing together, having this one goal, 997 00:54:50,330 --> 00:54:52,332 it's good in itself. 998 00:54:52,506 --> 00:54:55,466 But with hockey, it kind of takes it to the extreme. 999 00:54:55,640 --> 00:54:57,990 You should listen to your coach, 1000 00:54:58,164 --> 00:55:00,558 but that doesn't mean that you don't say anything ever, right? 1001 00:55:00,732 --> 00:55:02,603 I wanted to let people know 1002 00:55:02,777 --> 00:55:04,518 what was happening at times. 1003 00:55:04,692 --> 00:55:07,129 But if I wanted to excel in my career, 1004 00:55:07,304 --> 00:55:09,654 I had to keep my mouth shut and just move forward. 1005 00:55:11,917 --> 00:55:14,093 You don't wanna draw that attention to yourself. 1006 00:55:14,267 --> 00:55:17,009 It creates this culture that's very cyclical, 1007 00:55:17,183 --> 00:55:19,098 and it's very hard to break that cycle. 1008 00:55:31,284 --> 00:55:32,329 What? 1009 00:55:33,242 --> 00:55:34,505 How's it going, Akim? 1010 00:55:35,201 --> 00:55:37,159 How you doing, buddy? What's going on? 1011 00:55:37,334 --> 00:55:38,117 - Nothing much. How about yourself? - What are you, 17 now? 1012 00:55:38,291 --> 00:55:39,466 No, I'm 16. 1013 00:55:39,640 --> 00:55:41,120 Turning 17 in June. 1014 00:55:41,686 --> 00:55:44,297 Man, you're a, a leader at, at such a young age. 1015 00:55:44,471 --> 00:55:46,473 I wasn't doing what you're doing at that age. 1016 00:55:46,647 --> 00:55:48,867 It's, uh... it's inspiring. 1017 00:55:49,041 --> 00:55:50,651 Obviously, just wanted to check in. 1018 00:55:50,825 --> 00:55:52,479 Um, see how things are going. 1019 00:55:52,653 --> 00:55:54,394 Where you're at with Hockey PEI, 1020 00:55:54,568 --> 00:55:55,917 and obviously, I know you reached out 1021 00:55:56,091 --> 00:55:57,354 to Hockey Canada as well. 1022 00:55:58,006 --> 00:56:01,096 Well, the five spectators from Friday night, 1023 00:56:01,270 --> 00:56:04,099 they have been suspended, 25 games. 1024 00:56:04,273 --> 00:56:07,364 While Saturday night incident at the hotel, 1025 00:56:07,538 --> 00:56:08,887 it's still under investigation. 1026 00:56:09,061 --> 00:56:10,541 We haven't heard anything much 1027 00:56:10,715 --> 00:56:13,631 and from what they sent my dad from emails, 1028 00:56:13,805 --> 00:56:16,329 it's been copy and paste of the same thing, 1029 00:56:16,503 --> 00:56:18,287 that when we keep checking up. 1030 00:56:18,462 --> 00:56:19,724 They're keep saying the same thing 1031 00:56:19,898 --> 00:56:21,813 that it's still under investigation. 1032 00:56:23,815 --> 00:56:26,426 In November of 2021, 1033 00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:29,908 it was a early bird tournament in PEI. 1034 00:56:30,996 --> 00:56:33,912 There was some-- these five boys, 1035 00:56:34,086 --> 00:56:36,523 sixteen, 17-year-olds, chirping. 1036 00:56:37,481 --> 00:56:40,222 These spectators were kind of throwing, you know, 1037 00:56:40,397 --> 00:56:42,877 "You suck, goalie," and all this stuff, 1038 00:56:43,051 --> 00:56:44,662 but, like, trying to get in my head. 1039 00:56:44,836 --> 00:56:46,664 And after I got scored on, they said, like, 1040 00:56:46,838 --> 00:56:48,622 "You fucking suck, nigger! 1041 00:56:48,796 --> 00:56:50,711 You fucking nigger." All this. 1042 00:56:50,885 --> 00:56:54,106 But I just had to, like, stay focused into the game. 1043 00:56:55,934 --> 00:56:58,240 They continued every time I skated by. They'd be like, 1044 00:56:58,415 --> 00:57:00,329 "You shouldn't be playing fucking hockey, you nigger!" 1045 00:57:00,982 --> 00:57:02,767 Mark called the refs over 1046 00:57:02,941 --> 00:57:04,333 and told them what was happening. 1047 00:57:05,030 --> 00:57:06,727 They didn't wanna deal with it. 1048 00:57:06,901 --> 00:57:08,163 Those boys should have been removed from the rink. 1049 00:57:08,337 --> 00:57:09,382 But they weren't. 1050 00:57:11,166 --> 00:57:13,299 We hit the hotel later. 1051 00:57:13,473 --> 00:57:16,389 The team that we were playing against on Friday night, 1052 00:57:16,563 --> 00:57:19,610 a couple of their players were on the same floor as us, 1053 00:57:19,784 --> 00:57:21,263 and they were in the hallways. 1054 00:57:21,438 --> 00:57:23,265 Some guys called-- some guys called me 1055 00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:24,702 just "fucking nigger." 1056 00:57:24,876 --> 00:57:26,791 And one told me, "Shut up, nigger!" 1057 00:57:26,965 --> 00:57:29,446 You know? And I came out with a couple other players. 1058 00:57:29,620 --> 00:57:32,884 They all... They heard them that night. 1059 00:57:33,058 --> 00:57:35,800 Some guys heard them call me a monkey and all this. 1060 00:57:36,409 --> 00:57:38,846 Do you feel that enough is being done? 1061 00:57:39,020 --> 00:57:40,979 Or do you think that there could be more that-- that could be done? 1062 00:57:41,153 --> 00:57:43,590 Well, at first Hockey PEI, 1063 00:57:43,764 --> 00:57:45,766 they didn't have the resources for this. 1064 00:57:45,940 --> 00:57:47,420 And they admitted it 1065 00:57:47,594 --> 00:57:49,248 and they had to get help from Hockey Canada. 1066 00:57:49,422 --> 00:57:50,423 But... 1067 00:57:50,597 --> 00:57:52,599 Overall, it's just... 1068 00:57:54,296 --> 00:57:57,038 It's just a little difficult to deal with them. 1069 00:57:57,212 --> 00:58:00,999 Why they took this long to handle anything 1070 00:58:01,173 --> 00:58:03,784 4to give those players the disciplinary action, 1071 00:58:03,958 --> 00:58:06,134 and how long this second incident's 1072 00:58:06,308 --> 00:58:08,006 taking to be investigated? 1073 00:58:10,138 --> 00:58:13,141 After that, you said, "Dad, I just wanna go home. 1074 00:58:13,838 --> 00:58:16,057 I've never been called so many racial slurs 1075 00:58:16,231 --> 00:58:17,798 until I came here to play. 1076 00:58:17,972 --> 00:58:19,670 And I did nothing to these kids. 1077 00:58:19,844 --> 00:58:21,759 All I did was play hockey." 1078 00:58:21,933 --> 00:58:24,065 Let's say Mark was playing the game, got in a fight. 1079 00:58:25,719 --> 00:58:27,068 Next day, he's gone for five games. 1080 00:58:27,242 --> 00:58:29,027 No doubt. He's gone. 1081 00:58:29,723 --> 00:58:31,116 But you do a racial incident, 1082 00:58:32,421 --> 00:58:34,206 we're almost five months with Hockey PEI 1083 00:58:34,380 --> 00:58:35,816 on the second incident. 1084 00:58:35,990 --> 00:58:37,688 And, you know, the second, the third... 1085 00:58:37,862 --> 00:58:39,167 First one took three months. 1086 00:58:39,994 --> 00:58:41,474 We should have answers. 1087 00:58:42,736 --> 00:58:45,217 A few parents, the Black father and... 1088 00:58:45,391 --> 00:58:47,436 They said, "Wayne, I'm glad it was you. 1089 00:58:47,611 --> 00:58:49,569 That pushed this forward." He said, "If it was me, 1090 00:58:49,743 --> 00:58:51,353 "it would have been brushed aside." 1091 00:58:52,485 --> 00:58:54,095 And that shouldn't be. 1092 00:58:57,969 --> 00:59:00,580 There's no rules set in place for how to deal with this stuff. 1093 00:59:00,754 --> 00:59:03,104 It seems that hockey is so far behind 1094 00:59:03,278 --> 00:59:06,760 and when these occurrences happen of racism, 1095 00:59:06,934 --> 00:59:08,196 they don't really know what to do. 1096 00:59:09,241 --> 00:59:10,808 Um, I know it's a-- 1097 00:59:10,982 --> 00:59:12,723 It's a really tough space to be in, 1098 00:59:12,897 --> 00:59:14,333 - um, so honestly... - I know. 1099 00:59:14,507 --> 00:59:15,900 ...we appreciate you. 1100 00:59:16,074 --> 00:59:18,467 I... We appreciate your family. 