Denied but not Forgotten

- The Herb Carnegie Story -

    by Jerome V. Chambers Jr.

On November 8, 1919, in the city of Toronto, Ontario Canada, the second child of Jamaican parents George & Adina Carnegie was born.  He was named Herbert H. Carnegie - Herb for short. 

Life for the Carnegies were by no means easy.  George worked as a low-paying janitor, Adina, was a wonderful homemaker, and their two boys, Herb and Ossie, were surrounded in a neighbourhood that propagated the racist, stereotypical attitude that was openly prevalent at the time.  Yet, they refused to allow their circumstances to dictate or conform who they should be.  Such defiance of accepting imposed limitations because of skin colour became more and more pronounced, especially in the lives of the boys. Such negative, prevailing attitudes became more offensive when the two brothers fell passionately in love with a sport that had never embraced the talents of cultural minorities.  Nevertheless, Herb and Ossie simply didn't care.  They felt that when they grew up they would defy those heavily, favoured odds, and prove all their nay-Sayers wrong. 

They wanted to be the first, and had to be the best.  So they knew they had to practice harder than anyone else; be more creative than anyone else; faster than anyone else; and stronger than anyone else or more elusive. 

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