About this episode

R. Renee Hess discusses her work and the founding of Black Girl Hockey Club, focusing on race and community in hockey.

"I think, like all writers, I will feel an itch that I have to scratch. There will be an idea in my head that I've got to get down on paper, whether I follow through with it or not," says R. Renee Hess, author of Blackness is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey. Who do we have this week? It's R. Renee Hess, but you can all her Renee, of Black Girl Hockey Club. She wrote the essay collection Blackness is a Gift I can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey. It's published by McClelland & Stewart. After Renee finished her schooling and got a job and had some money, she sought to find a sport to follow that cut against the grain. Instead of baseball, football, or basketball, she thought, maybe hockey and it didn't take long to realize that there very few Black people on the ice and in the stands. And even fewer Black women in the stands. In 2018, she launched Black Girl Hockey Club, a nonprofit organization that focuses on equity and including for Black women in ice hockey. Renee was named one of three finalists for the NHL's Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award in 2021 for positively impacting the community, culture, or society through…

People in this episode

Host: Brendan O'Meara

Guest: R. Renee Hess

Topics covered

• hockey
• race
• community
• Black women
• nonprofit organizations
• sports equity

Keywords

• hockey
• Black women
• nonprofit
• R. Renee Hess
• Black Girl Hockey Club
• sports equity
• Willie O'Ree
• community impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Black Girl Hockey Club, McClelland & Stewart, NHL, Black Nerd Problems, Spectrum Magazine, Racebaitr

Books & works: Blackness is a Gift I Can Give Her: On Race, Community, and Black Women in Hockey

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