1101 00:59:18,642 --> 00:59:20,339 I don't even think you realize how many kids you're gonna help. 1102 00:59:20,513 --> 00:59:22,254 And, honestly, everybody that's of color in hockey 1103 00:59:22,428 --> 00:59:25,083 that's trying to just feel welcome in the game. 1104 00:59:25,257 --> 00:59:26,650 And, and it's a huge thank you to you. 1105 00:59:26,824 --> 00:59:27,912 So I appreciate you, boss. 1106 00:59:28,565 --> 00:59:30,131 I appreciate the call. 1107 00:59:30,305 --> 00:59:31,872 Of course, okay. See you, Mark. 1108 00:59:32,046 --> 00:59:33,526 See ya. 1109 00:59:33,700 --> 00:59:35,528 Say hi to your dad for me. 1110 00:59:35,702 --> 00:59:36,224 - Oh, no problem. See ya. - All right. Take it easy. 1111 00:59:40,054 --> 00:59:43,101 Spook! Spook! Spook! 1112 00:59:43,841 --> 00:59:47,018 The chant of "Spook! Spook!" 1113 00:59:47,192 --> 00:59:48,672 Just one epithet 1114 00:59:48,846 --> 00:59:51,326 from a poisonous garden of racial slurs 1115 00:59:51,500 --> 00:59:53,154 flung at Val James 1116 00:59:53,328 --> 00:59:55,940 when he plays hockey in Salem, Virginia. 1117 00:59:56,114 --> 00:59:57,898 We frequently talk about exclusion, right? 1118 00:59:58,072 --> 01:00:00,161 Being locked out of the halls of power, 1119 01:00:00,335 --> 01:00:03,948 being locked out of the rooms where decisions are happening 1120 01:00:04,122 --> 01:00:05,384 and that, that is true. 1121 01:00:05,558 --> 01:00:07,473 That is one function of racism. 1122 01:00:07,647 --> 01:00:10,694 But racism can also be a function 1123 01:00:10,868 --> 01:00:13,566 of predatory inclusion, right? 1124 01:00:13,740 --> 01:00:15,481 We are included in ways 1125 01:00:15,655 --> 01:00:18,223 that end up being quite harmful to us. 1126 01:00:18,397 --> 01:00:19,877 And we never think about 1127 01:00:20,051 --> 01:00:22,009 what happens to people of color, 1128 01:00:22,183 --> 01:00:24,621 what happens to Black people after they are integrated 1129 01:00:24,795 --> 01:00:27,232 into these predominantly white spaces. 1130 01:00:28,102 --> 01:00:29,626 These predominantly white spaces, 1131 01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:32,150 which never wanted us. 1132 01:00:32,324 --> 01:00:35,806 Hey, price for fighting a nigger! 1133 01:00:36,502 --> 01:00:40,288 What is that like, to be the only Black player on a hockey rink? 1134 01:00:41,115 --> 01:00:42,943 I bet it's awful. 1135 01:00:49,733 --> 01:00:51,865 Throughout my career, I've always felt as though 1136 01:00:52,039 --> 01:00:55,782 I've had to let go of a piece of my Blackness to fit in. 1137 01:01:00,526 --> 01:01:02,615 My time at Yale was very difficult 1138 01:01:02,789 --> 01:01:06,184 just because I definitely expected my team to be more woke 1139 01:01:06,358 --> 01:01:08,273 and, you know, more educated in that sense. 1140 01:01:09,666 --> 01:01:13,844 Being able to be my 100% authentic self involved them, 1141 01:01:14,018 --> 01:01:16,411 you know, not necessarily being able to relate to me. 1142 01:01:16,585 --> 01:01:18,239 And by my second year of college, 1143 01:01:18,413 --> 01:01:19,937 I was done code-switching. 1144 01:01:20,111 --> 01:01:22,026 I was done setting aside my Blackness. 1145 01:01:23,854 --> 01:01:25,682 I'm a very driven individual, 1146 01:01:25,856 --> 01:01:27,292 and I don't like quitting things, 1147 01:01:27,466 --> 01:01:29,468 so I really just wanted to continue. 1148 01:01:29,642 --> 01:01:31,775 But at the same time, I quite often played 1149 01:01:31,949 --> 01:01:33,907 with hate in my heart and I played angry. 1150 01:01:36,040 --> 01:01:39,652 And I probably played angry up until this past year. 1151 01:01:59,803 --> 01:02:02,109 I never played with another Black player 1152 01:02:02,283 --> 01:02:03,981 up until my senior year at Yale. 1153 01:02:04,459 --> 01:02:08,333 And I realized the importance of me having a friend 1154 01:02:08,507 --> 01:02:10,944 and having somebody to look to in the dressing room. 1155 01:02:11,118 --> 01:02:14,295 With the Toronto Six signing Angela James and Mark Joslin 1156 01:02:14,469 --> 01:02:17,908 to be our coaches, for myself, I was just overjoyed. 1157 01:02:18,952 --> 01:02:21,607 ♪ Oh, Canada ♪ 1158 01:02:21,781 --> 01:02:26,220 ♪ We stand on guard ♪ 1159 01:02:26,394 --> 01:02:30,964 ♪ For thee ♪ 1160 01:02:37,666 --> 01:02:40,060 I got the call that Angela was gonna be coaching me. 1161 01:02:40,234 --> 01:02:41,670 I definitely bawled my eyes out. 1162 01:02:41,845 --> 01:02:42,802 A breakaway for James. 1163 01:02:45,022 --> 01:02:47,024 For myself, that was really the only person 1164 01:02:47,198 --> 01:02:48,895 that I had to look up to 1165 01:02:49,069 --> 01:02:50,941 when I was growing up in the hockey community. 1166 01:02:51,115 --> 01:02:52,594 There wasn't any other Black women for me to look to. 1167 01:02:52,769 --> 01:02:54,988 The MVP, Angela James. 1168 01:03:00,080 --> 01:03:02,387 Playing professionally now, I-- I don't think I play 1169 01:03:02,561 --> 01:03:03,823 with as much hate in my heart, 1170 01:03:03,997 --> 01:03:05,477 um, but at the same time, 1171 01:03:05,651 --> 01:03:06,870 I'm still aware of all of the things 1172 01:03:07,044 --> 01:03:08,480 that have happened in the past. 1173 01:03:20,579 --> 01:03:22,755 The league itself, when it first started, 1174 01:03:22,929 --> 01:03:25,976 we're talking about the turn of the century, 1175 01:03:26,150 --> 01:03:28,717 into the early 20th century. 1176 01:03:29,631 --> 01:03:31,242 So you've got great leadership, right? 1177 01:03:31,416 --> 01:03:33,026 You've got people like James Kinney, 1178 01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:34,375 James Robinson Johnston. 1179 01:03:34,549 --> 01:03:36,073 They're getting into politics, 1180 01:03:36,247 --> 01:03:38,423 they're becoming a force in elections. 1181 01:03:38,597 --> 01:03:40,294 They're building up the social structure 1182 01:03:40,468 --> 01:03:42,166 of Black communities. 1183 01:03:42,340 --> 01:03:44,298 Come on, let's go! Let's go! 1184 01:03:44,472 --> 01:03:48,346 The league was seen as part of a social movement 1185 01:03:48,520 --> 01:03:50,914 which should help develop pride 1186 01:03:51,088 --> 01:03:56,093 but also raising the social mobility of Blacks. 1187 01:03:57,398 --> 01:03:59,618 You've got people coming to the games. 1188 01:03:59,792 --> 01:04:02,012 Black empowerment, taking shape through ticket sales. 1189 01:04:02,621 --> 01:04:06,407 You've got to remember, work for Black men in particular 1190 01:04:06,581 --> 01:04:08,061 was very scarce. 1191 01:04:08,235 --> 01:04:10,585 So the revenue that was generated 1192 01:04:10,759 --> 01:04:13,197 from the Hockey League was very, very important 1193 01:04:13,371 --> 01:04:15,808 to, to the whole community, 1194 01:04:15,982 --> 01:04:17,941 not just the league itself. 1195 01:04:18,115 --> 01:04:20,378 I think my aunt told me my... 1196 01:04:20,552 --> 01:04:23,990 Her father, my grandfather, got 50 cents a month, 1197 01:04:24,164 --> 01:04:26,645 and it was big money. 1198 01:04:27,994 --> 01:04:29,866 The white teams 1199 01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:32,303 who played hockey here in Halifax 1200 01:04:32,477 --> 01:04:35,001 wanted a part of that revenue, that money. 1201 01:04:35,175 --> 01:04:38,178 So they would organize exhibition games 1202 01:04:38,352 --> 01:04:39,832 against the Colored Hockey League 1203 01:04:40,006 --> 01:04:41,660 to get a share in the gate. 1204 01:04:43,488 --> 01:04:45,403 They could bring a crowd out. 1205 01:04:45,577 --> 01:04:47,100 I remember reading about one game that happened in Sydney, 1206 01:04:47,274 --> 01:04:49,233 where they had 250 people come out to watch. 