Hockey. It’s Canada’s game. Just like our country, our sport has welcomed everyone from all backgrounds to play, but it hasn’t always been that way.
In 1895, the first black hockey league was created as an initiative of the black Baptist Churches of Canada. Named “the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes”, the league was an all-black, up to 12 team league with over 400 African Canadian players from across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The league existed until 1930.
It wasn’t until 1958 that the NHL saw the first black professional hockey player hit the ice. Willie O’Ree played for the Boston Bruins as a winger. Being the first black hockey player in the big leagues, he dealt with powerful racist remarks from fans in the U.S. and Canada, but that didn’t stop him from playing the sport he loved. His courage and perseverance painted the way for black hockey legends like Grant Fuhr, Val James, Georges Laraque and many more. They all had to deal with set backs, struggles and hardships all because of their race.
Today some of the NHL’s brightest and most influential players are from many different backgrounds. From Jordin Tootoo, the first Inuk professional hockey player to Devin Setoguchi, a fourth generation Japanese hockey player currently with the Minnesota Wild. Everyone has a place in hockey. With NHL players like P.K. Subban not only helping Team Canada win gold in the 2014 Sochi Olympics but also making a $10 million dollar donation to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, becoming the first Canadian sports figure to make a philanthropic contribution of that size in history.
The new documentary feature film, Soul On Ice: Past, Present & Future looks at the history of black athletes in hockey and redefines what it means to be black in the world of hockey. Writer, director and producer Kwame Damon Mason follows the journey of Jaden Lindo, a young, black, NHL hopeful who sees the difficulties that still face black athletes in the game of hockey today.
Soul On Ice won People’s Choice for Best Feature at the Edmonton International Film Fest showing that telling the often difficult story of black athletes in hockey is one that more people want to hear and need to hear.
Soul On Ice: Past, Present & Future has it’s public screening in Toronto Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at Rainbow Cinemas – Market Square at 80 Front Street East.
After its successful launch in October 2014, social media vocal network Beep has partnered with capital-raising network Crowdfunder (www.crowdfunder.com/beep), mobile engagement platform MiiScan and entertainment social network Personas to further new app developments.
Toronto’s Casey House with presenting sponsor TD Bank Group hosted Art With Heart, its 22nd annual contemporary art auction and reception on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at The Carlu. The gala raised over $575,000, bringing the total funds raised since the inception of the auction to over $6.7 million for the organization’s yearly HIV/AIDS related initiatives.
The latest art piece in PMG’s collection was added by one of our very own alumnus, Dan Schneider. Dan has been an integral part of the PMG team, contributing to several of our projects and operations for over eight years. When he’s not working his PR magic or teaching the ins and outs of the industry to his college PR class (he’s a busy guy!), Dan can be found in his home studio crafting unique pieces of art. He holds a master’s degree in fine art from the University of Guelph and has an impressive exhibition record. Dan’s work has been featured on episodes of Designer Guys and Cityline, issues of Canadian House and Home and Style at Home magazines, as well as Danny Fernandes’ music video, Fantasy. The Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, the Soho Metropolitan and the penthouse at the Cosmopolitan in New York also currently hang some of Dan’s works on paper. We sat down with Dan to ask him more about his background in art and relationship with PMGL, the impressive sculpture he gifted our office with and the inspiration behind it.
r board member and executive director of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, introduces ULabs to Canada, a series of experiential workshops that gets kids off their phones and into designing their lives through the development of real world skills. The flagship hands-on, intensive [U]Lab is officially launching its mission to develop the self-mastery parents are desperate for, colleges are screening for, and employees are now demanding. The event will take place in Toronto from November 14 to 15, 2015 at CJ Skateboard Park and School (60 Horner Ave, Etobicoke).
The saying goes that you’re not supposed to wear white after Labour Day, yet Labour Day is not the official end of summer. The hot summer weather hasn’t quite left and with the current heat wave in parts of the country, white should still be a staple in your wardrobe.
HIV/AIDS specialty hospital Casey House has partnered with long-term care home provider, The Rekai Centres, to launch a brand new video series titled Compassionate Care in a Changing Landscape: HIV/AIDS and Long Term Care. The eight-part educational series focuses on bringing awareness and increasing sensitivity to the ever-changing compassionate care needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.
New documentary film Soul on Ice: Past Present & Future will be premiering in Toronto Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 7:00 PM at Rainbow Cinemas Market Square (80 Front Street East). Directed and produced by Toronto’s Kwame Damon Mason and Michael P. Douglas and written by Kwame Damon Mason, the film focuses on how black athletes are making a name for themselves in the sport of hockey. The film has also been selected as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival, with a screening date of October 7, 2015.