Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is committed to doing better to support anti-racism, and our role as historic storytellers means we have a platform and responsibility to amplify the voices of Black Hall of Famers to share their experiences. The new digital campaign titled #WeWillDoBetter is an initiative to support anti-racism action. Produced in partnership with TSN, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame has created eight curated mini-documentaries to raise awareness about systemic racism that transcends Canadian sport. These vignettes highlight the inspiring stories and incredible accomplishments of Black Hall of Famers, what they contributed to their sports and communities as well as the adversity they faced, both during and beyond their athletic careers.
The first eight vignettes feature the following Hall of Famers:
- Damon Allen – Football
- Herb Carnegie – Ice Hockey
- Michael “Pinball” Clemons – Football
- Phil Edwards – Athletics
- Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins – Baseball
- Harry Jerome – Athletics
- George Reed – Football
- Willie O’Ree – Ice Hockey
Each episode will be featured on Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame’s social media channels, on sportshall.ca and will also be used to help educate students through our virtual education programs. The first vignette will be posted on November 25, 2020. We are in the process of creating additional anti-racism awareness documentaries of our Hall of Famers that will be available in early 2021.
“Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame believes that education leads to discussion, discussion leads to conversation and conversation leads to change,” said Cheryl Bernard, President and CEO of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. “There is often the misconception that racism does not exist in Canada. Unfortunately, recent events have proven otherwise. We hope that #WeWillDoBetter will help to raise awareness and understanding of this extremely important issue and ultimately, create change to end racism in our country.”
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