1207 01:04:49,886 --> 01:04:52,279 Some amazing stuff to read about being able to break the color barrier. 1208 01:04:52,453 --> 01:04:55,456 Playing games against white teams, which would've been unheard of. 1209 01:04:55,630 --> 01:04:58,633 They were living second-class citizenship in this country, 1210 01:04:58,807 --> 01:05:03,116 uh, and yet they were playing Canada's pastime back in 1895. 1211 01:05:03,290 --> 01:05:05,727 You know? Wow. The-- the amazingness 1212 01:05:05,902 --> 01:05:07,947 that surrounds all of that when you think about it. 1213 01:05:16,216 --> 01:05:17,652 But when you look at some of the things 1214 01:05:17,826 --> 01:05:19,306 that-- that were in the Sydney paper 1215 01:05:19,480 --> 01:05:21,047 when the teams went down and played in Sydney, 1216 01:05:21,221 --> 01:05:22,831 it had really nothing to do about the game. 1217 01:05:23,006 --> 01:05:24,572 It had more to do with trying to make spectacles 1218 01:05:24,746 --> 01:05:26,270 of the Black players that were playing. 1219 01:05:27,358 --> 01:05:29,838 Those were just racist, cartoonish, 1220 01:05:30,013 --> 01:05:32,406 derogatory depictions of Black people. 1221 01:05:32,580 --> 01:05:35,061 That was our systemically racist society 1222 01:05:35,235 --> 01:05:37,150 that always tried to make us more buffoonish. 1223 01:05:37,324 --> 01:05:39,326 Or tried to make us less than serious, 1224 01:05:39,500 --> 01:05:42,373 instead of in reality, looking at the sportsmanship 1225 01:05:42,547 --> 01:05:44,201 that was out there and talking about 1226 01:05:44,375 --> 01:05:45,680 how these players were playing. 1227 01:05:48,770 --> 01:05:50,555 Were there white leagues that saw the-- 1228 01:05:50,729 --> 01:05:51,425 the Colored Hockey League as a threat to them? 1229 01:05:51,599 --> 01:05:53,210 Possibly. 1230 01:05:53,384 --> 01:05:54,994 Uh, what's the best way to dismantle that, 1231 01:05:55,168 --> 01:05:57,083 is to, you know, to put out 1232 01:05:57,257 --> 01:05:58,693 something that says they're not as good 1233 01:05:58,867 --> 01:06:00,565 and they're just making fools of the games. 1234 01:06:00,739 --> 01:06:03,176 And so therefore, you diminish people's interest 1235 01:06:03,350 --> 01:06:04,656 in going to watch them, 1236 01:06:04,830 --> 01:06:06,440 uh, and going to pay to see them 1237 01:06:06,614 --> 01:06:09,052 or, or talking positively about it. 1238 01:06:13,404 --> 01:06:14,883 We now acknowledge 1239 01:06:15,058 --> 01:06:16,537 that race is a social construct. 1240 01:06:16,711 --> 01:06:20,454 In the 18th, 19th, early 20th century, 1241 01:06:20,628 --> 01:06:23,022 we talk about race as being a biological construct. 1242 01:06:23,196 --> 01:06:24,893 People really believed 1243 01:06:25,068 --> 01:06:27,896 that there were differences in biology 1244 01:06:28,071 --> 01:06:30,812 that distinguished races from one another. 1245 01:06:30,987 --> 01:06:34,599 So your race determined your temperament, 1246 01:06:34,773 --> 01:06:38,777 your morality, your behavior, your potential. 1247 01:06:45,523 --> 01:06:47,046 When I was 12 years old, 1248 01:06:47,220 --> 01:06:48,787 I said, "Mom, I wanna be the first Black woman 1249 01:06:48,961 --> 01:06:51,442 to play in the Olympics for team USA." 1250 01:06:54,184 --> 01:06:55,707 2013 rolls around, 1251 01:06:55,881 --> 01:06:57,796 I'm graduating from Boston College, 1252 01:06:57,970 --> 01:06:59,232 I'm in my prime. 1253 01:06:59,928 --> 01:07:01,887 - It's a score! 1254 01:07:02,061 --> 01:07:04,107 Tapped in by Bolden. 1255 01:07:04,281 --> 01:07:06,805 I won two U18 World Championships, 1256 01:07:06,979 --> 01:07:09,938 I'm in this pool of 40 to 60 1257 01:07:10,113 --> 01:07:11,940 of the best players in the world 1258 01:07:12,115 --> 01:07:13,942 that are trying out for the national team. 1259 01:07:14,639 --> 01:07:16,554 Obviously, I'm the only person of color. 1260 01:07:24,040 --> 01:07:25,563 The idea that Black people 1261 01:07:25,737 --> 01:07:28,522 are naturally physical, naturally gifted 1262 01:07:28,696 --> 01:07:30,307 and suited for manual labor, 1263 01:07:30,481 --> 01:07:33,571 as opposed to leadership or intellectual pursuits, 1264 01:07:33,745 --> 01:07:36,617 is a longstanding stereotype. 1265 01:07:36,791 --> 01:07:41,622 It ties directly back to that legacy of racial hierarchy 1266 01:07:41,796 --> 01:07:44,321 connected to transatlantic slavery. 1267 01:07:44,495 --> 01:07:46,801 And the idea that white people 1268 01:07:46,975 --> 01:07:51,110 were superior in every way, was common at that time. 1269 01:07:52,416 --> 01:07:55,549 I would constantly go into these training camps 1270 01:07:55,723 --> 01:07:58,204 and feel like I wasn't being seen. 1271 01:07:58,378 --> 01:08:00,946 Feel like there was just this barrier 1272 01:08:01,120 --> 01:08:03,688 of misunderstanding and perception. 1273 01:08:05,820 --> 01:08:07,735 That idea needs to be passed down 1274 01:08:07,909 --> 01:08:11,130 from generation to generation for it to occur today. 1275 01:08:11,826 --> 01:08:13,959 And then when we bring sport into it, 1276 01:08:14,786 --> 01:08:17,919 that kind of binary thinking leads to Black people 1277 01:08:18,094 --> 01:08:19,704 being assumed to not be coachable 1278 01:08:19,878 --> 01:08:22,010 and not be leadership potential. 1279 01:08:23,490 --> 01:08:25,101 I was told that... 1280 01:08:26,363 --> 01:08:28,669 I was perceived to be uncoachable. 1281 01:08:29,714 --> 01:08:32,978 And that was like, a gut punch to me. 1282 01:08:33,152 --> 01:08:34,284 What do you mean? I'm, I'm... 1283 01:08:34,458 --> 01:08:36,851 I'm not a disrespectful person. 1284 01:08:37,025 --> 01:08:39,463 I shake my head, I give good eye contact. 1285 01:08:39,637 --> 01:08:41,334 I show up, I do the work. 1286 01:08:41,508 --> 01:08:43,641 I was shocked when that was told to me. 1287 01:08:45,643 --> 01:08:49,560 I don't know if it was because of this. 1288 01:08:49,734 --> 01:08:51,518 I don't know what it was because of. 1289 01:08:51,692 --> 01:08:56,001 But I can only think about things like that 1290 01:08:56,175 --> 01:08:58,221 based off of my experience. 1291 01:08:58,395 --> 01:09:00,353 And it was-- it was tragic for me. 1292 01:09:00,527 --> 01:09:02,703 It was heartbreaking. I lost myself. 1293 01:09:02,877 --> 01:09:04,052 For years. 1294 01:09:05,228 --> 01:09:07,273 In hockey, there are certain adjectives 1295 01:09:07,447 --> 01:09:10,581 like "heady" or "smart" 1296 01:09:10,755 --> 01:09:14,062 that are not applied to Black players. 1297 01:09:15,716 --> 01:09:17,414 The result of that 20 or 30 years ago 1298 01:09:17,588 --> 01:09:19,851 was that Black men in the NHL 1299 01:09:20,025 --> 01:09:22,593 were pretty much relegated to being enforcers. 1300 01:09:22,767 --> 01:09:24,856 George Laraque, Donald Brashear... 1301 01:09:32,255 --> 01:09:33,691 He's just too strong. 1302 01:09:33,865 --> 01:09:36,607 This guy is a tower, I'll tell you... 1303 01:09:36,781 --> 01:09:39,871 This assumption that you don't think as well as people 1304 01:09:40,045 --> 01:09:41,699 from other groups, 1305 01:09:41,873 --> 01:09:44,832 it's all based on stereotypes, not reality. 1306 01:09:45,746 --> 01:09:47,357 Unconscious bias. 1307 01:09:47,531 --> 01:09:49,402 I've been dealing with that my whole career. 1308 01:09:49,576 --> 01:09:51,012 I've had coaches say, "Oh, your hockey IQ 1309 01:09:51,187 --> 01:09:52,449 is actually pretty good," 1310 01:09:52,623 --> 01:09:53,972 and, "Oh", like, "You're actually... 