When seven York9 FC players came together to discuss racism, discrimination and the recent activism of the Black Lives Matter movement, the conversation effortlessly bounced between some of the more experienced members of the squad and a trio of raw teenagers.

It’s what made the discussion all the more compelling.

In vulnerable situations, youngsters can sometimes feel overwhelmed. But that wasn’t the case for Ijah Halley, Isaiah Johnston and Lowell Wright. Even with a film crew capturing their every move, they spoke eloquently and intelligently and bravely offered their own damning testimonies.

“When I was in Grade 11, I was chilling with my friend at Tim Hortons and his Dad came to pick him up,” said Halley, who recently turned 19.

“His Dad pulled him aside and talked to him and I didn’t think anything of it. But the next day, my friend came up to me and said, ‘My Dad doesn’t want me hanging out with you because he thinks you’re going to sell me drugs’. Because I have locks and I’m Jamaican, they think I’m gonna sell their son some weed or something like that. That was the first discrimination I experienced in my community and in my school”.

Johnston, another 19-year-old, shared a similarly traumatic story.

“Just the other day, I went to drop some AirPods to a friend after she left them at my house,” he began.

“As soon as I left, one of her neighbours asked her for my licence plate and my name. He was saying he was going to call the cops because he witnessed me dealing her drugs, that I was a drug dealer. He took pictures of my licence plate and did call the cops. It obviously amounted to nothing because I hadn’t done anything. But to be labelled as that after just dropping some stuff to a friend…it doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t sit well”.

Wright – only 16 years old – detailed the racial profiling he’s experienced when trying to just buy some food.

“Me and some friends went to Dollarama, just to pick up some snacks or whatever,” he said.

“They have a security guard there and he’s sitting in a chair. The minute we walk in he’s on high alert. He’s following me around the store. We get to the cashier and pay for everything and we’re walking out and he still asks me to open my bag so he can check if I stole anything. He still thinks I’m gonna steal something after he’s watched me go around the store”.

“Even if it’s not verbal, it’s body language, it’s facial expressions when they see you. I feel like it’s a good thing we’re finally taking a stand for what is right”.

All three have been inspired by the BLM campaign. They’re enthused by a future where their behaviour isn’t defined by other people’s ignorance.

“When I drive past a police officer and my music is blasting, I make sure to turn it down and wind up my window so he doesn’t get to look at me,” Halley said.

“I got used to it. So the whole movement is saying, ‘Why am I getting numb to this pain when I should be fighting against it and looking for change?’ It’s empowering”.

Johnston believes the recent solidarity surrounding BLM awareness is not only for today, but for tomorrow too.

“I don’t want my younger siblings – or my kids later in life – to feel that it’s okay to be followed around a store. Or that they have to roll up their window when they’re driving a car. I want them to be free like everybody else. We just need to keep being loud and keep being heard”.