A Winnipeg city councillor is doing his part to honour Black History Month in a unique way by involving thousands of local students.
Markus Chambers has designed shirts with a list of inventions by people of colour printed on the back. The message on the front reads: “Know Their Names.”
“Inventions like the elevator, the traffic light, the cell phone, the GPS system, all of those were created by Black individuals,” said the St. Norbert-Seine River councillor.
He plans on handing out over 3,000 shirts to students at high schools across Winnipeg over the next few weeks.
He’s recruited some help from likes of Bombers’ running-back Andrew Harris, Jets’ head coach Paul Maurice, and Jets’ captain Blake Wheeler to assist in the promotion and distribution of the shirts.
“A lot of these discoveries that were made by Black individuals are not commonly associated with Black individuals. That’s what information like this seeks to disseminate,” said Chambers as he unpacked a box of shirts at city hall.
Chambers is partnering with the Black History Manitoba celebration committee to get the shirts in the hands of students at no cost.
“Having a name on a jersey for a Black individual is more commonly associated with sports. Now having it associated with education and technology, I think is a great accomplishment for Black people,” Chambers said.
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