1311 01:09:54,146 --> 01:09:55,147 Oh, you're actually articulate." 1312 01:09:57,018 --> 01:09:58,281 Looking back, they're just like... 1313 01:09:59,064 --> 01:10:00,892 It's just cra... 1314 01:10:01,066 --> 01:10:02,459 Things that are crazy that no one should have 1315 01:10:02,633 --> 01:10:03,851 to really deal with, to be honest. 1316 01:10:12,556 --> 01:10:15,950 In my experience, and I've been raising Black kids for 30 years, 1317 01:10:16,124 --> 01:10:18,605 they could think the game just like anybody else. 1318 01:10:18,779 --> 01:10:21,434 Guys, everybody got a puck? Everybody got a puck? 1319 01:10:22,870 --> 01:10:25,960 Stand still. Okay. Let's start moving. 1320 01:10:26,134 --> 01:10:27,571 Keep it on your stick. 1321 01:10:30,095 --> 01:10:32,315 What happens is, is because those teams are coached, 1322 01:10:32,489 --> 01:10:35,143 by hockey dads and volunteers and friends, 1323 01:10:35,318 --> 01:10:36,362 they take the Black kids, and say, 1324 01:10:36,536 --> 01:10:37,972 "You're gonna play defense." 1325 01:10:38,146 --> 01:10:39,626 We're gonna stick you back at the back 1326 01:10:39,800 --> 01:10:41,976 because we're just gonna use you athletically. 1327 01:10:46,459 --> 01:10:48,592 It's just like, "Oh, you're six-foot-two 1328 01:10:48,766 --> 01:10:50,507 and you're a Black kid, you're 190, you should be a beast." 1329 01:10:50,681 --> 01:10:53,466 No, why can't a six-foot, 290-pound Black kid 1330 01:10:53,640 --> 01:10:54,598 be pretty out there? 1331 01:10:54,772 --> 01:10:55,686 One, two, three, four. 1332 01:10:55,860 --> 01:10:57,035 Come on. Come on. 1333 01:10:59,298 --> 01:11:00,734 It's just something that, that starts from the time 1334 01:11:00,908 --> 01:11:01,866 that they're younger. 1335 01:11:02,040 --> 01:11:03,737 They just segment guys. 1336 01:11:03,911 --> 01:11:05,391 That's why you don't see a lot of Black centers, 1337 01:11:05,565 --> 01:11:07,088 glory positions. 1338 01:11:07,263 --> 01:11:10,744 And it's a story that they've created. 1339 01:11:10,918 --> 01:11:14,618 They're running out of, um, excuses, 1340 01:11:14,792 --> 01:11:16,620 really, is what I would say. 1341 01:11:28,632 --> 01:11:31,461 When I was younger, the first player I was introduced to 1342 01:11:31,635 --> 01:11:33,463 was Willie O'Ree, um, by my parents. 1343 01:11:33,637 --> 01:11:35,247 They just wanted me to know that, you know, 1344 01:11:35,421 --> 01:11:36,857 obviously, hockey is a pretty white sport, 1345 01:11:37,031 --> 01:11:38,642 but, you know, it was a possibility 1346 01:11:38,816 --> 01:11:40,252 because somebody, you know, who looked like me 1347 01:11:40,426 --> 01:11:41,427 had already made it. 1348 01:11:46,911 --> 01:11:48,434 My parents always prepared me well 1349 01:11:48,608 --> 01:11:50,218 for being one of the only Black players 1350 01:11:50,393 --> 01:11:52,003 in hockey, to expect it, 1351 01:11:52,177 --> 01:11:53,613 you know, and try not to react to it. 1352 01:11:53,787 --> 01:11:54,484 But it's hard. I'm a human being. 1353 01:11:59,576 --> 01:12:01,882 I had just gotten traded from LA to Philadelphia, and... 1354 01:12:02,709 --> 01:12:04,755 It was kind of, you know, a new start for me, 1355 01:12:04,929 --> 01:12:06,234 a place where I could go 1356 01:12:06,409 --> 01:12:07,932 and, uh, kind of reinvent myself. 1357 01:12:08,759 --> 01:12:10,543 We were playing Detroit, 1358 01:12:10,717 --> 01:12:12,328 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. 1359 01:12:13,067 --> 01:12:14,939 So we were tied after regulation, 1360 01:12:15,113 --> 01:12:16,593 overtime, we go into a shootout. 1361 01:12:16,767 --> 01:12:19,073 Um, I'm skating down the ice, 1362 01:12:19,247 --> 01:12:20,466 and all of a sudden, 1363 01:12:21,685 --> 01:12:23,339 I see an object fly by me. 1364 01:12:23,513 --> 01:12:25,079 Um, you know, at the time, 1365 01:12:25,253 --> 01:12:26,385 I'm like, kind of, you know, "What is that?" 1366 01:12:26,559 --> 01:12:27,952 I take a glance. I'm like... 1367 01:12:28,996 --> 01:12:29,954 it's a banana. 1368 01:12:30,128 --> 01:12:31,347 And immediately, 1369 01:12:31,521 --> 01:12:32,783 I already know what's going on. 1370 01:12:46,579 --> 01:12:48,146 I honest to God, I had a million different things 1371 01:12:48,320 --> 01:12:49,756 going through my mind. 1372 01:12:49,930 --> 01:12:51,715 I knew guys weren't gonna understand 1373 01:12:51,889 --> 01:12:53,586 what I was going through, so I just buried it. 1374 01:12:54,587 --> 01:12:56,328 To the outside world, I probably looked like it didn't affect me much. 1375 01:12:56,502 --> 01:12:58,678 But, um, you know, on the inside, it was burning. 1376 01:13:00,158 --> 01:13:01,333 This morning, Londoner, 1377 01:13:01,507 --> 01:13:03,509 Christopher Moorhouse, 26, 1378 01:13:03,683 --> 01:13:06,382 pleaded guilty under the Trespass Act 1379 01:13:06,556 --> 01:13:08,296 for throwing that piece of fruit. 1380 01:13:08,471 --> 01:13:11,212 While Moorhouse pled guilty to the one charge 1381 01:13:11,387 --> 01:13:13,911 after an extensive police investigation, 1382 01:13:14,085 --> 01:13:15,739 what was revealed this morning 1383 01:13:15,913 --> 01:13:18,655 was that there was absolutely no evidence 1384 01:13:18,829 --> 01:13:20,744 that the throwing of the banana 1385 01:13:20,918 --> 01:13:22,049 was racially motivated. 1386 01:13:22,223 --> 01:13:23,747 After hearing the evidence, 1387 01:13:23,921 --> 01:13:25,705 justice of the peace, Robert Seneshen, 1388 01:13:25,879 --> 01:13:26,967 referred to Moorhouse 1389 01:13:27,141 --> 01:13:28,752 as a thoughtful young man 1390 01:13:28,926 --> 01:13:30,188 who is not a racist 1391 01:13:30,362 --> 01:13:32,320 or a bigot in any way. 1392 01:13:32,495 --> 01:13:34,192 Moorhouse was fined $200, 1393 01:13:34,366 --> 01:13:36,324 and the justice of the peace said he hoped 1394 01:13:36,499 --> 01:13:38,414 that he could put the incident behind him 1395 01:13:38,588 --> 01:13:42,026 and continue on his path towards a career in policing. 1396 01:13:47,814 --> 01:13:49,686 I don't know how many times 1397 01:13:49,860 --> 01:13:51,252 I've gotten called something and everyone's like, 1398 01:13:51,427 --> 01:13:52,645 "Oh, you know, it's just one person, 1399 01:13:52,819 --> 01:13:54,255 you know, they're ignorant." 1400 01:13:54,430 --> 01:13:56,127 Well, then why has this happened to me? 1401 01:13:56,823 --> 01:13:58,738 I can't even count the amount of times this happened to me. 1402 01:13:58,912 --> 01:14:00,784 So why does that happen? If it's one person, 1403 01:14:00,958 --> 01:14:02,525 and that is the only ignorant person, 1404 01:14:02,699 --> 01:14:05,571 how is that situation isolated? It's not. 1405 01:14:05,745 --> 01:14:09,009 It's-- it's a cultural problem within the sport of hockey. 1406 01:14:09,183 --> 01:14:12,970 And the fact that, um, it goes unchecked, 1407 01:14:13,144 --> 01:14:14,841 is the biggest problem about it. 1408 01:14:15,015 --> 01:14:16,974 - Anybody of color 1409 01:14:17,148 --> 01:14:18,715 that tried to make it playing hockey up there, 1410 01:14:18,889 --> 01:14:20,238 listen to the stories they had. 1411 01:14:20,412 --> 01:14:21,979 They'd be like, "Were you in Alabama?" 1412 01:14:22,153 --> 01:14:23,589 - "No, it was in Manitoba." 1413 01:14:23,763 --> 01:14:25,983 Members of an indigenous hockey team 1414 01:14:26,157 --> 01:14:28,376 say they faced racist taunts. 1415 01:14:30,814 --> 01:14:33,164 In my lifetime, I faced racism before 1416 01:14:33,338 --> 01:14:35,166 but not at this level. 