Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her

eBook, 266 pages

Published Oct. 8, 2024 by McClelland & Stewart.

ASIN:: B0CYP1JVVH

(1 review)

From the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club, a collection of deeply insightful and piercing essays shedding light on the history of Black excellence in hockey, the future of Black joy within the sport, and the ways we can all do better when it comes to recognizing—and upheaving—systemic and institutionalized racism.

Growing up, R. Renee Hess didn’t care about hockey. In fact, she was barely aware of it. She was born and raised in Southern California, hardly a hotbed for the game, despite the state having three NHL teams. But, as Hess puts it, she is “a fan of being a fan,” and when she found herself stuck in traffic after a Pittsburgh Penguins game, the streets filled with cheers, something sparked within her. Ever since Hess made that discovery, she has been actively trying to bust the myth that “Black folks don’t like hockey.”

In this collection, Hess shares …

From the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club, a collection of deeply insightful and piercing essays shedding light on the history of Black excellence in hockey, the future of Black joy within the sport, and the ways we can all do better when it comes to recognizing—and upheaving—systemic and institutionalized racism.

Growing up, R. Renee Hess didn’t care about hockey. In fact, she was barely aware of it. She was born and raised in Southern California, hardly a hotbed for the game, despite the state having three NHL teams. But, as Hess puts it, she is “a fan of being a fan,” and when she found herself stuck in traffic after a Pittsburgh Penguins game, the streets filled with cheers, something sparked within her. Ever since Hess made that discovery, she has been actively trying to bust the myth that “Black folks don’t like hockey.”

In this collection, Hess shares her hockey origin story and how she came to recognize hockey culture’s lack of authentic engagement with Black communities, tracing her journey to becoming a true game changer. But, as an academic, Hess knows that her singular viewpoint can’t tell the full story, so she reached out to former hockey players, league executives, activists, fans, media, and to the parents and youth shaping the future of the game. We hear directly from players such as Sarah Nurse and Saroya Tinker; from trailblazers like Bernice Carnegie and Kim Davis; and from the collective of Black Girl Hockey Club scholarship awardees and their families, emphasizing the importance of community and support for marginalized players. The result is a hockey book truly unlike any other.

With essays that touch on representation and harmful stereotypes, the many nuanced aspects of biracial identity, being the only person of colour in the room, and the virtues of a lively group chat, Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her is a love letter to Black women everywhere, as well as a scathing ode to a game that Hess loves, even if it doesn't always love her back.

1 edition

WhiskeyintheJar reviewed Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her by Renee Hess

Loving hockey and building community

4 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

It isn’t easy being the first— the first Black woman to win gold, to run a hockey school, to be a professional hockey scout, to start a hockey non-profit that values Black women above all else. “Firsts” need the support and care of our communities. But by creating safe spaces where others can be vulnerable and honest, we give ourselves that same gift—and that’s a beautiful thing to behold.

With a title that I expected to deliver more of a scholarly tone, footnotes and the like (there is a Works Cited), Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey instead was a conversational piece about the author's fandom, experience, work, insight, and hope for inclusivity in the world of hockey. The …

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

It isn’t easy being the first— the first Black woman to win gold, to run a hockey school, to be a professional hockey scout, to start a hockey non-profit that values Black women above all else. “Firsts” need the support and care of our communities. But by creating safe spaces where others can be vulnerable and honest, we give ourselves that same gift—and that’s a beautiful thing to behold.

With a title that I expected to deliver more of a scholarly tone, footnotes and the like (there is a Works Cited), Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey instead was a conversational piece about the author's fandom, experience, work, insight, and hope for inclusivity in the world of hockey. The beginning lays out how they came to be a fan of the sport and then how isolating it could be at times being a Black and queer person in that fandom. This had the author creating Black Girl Hockey Club, sending them down a road of creating space, connections, and opportunity for others to not feel so isolated.

Be a bridge to something better, and take care of the bridges in your own communities.

A lot of this highlighted the people working to make a difference, such as Kim Davis, Dr. Szto, Shireen Ahmed, Sarah Nurse, Erica Ayala, Blake Bolden, and Jashvina Shah, along with organizations, BGHC, Carnegie Initiative, Get Uncomfortable Campaign, and Hockey is for Everyone. Important names to get out there, as the book discusses, resources, information, and knowledge give people a way to reach out and connect. Relaying this information shows the work being done and how many kids and families want to give hockey a try but have no idea where to start. There's a lot of talk about community, whether in person or online but always addressing the importance of building it and relaying how the author has done it, helping with suggesting how to do it.

I am leery of anyone who would rather be blissfully ignorant than painfully aware.

The heart of the book was the relaying and sharing of experiences of players, parents, kids, and people that have a love of the game that the author interviewed, Joel Ward's thoughts and feelings about his mom will connect and hit hard with many. There's discussion of how colourism and ignoring intersectionality work to undermine efforts for inclusivity and an ending chapter that speaks on how insidious white feminism is to efforts for equality and equity for all.

Black hockey players are few and far between at all levels of hockey, which means that equitable communities must be built with intentionality. Parents of Black children will seek these spaces out, but first they must exist.

The evolution of women's hockey is also discussed and how behind the NHL is compared to the NBA on reaching out. The burst of popularity of the WNBA in the last year shows that once afforded attention, money, effort, and time, women's sports can more than hold their own. The spending power companies let sexism and racism leave on the table never ceases to amaze me. I thought the first half of this was laid out perfectly but the latter second half before it wrapped up had moments of not held together as tightly, causing it to feel a little sluggish. Anyone can get something out of reading this, if you're Black, a sense of community, if you're white, a shake up to see outside of yourself, and if you're a hockey fan, you'll feel the excitement and love of the game and see all the ways the experience for all needs to and can improve.

Subjects

sports