Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give HerBlackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her

"From the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club, a collection of deeply insightful and piercing essays that aims to shed light on the history of Black excellence--in all forms--in hockey, and how 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 hockey game, the streets filled with screams and 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--how she came to understand the lack of authentic engagement in hockey culture with the Black community, and 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, Saroya Tinker, and Angela James; from trailblazers like Bernice Carnegie; and from the less-heralded, but equally urgent collective of Black Girl Hockey Club scholarship awardees and their families, emphasizing the importance of community and support. 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, on being the "lonely only," and the virtues of a lively group chat, Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her reads as 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."--