1417 01:14:35,340 --> 01:14:36,428 These aren't one-off incidents. 1418 01:14:36,602 --> 01:14:38,386 They happen all the time. 1419 01:14:38,561 --> 01:14:40,998 Racism knows no age limits. 1420 01:14:41,172 --> 01:14:43,087 Ask Divyne Apollon. 1421 01:14:43,261 --> 01:14:45,437 He had to endure monkey chants from an opposing team. 1422 01:14:45,611 --> 01:14:47,744 Take Ty Cornett who dealt with opponents 1423 01:14:47,918 --> 01:14:50,442 who acted like gorillas every time he lined up 1424 01:14:50,616 --> 01:14:52,836 in front of an opponent's bench. 1425 01:14:53,010 --> 01:14:55,708 It's frustrating because I know what that's like. 1426 01:14:55,882 --> 01:14:58,145 You know, when I'm five years old, listening to parents 1427 01:14:58,319 --> 01:15:00,713 scream names and things at me. 1428 01:15:00,887 --> 01:15:03,237 Subban shoots, he scores. 1429 01:15:03,411 --> 01:15:05,805 Montreal's P.K. Subban wins the game. 1430 01:15:05,979 --> 01:15:08,852 Meanwhile, on Twitter, 17,000 racist tweets 1431 01:15:09,026 --> 01:15:11,768 were posted by Boston fans against Subban. 1432 01:15:11,942 --> 01:15:13,944 #whitesonly, 1433 01:15:14,118 --> 01:15:16,163 and called him an "effing N-word." 1434 01:15:16,337 --> 01:15:18,949 It's meant for you to feel like 1435 01:15:19,123 --> 01:15:20,733 you need to stay in your place. 1436 01:15:20,907 --> 01:15:22,474 This is not attainable for you. 1437 01:15:22,648 --> 01:15:24,563 Blatant racism is easier to pinpoint. 1438 01:15:24,737 --> 01:15:27,087 There are actions. There are verbal assaults. 1439 01:15:27,261 --> 01:15:29,350 You can point to it. It's very clearly, 1440 01:15:29,525 --> 01:15:31,135 you are called the N-word, that's racist. 1441 01:15:31,309 --> 01:15:33,354 ...24-year-old Jonathan Diaby. 1442 01:15:33,529 --> 01:15:36,488 He says racist fans targeted him and his family. 1443 01:15:36,662 --> 01:15:38,664 Player Akim Aliu, 1444 01:15:38,838 --> 01:15:40,405 was surprised by equipment manager 1445 01:15:40,579 --> 01:15:43,451 dressed in Aliu's jersey, with blackface. 1446 01:15:43,626 --> 01:15:46,585 People don't really understand how bad it is unless you're on the inside. 1447 01:15:46,759 --> 01:15:50,589 People think that when we talk about systemic racism, we mean, 1448 01:15:50,763 --> 01:15:54,245 there are racists in your system. But that's not it. 1449 01:15:54,419 --> 01:15:56,639 The Rangers organized the Zoom chat 1450 01:15:56,813 --> 01:15:58,075 with Miller and fans, 1451 01:15:58,249 --> 01:16:00,512 and Miller saw racial slurs 1452 01:16:00,686 --> 01:16:03,036 all the time on this chat. 1453 01:16:03,210 --> 01:16:05,735 Jalen Smereck was the target of a racist gesture 1454 01:16:05,909 --> 01:16:07,563 by Andrei Deniskin. 1455 01:16:07,737 --> 01:16:10,609 He pantomimed unpeeling and eating a banana. 1456 01:16:10,783 --> 01:16:13,003 When I seen that, like my heart just dropped. 1457 01:16:13,177 --> 01:16:15,092 Systemic racism is the idea 1458 01:16:15,266 --> 01:16:18,922 that even if there were no racists in your system, 1459 01:16:19,096 --> 01:16:21,838 we would still see racially disparate outcomes. 1460 01:16:22,012 --> 01:16:24,971 Right? Because racism is embedded in our institutions, 1461 01:16:25,145 --> 01:16:27,452 in our ideas, in our patterns of behavior, 1462 01:16:27,626 --> 01:16:29,715 and it's self-perpetuating. 1463 01:16:29,889 --> 01:16:31,021 Death threats made towards you, 1464 01:16:31,195 --> 01:16:33,110 racist threats made towards you. 1465 01:16:33,284 --> 01:16:35,503 How do you deal with all that and move on and play? 1466 01:16:35,678 --> 01:16:37,941 Sad to say, but that's just the fact of the matter. 1467 01:16:38,115 --> 01:16:39,986 I'm getting good at just putting it in the rearview mirror. 1468 01:16:40,160 --> 01:16:42,815 I've had racial remarks directed towards me, 1469 01:16:42,989 --> 01:16:44,817 you know, in the last couple of weeks. 1470 01:16:44,991 --> 01:16:47,777 There's so much hate going on in the world today. 1471 01:16:48,386 --> 01:16:51,345 The video is damning evidence of player misconduct, 1472 01:16:51,519 --> 01:16:54,392 yet no disciplinary action has been taken. 1473 01:16:54,566 --> 01:16:57,743 In my time, playing that level of egregious misconduct, 1474 01:16:57,917 --> 01:17:01,138 was never punished. Ever. 1475 01:17:01,312 --> 01:17:04,489 There's a huge disconnect between policy 1476 01:17:04,663 --> 01:17:06,883 and the enforcement of the policy. 1477 01:17:07,057 --> 01:17:08,493 I'm not calling that a blind spot. 1478 01:17:09,276 --> 01:17:11,452 That's a gaping hole in our game, 1479 01:17:11,627 --> 01:17:13,106 that needs to be repaired. 1480 01:17:13,280 --> 01:17:14,934 You cannot see systemic racism 1481 01:17:15,108 --> 01:17:17,154 by focusing on individual actions. 1482 01:17:17,328 --> 01:17:19,373 That is all smoke and mirrors. 1483 01:17:19,547 --> 01:17:21,245 These incidents happen more often 1484 01:17:21,419 --> 01:17:23,551 than people wanna believe or admit to. 1485 01:17:23,726 --> 01:17:25,162 We had 130 articles 1486 01:17:25,336 --> 01:17:27,164 of incidents dating back to 2018. 1487 01:17:27,338 --> 01:17:29,253 And because we keep treating them 1488 01:17:29,427 --> 01:17:31,995 as isolated incidents, no one's connecting the dots 1489 01:17:32,169 --> 01:17:35,389 and saying, "We have a broader problem 1490 01:17:35,563 --> 01:17:37,174 that we need to deal with, 1491 01:17:37,827 --> 01:17:39,437 and it's called systemic racism." 1492 01:17:39,611 --> 01:17:42,309 You cannot solve systemic issues 1493 01:17:42,483 --> 01:17:43,528 with individual action. 1494 01:17:43,702 --> 01:17:45,922 You cannot understand racism 1495 01:17:46,096 --> 01:17:48,228 as only individualistic. 1496 01:17:48,968 --> 01:17:50,666 It's-- it's a distraction. 1497 01:18:06,159 --> 01:18:08,335 The Black community is starting to emerge 1498 01:18:08,509 --> 01:18:09,772 by the early 1900s. 1499 01:18:12,209 --> 01:18:14,994 Simultaneously, they're sitting in around the Bedford Basin. 1500 01:18:15,168 --> 01:18:18,302 Places like Africville, prime industrial land. 1501 01:18:18,911 --> 01:18:22,175 Halifax has to expand. The railroads have to come in. 1502 01:18:22,349 --> 01:18:23,394 Whose lands are they taking? 1503 01:18:23,568 --> 01:18:25,048 They're taking 1504 01:18:25,222 --> 01:18:26,789 the Black hockey players' lands. 1505 01:18:26,963 --> 01:18:28,660 So these families are fighting back. 1506 01:18:29,356 --> 01:18:33,404 The city of Halifax wanted to build a railroad 1507 01:18:33,578 --> 01:18:34,753 through the community. 1508 01:18:34,927 --> 01:18:37,060 And a number of players 1509 01:18:37,234 --> 01:18:39,758 that played on the Africville Seasides 1510 01:18:39,932 --> 01:18:41,934 started to protest. 1511 01:18:43,893 --> 01:18:46,373 A part of the backlash from that 1512 01:18:46,547 --> 01:18:49,768 was to attack the Maritime Colored Hockey League. 1513 01:18:50,595 --> 01:18:52,118 Rinks weren't available. 1514 01:18:53,206 --> 01:18:56,470 Local newspapers, uh, refused to cover the games. 1515 01:19:01,258 --> 01:19:04,261 By 1908, there's no Colored Hockey Leagues 1516 01:19:04,435 --> 01:19:06,654 playing in and around the arenas of Halifax. 1517 01:19:06,829 --> 01:19:07,830 They're gone. 1518 01:19:08,874 --> 01:19:12,225 Fast forward, 50, 60 years, 1519 01:19:12,399 --> 01:19:14,140 you've got the destruction of Africville. 1520 01:19:15,402 --> 01:19:17,274 Africville obviously, 1521 01:19:17,448 --> 01:19:19,363 must be redeveloped. 