Faith. Belief. Forgiveness. The Power of the Cross. Hope. Community. Resilience. Dreams. Using what you Have. Hockey. Family.

A new faith-based film explores these themes and more, while simultaneously celebrating and honoring historical African American hockey players and the discrimination they faced.

The fictional, “Black Ice: The Rhythm,” is written and directed by legendary media professional and Detroit’s MIX 92.3FM radio host Gerald McBride, and produced by Fort Worth native Ashlee C. The film made its debut on May 31 in Detroit, and due to overwhelming response and sold-out theaters, the film is now making its Texas debut at Galaxy Theaters Grandscape in The Colony through Friday, June 28th.

Set against Detroit’s iconic landmarks, the film features a local cast of native Detroit actors and students, and follows Robert, affectionately known as “Buck,” who, haunted by the untimely deaths of his parents, spirals into rebellion. Following a racially charged altercation that lands him in prison, Buck must honor his parole by forming a hockey team in an all-Black neighborhood with a neglected ice rink. Transforming a group of teen roller-skating prodigies into ice hockey stars, the film highlights the power of camaraderie and faith in overcoming adversity.

“My hope is that our story serves as an inspiration to young Black children to find their God-given rhythm and to harness their resilience for greatness,” said Ashlee C., a native of Fort Worth who is a producer, author and screenwriter.

The movie is first and foremost a faith-based film with a scripture as its backdrop, says McBride. “Don’t be afraid, just believe. He (main character) finally steps out and pursues his dream of being an NHL player.

There’s a key scene in the movie where the character’s grandmother encourages him to return to wearing a cross. It’s an important message that is central to the movie, McBride says.

“The message about the cross is it has been passed down from his dad to him and to his grandmother and she reminds him and says you need to start wearing this,” McBride said. “In the movie, when I wrote this, this is one of the things I wanted people to be aware of; that lots of people wear the crosses but do they really understand what it means? It’s more than just a good luck charm, it represents the sacrifice Jesus made for each one of us and that’s a really strong message.”

“This movie is important because it gives exposure to the young black kids who love this game (of hockey) and are playing it. They are few and far between,” said McBride who started writing the script for the movie 15 years ago.

“The Lord gave me an idea and put something on my heart about writing this fictional story and then, come to find out when I started shooting it and talking to the kids who I recruited to be in the movie, they said ‘Wow this sounds like some of our story,” McBride recalls.

“As we travel with this movie across the country, I want to share that there are some black kids that are playing hockey that really love this game and we believe that this will inspire more kids to take an interest in this game,” he said.

“It’s a sport you don’t normally see black kids playing – you see them on basketball courts and football fields – and baseball as well, and this is a sport that only a few black players are playing in the NHL right now. And I just believe that just like any other sport, once we have a chance to put our hands into it, we add something to it,” McBride said.

McBride wishes for young people to see this movie and that it sparks an interest in them to pursue hockey and raises up a generation of sponsors and mentors for them.

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