When he became the victim of a racially-charged incident that made international news, Bokondji Imama leaned on his Tucson Roadrunners teammates.
“From the moment the events happened — from that first second, people started supporting me, starting with my teammates,” Imama said. “And it trickled all the way up to the organization and they came up to me with this great idea.”
Starting with Friday night’s game against the Ontario Reign at Tucson Arena, the Roadrunners will be selling T-shirts that say “Enough is Enough.” Proceeds from shirts, which are $25 — $50 for fans who want one signed by the team — will go to the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which aims to “eradicate systematic racism and intolerance in hockey.”
The “Enough is Enough” T-shirts cost $25 — $50 for fans who want one signed by the team.
San Jose’s Krystof Hrabik made a racist gesture toward Imama during a second-period stoppage in the teams’ Jan. 12 game, a 4-3 Tucson win in San Jose. The American Hockey League suspended Hrabik for 30 games — the second-longest ban in the 83-year history of the league.
Imama said the gravity of the situation hit him when his mom teared up about it. Imama’s parents hail from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Imama grew up in Montreal.
In the hours following AHL’s announcement, Imama tweeted that “enough is enough” — the inspiration for the T-shirt. The back of the shirt reads “All for All for All.” Roadrunners players and staff wore the shirts to the games last Saturday and Sunday
“It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, Asian, whatever you are: we’re just all fighting for the same thing,” Imama said. “We all want equality. We all want the same justice.”
The January incident wasn’t the first time that Imama endured racism on the ice. In January 2020, Imama was verbally abused by then-Bakersfield Condors defenseman Brandon Manning.
It’s fitting that Tucson is playing Ontario this weekend night. Imama played four seasons for the Reign before the Coyotes organization traded for him last July.
“I grew into the player I am today in those four years with that organization,” Imama said, “but it’s just another game for me.”
Tucson coach Jay Varady said Imama gives everybody on the team a lot more confidence with his leadership and experience.
The shirts are “a sign of how much our team cares about each other,” Varady said. “There was an unfortunate incident that happened to one of our players, and this is a positive way for our group to get behind that and just raise awareness.”