1522 01:19:19,537 --> 01:19:23,019 And sometimes, some people need to be shown 1523 01:19:23,193 --> 01:19:25,717 that certain things are not in their own best interests 1524 01:19:25,891 --> 01:19:27,937 and not in the best interest of their children. 1525 01:19:34,682 --> 01:19:36,206 Many of the city officials 1526 01:19:36,380 --> 01:19:39,557 saw that community as a barrier 1527 01:19:39,731 --> 01:19:43,256 to supposedly economic development. 1528 01:19:47,957 --> 01:19:52,135 They razed the-- the homes and the school... 1529 01:19:52,700 --> 01:19:55,965 It was quite a traumatic experience. 1530 01:19:56,879 --> 01:20:00,708 Not only for the Africville residents themselves, 1531 01:20:00,883 --> 01:20:03,711 but for the broader Black community. 1532 01:20:05,409 --> 01:20:06,889 They took our homes, 1533 01:20:07,063 --> 01:20:08,891 they moved us out of Africville, 1534 01:20:09,065 --> 01:20:11,894 in the city garbage trucks. 1535 01:20:12,068 --> 01:20:14,157 We had a lot better out there 1536 01:20:14,331 --> 01:20:17,160 than some places they put us in this city. 1537 01:20:17,334 --> 01:20:19,075 I'm living on welfare. 1538 01:20:20,032 --> 01:20:21,817 I think a whole lot of us, 1539 01:20:21,991 --> 01:20:24,254 when we came in this city, we had to go on welfare. 1540 01:20:24,428 --> 01:20:27,039 When we lived in that city of Africville, 1541 01:20:27,213 --> 01:20:30,303 you look in the record to see how many Africville people 1542 01:20:30,477 --> 01:20:33,306 had to humble and come to the city for welfare. 1543 01:20:33,480 --> 01:20:35,787 We were too independent. 1544 01:20:36,570 --> 01:20:39,356 We didn't want it, we earned our own living. 1545 01:20:39,530 --> 01:20:42,446 And we've earned it the honest way. 1546 01:20:44,143 --> 01:20:48,495 The last resident to leave in 1970 1547 01:20:48,669 --> 01:20:51,934 was Aaron "Pa" Carvery, 1548 01:20:52,108 --> 01:20:55,328 and he played with the Africville Seasides. 1549 01:20:57,417 --> 01:21:00,899 Aaron "Pa" Carvery, he would be my great uncle. 1550 01:21:01,073 --> 01:21:02,596 He was the last warrior. 1551 01:21:03,162 --> 01:21:05,208 He didn't go till 1970. 1552 01:21:05,382 --> 01:21:06,426 And, you know, 1553 01:21:07,210 --> 01:21:09,168 my Uncle Pa, 1554 01:21:10,300 --> 01:21:13,303 and my grandmother, in that generation, 1555 01:21:13,477 --> 01:21:14,739 all of them, 1556 01:21:14,913 --> 01:21:17,307 were gone within five years 1557 01:21:17,481 --> 01:21:19,265 of having to leave Africville. 1558 01:21:19,439 --> 01:21:22,312 And every one of them died with a broken heart. 1559 01:21:22,486 --> 01:21:24,053 Because all they wanted 1560 01:21:24,227 --> 01:21:28,144 was the dignity to die where they were born. 1561 01:21:28,318 --> 01:21:29,536 It's all they wanted. 1562 01:21:45,813 --> 01:21:47,250 Yeah... 1563 01:21:57,390 --> 01:21:59,001 There's an anger. 1564 01:21:59,697 --> 01:22:01,133 Not only a sadness, 1565 01:22:01,307 --> 01:22:03,309 but I am-- I am moving into anger, 1566 01:22:04,006 --> 01:22:07,313 that through no fault of their own, 1567 01:22:08,227 --> 01:22:10,577 that this community's gone. 1568 01:22:15,321 --> 01:22:17,149 And there was no longer 1569 01:22:17,323 --> 01:22:19,238 the community taking care of community anymore. 1570 01:22:19,412 --> 01:22:21,545 And all the social ills 1571 01:22:21,719 --> 01:22:25,201 that, um, society's plagued with, 1572 01:22:25,375 --> 01:22:29,031 um, hit our community that was now dispersed. 1573 01:23:35,706 --> 01:23:36,924 What's up? 1574 01:23:37,969 --> 01:23:39,449 Julian, where's your dad at? 1575 01:23:41,755 --> 01:23:44,062 What's up? Nice jersey. Julian, where's your dad at? 1576 01:23:44,236 --> 01:23:46,412 I would say, I hit this, like, pivotal moment around, 1577 01:23:46,586 --> 01:23:48,762 like, 26, 27 1578 01:23:48,936 --> 01:23:51,461 where my mindset changed from 1579 01:23:51,635 --> 01:23:53,463 me being, in some ways, selfish 1580 01:23:53,637 --> 01:23:55,421 and just concerned about my own career. 1581 01:23:55,595 --> 01:23:57,075 "How do I get better in this game? 1582 01:23:57,249 --> 01:23:59,164 How do I move up in this game?" 1583 01:23:59,338 --> 01:24:03,342 But then... What's the next kid that's gonna be me, 1584 01:24:03,516 --> 01:24:05,214 coming up in this game. 1585 01:24:05,388 --> 01:24:08,043 What's the ten-year-old Akim, right now, feeling? 1586 01:24:08,478 --> 01:24:10,436 How can I help that kid 1587 01:24:10,610 --> 01:24:13,048 to not experience what I went through? 1588 01:24:13,222 --> 01:24:15,267 Today's a celebratory day for me. 1589 01:24:15,441 --> 01:24:16,834 I mean, obviously, 1590 01:24:17,008 --> 01:24:18,488 you see a lot of kids of color sitting here, 1591 01:24:18,662 --> 01:24:21,491 and girls, and obviously indigenous, Asian, Black. 1592 01:24:22,144 --> 01:24:24,146 For the most part, you look different in your dressing rooms 1593 01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:25,669 than I did growing up. I mean, 1594 01:24:25,843 --> 01:24:27,236 I played 12 years professionally 1595 01:24:27,410 --> 01:24:30,935 and I played with two other people of color. 1596 01:24:31,109 --> 01:24:32,893 Every time you look left or right, 1597 01:24:33,068 --> 01:24:35,026 you never really see anybody that looks like you. 1598 01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:36,897 Um, and that kind of hits you in a-- in a different way, 1599 01:24:37,072 --> 01:24:38,769 especially as you get older. So... 1600 01:24:39,944 --> 01:24:42,207 I had some racial incidents happen to me. 1601 01:24:43,556 --> 01:24:45,384 Um, what, what I'm doing right now, 1602 01:24:45,558 --> 01:24:47,169 obviously, we don't have to go through the same thing. 1603 01:24:48,126 --> 01:24:49,562 I'm super excited. We'll go out there 1604 01:24:49,736 --> 01:24:51,564 and have fun today and have a good tempo 1605 01:24:51,738 --> 01:24:53,784 and good atmosphere and enjoy it. 1606 01:25:02,401 --> 01:25:05,143 I've kind of come into my own recently. 1607 01:25:06,536 --> 01:25:10,192 It's just been a recent switch from anger to empowerment. 1608 01:25:10,366 --> 01:25:12,150 Anybody want an XL? 1609 01:25:13,151 --> 01:25:16,850 The XLs actually aren't even that big, so... You want XL or large? 1610 01:25:17,024 --> 01:25:19,462 I'm more so worried about affecting the girls behind me 1611 01:25:19,636 --> 01:25:21,638 and allowing them to have a pathway 1612 01:25:21,812 --> 01:25:23,596 to walk that I didn't have. 1613 01:25:23,770 --> 01:25:26,077 Let them have the resources, the networking, 1614 01:25:26,251 --> 01:25:27,687 all of those amazing things 1615 01:25:27,861 --> 01:25:29,559 that I saw my teammates having, 1616 01:25:29,733 --> 01:25:31,300 that I didn't have necessarily growing up. 1617 01:25:31,474 --> 01:25:33,432 Um, and making sure that they feel comfortable 1618 01:25:33,606 --> 01:25:35,739 and welcomed in the arena. 1619 01:25:35,913 --> 01:25:37,044 That is great. 1620 01:25:37,219 --> 01:25:38,655 How great is this, guys? 1621 01:25:41,223 --> 01:25:43,355 I thought I had trouble fitting my hair. 1622 01:25:44,922 --> 01:25:47,446 Everyone always ask me, um, 1623 01:25:47,620 --> 01:25:49,448 "How does all your hair fit in a helmet?" 1624 01:25:49,622 --> 01:25:50,841 - I know. - I'm like it just does. 1625 01:25:51,015 --> 01:25:52,147 - Right? - Yeah. 1626 01:25:53,104 --> 01:25:55,019 I know that they love seeing me on the ice. 1627 01:25:55,193 --> 01:25:56,977 And I love seeing the Black girls 1628 01:25:57,152 --> 01:25:58,892 that I see at the arena every day. 1629 01:25:59,066 --> 01:26:00,633 Um, now, that I didn't see when I was younger. 