Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey

by R. Renee Hess

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Adult

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2024

Reviews

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc i do not think i can do it justice because it felt informative even to someone who watches from the sidelines, i honestly might go back to read it again.

[FER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her

"Her" is self, mothers/daughters, scholarship recipients, fandom group chats, locker rooms, community spaces, and professional boardrooms. Hess embodies that Black girl magic - that gift - not just in advocating for community, but in building it (see the Black Girl Hockey Club).

Her essays are further imbued with this power as she uplifts the voices of Black Women at every level of the hockey community. From young Black hockey players connecting with the supportive coaches, to a hockey club executive creating programs for their local communities. A gold medalist finding strength in the joy of young skaters.

But lest you mistake this for some hopecore aesthetic piece, prepare to Get Uncomfortable. Hess' work is unequivocally for Black women. Non Black readers are challenged to decenter themselves to conconspire and advocate for equity and inclusion. And Pay Black Women For Their Labor.

" The question is not “Will Black women gain equity within institutions built on systemic racism?” but rather “What can Black women build to subvert the systems of institutional inequity in order to create something better?” When Black women create, we are able to manifest such joy, such inclusivity, that others who long for that same care become drawn to us and our work. "

Hess has created that community and isn't waiting for Black hockey fans to find her. She is organizing group seats at hockey games with meet and greets before puck drop. She is networking with hockey executives to get the funds for tangible outreach programs specifically for marginalized Black communities. Her Blackness is a gift to the hockey fan & professional experience.

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Random House Canada | McClelland & Stewart for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Steph Beaudoin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey by R. Renee Hess

I loved this book! It was a great insight into Black Girl Hockey Club. I loved the interviews. I loved the research. I loved the plain language. Absolutely spectacular.

Two of my favorite highlights are below:

“You see, I may not be a hockey mom, but I’ll claim the role of hockey auntie any day.”

“Gender, sexuality, race— these are social constructs created to divide us and build false walls around us, so that we don’t feel empathy for our fellow human beings.”

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

this collection is self-advertised as being by and for black women, but i think anyone can get something good out of it. community!!! it’s vital!!!

i like the combination of hess’ experience as both a fan and as the founder of black girl hockey club. favorites in the collection included: “three times i saw a hockey game in pittsburgh and one time i didn’t”, “lincoln and saroya”, “woho and white feminism”, “we’re black all year long, not just in february”.
also the bit about being a road fan where she talks about being the perfect pens road fan “because i am full of spite and joy” and like. same here

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blackness is a Gift I Can Give Her is a treasure for hockey fans, sports fans, and folks who love fannish spaces. It's a love letter to Black women and all the ways they carve out spaces for themselves, create homes in sports communities that weren't made for them, and build the infrastructure so that they can be. Black Girl Hockey Club does incredible work, but you don't need to be familiar with the author or BGHC to love this book.

As a women's hockey fan, I especially loved the time spent with Blake Bolden, Sarah Nurse, and Saroya Tinker, as well as hearing about how much Joel Ward's connection to BGHC was an act of love for his mom.

[Jessica Keeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much needed addition to hockey nonfiction!

[Katey Salogar · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh she COOKED with this one I fear

[mer · Rating 4 out of 5]

first of all, may black women keep thriving!!! and yall support women in sports!!

this is a very insightful read. it highlights the author experience as a hockey fan and also offers small behind the scenes of working to improve a sport with a history like hockey. it also highlights pretty important people that work diligently to change the game for the better. as a brown woman who’s also a fan of hockey, i felt so seen by some of these essays. but i think everyone can take away something from this book even if it is at its core for black women, so give it a chance.

the first part held up better than the way it was wrapped up at the end but i still am glad to have read it. as someone who didn’t grow up in america or with the game, it had pretty informative pieces that i appreciated reading. it also introduced me to the Black Girl Hockey Club that i will definitely be following now :)

[WhiskeyintheJar · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

As soon as I saw the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club was writing this book, I knew I had to read it. In this collection of essays, Hess tackles the way that hockey systematically excludes Black people and more specifically Black women, often simply by way of not recognizing how much harder it is for those groups. It's no secret that hockey is very white and very monied. The sport is expensive, from buying all the equipment to getting access to ice, and the barriers to entry are high. Throughout these essays, Hess highlights some of the ways that her nonprofit and others are working to make the game more accessible. From the Pittsburgh Penguins running training camps in a facility closer to downtown and accessible via public transit to the BGHC giving out scholarships that help marginalized players with the costs of the game, there are small changes that can be made that have huge impacts on who is given the opportunity to be exposed to the game.

One thing that I love about Hess in this book is that she knows she only knows one viewpoint, that of a "fan of being a fan" who came to the sport later in life. Knowing that, she reached out to people all across the spectrum to get their views too. She interviewed Sarah Nurse, the only Black Olympian in women's hockey, and Bernice Carnegie, daughter of Herbert Carnegie who is considered to be the best Black hockey player to never play in the NHL and founded one of the first hockey schools in Canada.

While I admit, and Hess even has an essay about this in the book, that this book isn't for me as a white woman, I do think I took a lot out of this. I grew up feeling some of the things the players in this book feel simply by being a girl playing a "boy's" sport so I know it had to be even harder when facing racism or racism and sexism. I loved that this made me look at my own experiences in a different light and gave me insight into what I can do to help others, especially others who don't look like me.

That being said, I do think that by the end of this essay collection, some of the anecdotes and comments began to feel a little repetitive. Maybe I wouldn't have noticed as much if I had spaced out the readings of these essays, but as a whole it made the collection feel a little less polished.

[Kalyn OByrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard of Black Girls Hockey Club a few years ago so I was really excited to pick this one up. As a huge hockey fan that wants to diversify the game and actually believes hockey is for everyone I felt like this would be a great read for me and I was right. Even though as a white woman this book was not for me, I took a lot out of it. It made me reflect on the sport as a whole and things that I can do better myself as a fan to make it a more welcoming space.

In this collection of essays, Hess tackles the ways that hockey systematically excludes Black people and especially Black women. It's no secret how white hockey is and how much money plays a factor on if people can play. The sport is super expensive from buying all the equipment and getting access to ice and everything in between making the barrier to play and get into the sport so much higher. In her essays, Hess highlighted some of the ways others and herself and her nonprofit are working to make the game more accessible.

I loved that Hess reached out to people across the spectrum of hockey to get views that were different then her own, as someone who became a fan later in life. She interviewed Sarah Nurse, the only black Olympian in women's hockey and Bernice Carngegie, the daughter of Herbert Carniegie who is considered to be the best Black hockey player to never play in the NHL. I appreciated what these perspectives brought to this collection.

I will be recommending this to all my friends that are sports fans.

[Kellee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look at not only Black women's involvement and the obstacles to that involvement in hockey, but a good read for anyone who wants to think about including Black women in any sport, community organizing, or fandom that is lacking in diversity.

[Victoria I · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read on Black girls and women in hockey spaces, community in fandom and how racism affects all aspects of life. Loved the nuance and voice in this book. I know next to nothing about hockey but was fascinated by every page.