1630 01:26:00,807 --> 01:26:02,113 There we go. 1631 01:26:02,287 --> 01:26:03,332 - Let's go. 1632 01:26:05,247 --> 01:26:07,118 Let's go, let's go. Let's go! 1633 01:26:08,424 --> 01:26:11,775 ...inside, inside. 1634 01:26:12,471 --> 01:26:15,082 Good job, good job. 1635 01:26:15,257 --> 01:26:17,346 My generation is trying to open it up 1636 01:26:17,520 --> 01:26:19,696 so that you can be yourself. 1637 01:26:21,524 --> 01:26:23,526 My dream is that, you know, everybody can, 1638 01:26:23,700 --> 01:26:25,963 you know, play hockey without having to worry 1639 01:26:26,137 --> 01:26:28,661 about what's gonna happen to them if they speak their mind. 1640 01:26:28,835 --> 01:26:31,098 But I know we've got a long way to go before that happens. 1641 01:26:34,189 --> 01:26:38,932 I think it's time for the game of hockey to evolve 1642 01:26:39,106 --> 01:26:41,152 the way Canada is evolving 1643 01:26:41,326 --> 01:26:43,415 and bringing in people from all over the world. 1644 01:26:44,155 --> 01:26:46,636 It's Canada's game, but it doesn't appeal 1645 01:26:46,810 --> 01:26:49,334 to what Canadian demographics are. 1646 01:26:50,117 --> 01:26:52,381 And we still have a really tough time 1647 01:26:52,555 --> 01:26:55,166 in attracting people of color to play the game of hockey. 1648 01:26:55,340 --> 01:26:56,733 They just don't resonate with it. 1649 01:26:57,777 --> 01:27:00,171 For me, it's one of those things I just think that... 1650 01:27:00,345 --> 01:27:02,042 That it's something worth saving 1651 01:27:02,217 --> 01:27:04,044 because it has so much potential. 1652 01:27:07,178 --> 01:27:09,224 My first year playing with another Black player 1653 01:27:09,398 --> 01:27:10,964 was my senior year of college. 1654 01:27:11,138 --> 01:27:12,836 And at that point in time, I felt like 1655 01:27:13,010 --> 01:27:14,968 that was gonna be my last year playing. 1656 01:27:15,142 --> 01:27:16,753 Um, I had lost my love for the game 1657 01:27:16,927 --> 01:27:18,798 because I didn't have friends on my team 1658 01:27:18,972 --> 01:27:21,279 like how you guys are all friends in a community. 1659 01:27:21,453 --> 01:27:23,325 I know sometimes things get said, 1660 01:27:23,499 --> 01:27:25,414 it might be awkward and then you got to internalize it 1661 01:27:25,588 --> 01:27:27,764 because you're the only Black player in the room. 1662 01:27:27,938 --> 01:27:30,810 But I think once we-- once we get these Black faces in the arena, 1663 01:27:30,984 --> 01:27:32,943 I think we're gonna see Black individuals 1664 01:27:33,117 --> 01:27:34,901 being welcomed in the arena, 1665 01:27:35,075 --> 01:27:37,513 um, which is something that we haven't necessarily had. 1666 01:27:40,385 --> 01:27:42,605 I really wish now I had spoken out a lot more 1667 01:27:42,779 --> 01:27:44,868 'cause I think it would have went a long way to helping out, 1668 01:27:45,042 --> 01:27:46,522 you know, younger kids that were... 1669 01:27:47,392 --> 01:27:50,134 You know, look like me, and could possibly be in that position. 1670 01:27:51,135 --> 01:27:52,919 All right, ladies and gentlemen, 1671 01:27:53,093 --> 01:27:55,139 I think I wanna leave you guys with one parting message. 1672 01:27:55,313 --> 01:27:56,793 You guys can do whatever you guys wanna do. 1673 01:27:56,967 --> 01:27:59,230 You guys see me, right? I play in the NHL. 1674 01:27:59,404 --> 01:28:02,059 I started right where you guys are. Right? 1675 01:28:02,233 --> 01:28:04,366 Don't ever let anybody take that from you 1676 01:28:04,540 --> 01:28:06,150 because you guys are kings and queens, 1677 01:28:06,324 --> 01:28:08,326 and you can do whatever you guys wanna do. 1678 01:28:08,500 --> 01:28:09,980 - Yes? - Uh... 1679 01:28:12,417 --> 01:28:13,984 Yes. Um... 1680 01:28:14,767 --> 01:28:17,814 Unfortunately, the sport that we play, 1681 01:28:17,988 --> 01:28:20,077 some people don't want us to play this sport. 1682 01:28:20,251 --> 01:28:22,427 But we got news for them. This is our sport. 1683 01:28:22,601 --> 01:28:24,603 We go all the way back to the 1800s 1684 01:28:24,777 --> 01:28:27,780 and the Colored Hockey League back in Nova Scotia, right? 1685 01:28:27,954 --> 01:28:30,217 So don't let anybody ever tell you this is not your sport 1686 01:28:30,392 --> 01:28:32,176 because this is exactly what you're supposed to be. 1687 01:28:33,264 --> 01:28:34,483 Exactly. 1688 01:28:44,580 --> 01:28:46,364 I thought about sometimes quitting hockey 1689 01:28:46,538 --> 01:28:48,758 but my teammates brought me out, 1690 01:28:48,932 --> 01:28:51,021 telling me, you know, "We support you in this" 1691 01:28:51,195 --> 01:28:52,718 and they helped along the way. 1692 01:28:54,111 --> 01:28:56,113 And the community behind us, especially. 1693 01:28:56,983 --> 01:29:00,683 That lift my spirits and made me feel very good. 1694 01:29:06,428 --> 01:29:08,517 You know, even guys we compete against, you know, 1695 01:29:08,691 --> 01:29:10,562 some of us are buddies, and we all know each other. 1696 01:29:10,736 --> 01:29:12,521 And they tell me, like, "Hey, man, 1697 01:29:12,695 --> 01:29:15,001 we support you through this." 1698 01:29:15,175 --> 01:29:17,439 They all said, you know, "This got to be changed. This got to stop. 1699 01:29:17,613 --> 01:29:19,310 It shouldn't be happening anymore." 1700 01:29:29,581 --> 01:29:32,628 There are a lot of things that people might not think is palatable. 1701 01:29:33,542 --> 01:29:35,065 But all those stories have to be told 1702 01:29:35,239 --> 01:29:36,675 so that we get a true depiction 1703 01:29:36,849 --> 01:29:38,808 of where we need to go, where we've been 1704 01:29:38,982 --> 01:29:42,072 and, and how we get to where we wanna go. 1705 01:29:42,246 --> 01:29:43,726 I think it's vitally important 1706 01:29:43,900 --> 01:29:45,641 that we reclaim our place in history. 1707 01:29:45,815 --> 01:29:48,339 We're not just the runaway slaves 1708 01:29:48,513 --> 01:29:51,777 or free loyalists who came to build and to clean. 1709 01:29:51,951 --> 01:29:54,040 We had a good place in history. 1710 01:29:54,214 --> 01:29:56,173 That should not be ignored. 1711 01:29:56,347 --> 01:29:58,393 Nor no longer forgotten or buried. 1712 01:30:00,090 --> 01:30:02,005 I think now, you know, I'm a grown man. 1713 01:30:02,179 --> 01:30:03,615 I learned so much. 1714 01:30:03,789 --> 01:30:05,356 And now, at 26 years old, 1715 01:30:05,530 --> 01:30:07,663 I'm finally talking about this. 1716 01:30:07,837 --> 01:30:09,839 It is... It's not easy. You know, it's not comfortable. 1717 01:30:10,013 --> 01:30:13,408 Um, but it's, it's definitely, uh, something we have to do, 1718 01:30:13,582 --> 01:30:15,627 especially for the younger generation coming up. 1719 01:30:17,237 --> 01:30:19,414 I've seen so many kids, like, be turned away from hockey, 1720 01:30:19,588 --> 01:30:21,416 and it makes me so sad every year, 1721 01:30:21,590 --> 01:30:23,592 because I see, like, my younger self 1722 01:30:23,766 --> 01:30:24,854 in these kids. 1723 01:30:25,463 --> 01:30:27,117 Our game is stagnant right now. 1724 01:30:27,291 --> 01:30:30,381 Are we going to invite the next generation in, 1725 01:30:30,555 --> 01:30:32,731 or are we going to isolate 1726 01:30:32,905 --> 01:30:35,168 and say, "No, you actually can't be a part of it?" 1727 01:30:35,995 --> 01:30:37,736 It's about the incidents that happen 1728 01:30:37,910 --> 01:30:39,259 every day in our world. 1729 01:30:39,434 --> 01:30:40,783 It's opening people's eyes 1730 01:30:40,957 --> 01:30:42,698 that these things happen 1731 01:30:42,872 --> 01:30:44,526 and people have to live with these things. 1732 01:30:44,700 --> 01:30:46,092 That's difficult. 1733 01:30:47,267 --> 01:30:50,401 If you start talking about those kinds of issues, 1734 01:30:50,575 --> 01:30:52,925 there is a level of uncomfortability. 1735 01:30:53,665 --> 01:30:55,580 But as you come to grips 1736 01:30:55,754 --> 01:30:58,496 with those uncomfortable issues, 1737 01:30:58,670 --> 01:31:00,629 can you move forward? 1738 01:31:03,283 --> 01:31:05,242 I mean, the stories we tell, 1739 01:31:05,416 --> 01:31:07,070 and the stories we tell ourselves, 1740 01:31:07,244 --> 01:31:08,767 the stories we tell our children, 1741 01:31:08,941 --> 01:31:11,466 the stories we tell about ourselves, 1742 01:31:11,640 --> 01:31:14,207 who we are as individuals, as communities. 1743 01:31:14,381 --> 01:31:16,166 As a country, right? 1744 01:31:16,340 --> 01:31:20,387 These are foundational to who we think we are. 1745 01:31:20,562 --> 01:31:22,868 Right? And so the stories that are not told, 1746 01:31:23,042 --> 01:31:25,044 the stories that are kind of jettisoned 1747 01:31:25,218 --> 01:31:27,003 from the realm of what's imaginable, 1748 01:31:27,177 --> 01:31:30,310 it goes to the core of our national identity. 1749 01:31:30,485 --> 01:31:32,878 And so, when Black people are excluded 1750 01:31:33,052 --> 01:31:34,924 from those stories, right? 1751 01:31:35,098 --> 01:31:38,275 We let Canada think that we are new, 1752 01:31:38,449 --> 01:31:40,538 we have never been here, 1753 01:31:40,712 --> 01:31:42,235 we don't really belong here, 1754 01:31:42,409 --> 01:31:44,803 we should be grateful to be here. 1755 01:31:44,977 --> 01:31:49,504 While what we actually are, are, you know, we are integral 1756 01:31:49,678 --> 01:31:52,550 to everything this country thinks it is. 1757 01:32:27,933 --> 01:32:32,982 ♪ Oh, Africville Look what they've done to me ♪ 1758 01:32:33,156 --> 01:32:35,593 ♪ It's a part of our history They kept in the class ♪ 1759 01:32:35,767 --> 01:32:37,160 ♪ And professors never taught the lessons ♪ 1760 01:32:37,334 --> 01:32:39,075 ♪ They neglected forgot it ♪ 1761 01:32:39,249 --> 01:32:40,511 ♪ They kept it underneath the table ♪ 1762 01:32:40,685 --> 01:32:42,252 ♪ Kept it under the surface ♪ 1763 01:32:42,426 --> 01:32:43,949 ♪ Nervous that we would reemerge it ♪ 1764 01:32:44,123 --> 01:32:45,734 ♪ They dispersed us and jerked us ♪ 1765 01:32:45,908 --> 01:32:47,779 ♪ Out in Africville Halifax is ill ♪ 1766 01:32:47,953 --> 01:32:49,999 ♪ How can us Blacks rebuild when the facts reveal ♪ 1767 01:32:50,173 --> 01:32:52,305 ♪ The government left them comatose ♪ 1768 01:32:52,479 --> 01:32:54,612 ♪ The younger and older folks in Black Nova Scotia souls ♪ 1769 01:32:54,786 --> 01:32:56,571 ♪ Have frozen many homes ♪ 1770 01:32:56,745 --> 01:32:58,660 ♪ Are broken drugs started creeping in ♪ 1771 01:32:58,834 --> 01:33:00,531 ♪ Crime started seeping in The heaven got crushed ♪ 1772 01:33:00,705 --> 01:33:02,402 ♪ When the demons started sneaking in ♪ 1773 01:33:02,577 --> 01:33:04,143 ♪ A Black community lost and trampled ♪ 1774 01:33:04,317 --> 01:33:06,189 ♪ Left out in shambles ♪ 1775 01:33:06,363 --> 01:33:08,017 ♪ Dismantled and it's still hard to handle ♪ 1776 01:33:08,191 --> 01:33:09,845 ♪ You can't put a price ♪ 1777 01:33:10,019 --> 01:33:13,283 ♪ On the lives that they ruined ♪ 1778 01:33:14,197 --> 01:33:16,939 ♪ No reparations, no nothing ♪ 1779 01:33:17,113 --> 01:33:19,115 ♪ Why would you do this? ♪ 1780 01:33:20,029 --> 01:33:25,643 ♪ Divide my people to find out on the corners at night ♪ 1781 01:33:25,817 --> 01:33:30,822 ♪ Oh, Africville, look what they've done to me ♪ 1782 01:33:31,518 --> 01:33:33,303 ♪ Take my word it's time to settle this ♪ 1783 01:33:33,477 --> 01:33:35,305 ♪ As I reminisce about the settlement ♪ 1784 01:33:35,479 --> 01:33:37,176 ♪ If you Black from Halifax ♪ 1785 01:33:37,350 --> 01:33:38,961 ♪ I'm speaking about your relatives ♪ 1786 01:33:39,135 --> 01:33:40,527 ♪ History don't like to tell of it ♪ 1787 01:33:40,702 --> 01:33:42,094 ♪ Discreet about its relevance ♪ 1788 01:33:42,268 --> 01:33:43,922 ♪ 'Cause a Black community ♪ 1789 01:33:44,096 --> 01:33:45,707 ♪ Was a disease to their development ♪ 1790 01:33:45,881 --> 01:33:47,143 ♪ Therefore they had to change that ♪ 1791 01:33:47,317 --> 01:33:49,014 ♪ But those in the community ♪ 1792 01:33:49,188 --> 01:33:50,668 ♪ That lay beside the train tracks ♪ 1793 01:33:50,842 --> 01:33:52,757 ♪ Forced to make tax payments ♪ 1794 01:33:52,931 --> 01:33:54,150 ♪ Despite the lack of running water and sewage ♪ 1795 01:33:54,324 --> 01:33:56,326 ♪ Flat pavement and light ♪ 1796 01:33:56,500 --> 01:33:58,067 ♪ Our forefathers bought themselves from enslavement ♪ 1797 01:33:58,241 --> 01:34:00,025 ♪ With rights to land ownership ♪ 1798 01:34:00,199 --> 01:34:01,723 ♪ I'm asking people How do you condone this shit? ♪ 1799 01:34:01,897 --> 01:34:02,941 ♪ See what happened to Africville ♪ 1800 01:34:03,115 --> 01:34:04,421 ♪ It happens still ♪ 1801 01:34:04,595 --> 01:34:05,857 ♪ They choose land over man ♪ 1802 01:34:06,031 --> 01:34:07,250 ♪ To expand extract and kill ♪ 1803 01:34:07,424 --> 01:34:09,078 ♪ You can't put a price ♪ 1804 01:34:09,252 --> 01:34:11,080 ♪ On the lives that they ruined ♪ 1805 01:34:12,037 --> 01:34:14,779 ♪ No reparations, no nothing ♪ 1806 01:34:14,953 --> 01:34:16,999 ♪ Why would you do this? ♪ 1807 01:34:17,826 --> 01:34:23,483 ♪ Divide my people to find out on the corners at night ♪ 1808 01:34:23,658 --> 01:34:28,488 ♪ Oh, Africville Look what they've done to me ♪ 1809 01:34:28,663 --> 01:34:30,882 ♪ How can you compensate a lost culture? ♪ 1810 01:34:31,056 --> 01:34:32,710 ♪ Especially when it's smashed up ♪ 1811 01:34:32,884 --> 01:34:34,669 ♪ In a system of colonial vultures ♪ 1812 01:34:34,843 --> 01:34:37,106 ♪ Africville, they made a real-life theatrical poster ♪ 1813 01:34:37,280 --> 01:34:38,977 ♪ They moved Blacks off the base ♪ 1814 01:34:39,151 --> 01:34:41,284 ♪ And using garbage trucks as chauffeurs ♪ 1815 01:34:41,458 --> 01:34:42,807 ♪ It's pretty clever how they did this through the night ♪ 1816 01:34:42,981 --> 01:34:44,461 ♪ Destroying Black history ♪ 1817 01:34:44,635 --> 01:34:46,506 ♪ With no regard for human life ♪ 1818 01:34:46,681 --> 01:34:48,639 ♪ Into the crack-infested ghetto city lights ♪ 1819 01:34:48,813 --> 01:34:50,380 ♪ Hundreds of Black children ♪ 1820 01:34:50,554 --> 01:34:52,121 ♪ Hating each other ready to fight ♪ 1821 01:34:52,295 --> 01:34:53,731 ♪ There's no amount of reparations ♪ 1822 01:34:53,905 --> 01:34:55,864 ♪ Compensations rehabilitation ♪ 1823 01:34:56,038 --> 01:34:58,040 ♪ Three day celebrations never changed the situation ♪ 1824 01:34:58,214 --> 01:35:00,259 ♪ Even though it's been proved by the United Nations ♪ 1825 01:35:00,433 --> 01:35:02,044 ♪ That the Africville relocation ♪ 1826 01:35:02,218 --> 01:35:03,741 ♪ Was a civil rights violation ♪ 1827 01:35:03,915 --> 01:35:05,612 ♪ You can't put a price ♪ 1828 01:35:05,787 --> 01:35:09,051 ♪ On the lives that they've ruined ♪ 1829 01:35:09,704 --> 01:35:12,532 ♪ No reparations, no nothing ♪ 1830 01:35:12,707 --> 01:35:14,796 ♪ Why would you do this? ♪ 1831 01:35:15,710 --> 01:35:21,367 ♪ Divide my people to find out on the corners at night ♪ 1832 01:35:21,541 --> 01:35:25,937 ♪ Oh, Africville Look what they've done to me ♪ 1833 01:35:26,111 --> 01:35:28,592 ♪ Look what they've done to me ♪