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SDHToronto Inc. What we wear is who we are!
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
Her designs have been seen on Keedron Bryant, the thirteen-year-old singer who went viral last year after posting a smartphone-shot video of himself singing, “I Just Wanna Live,” a song written by his mother in response to the police killing of George Floyd. He wore it in a surprise interview with Kirk Franklin.
Tyrone Edwards was also seen wearing one of her designs (SDHToronto popular B.L.A.C.K. t-shirt) while interviewing Spike Lee.
The clothes that she makes are to empower the Black community and Black community supporters. They are a way to represent the greatness of Black achievement. Her goal is to encourage Africans living in the diaspora to support brands that are made by our community. Instead of spending our money on Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Fendi, and Nike, she wants us to understand that we can be using our spending power to uplift Black entrepreneurs instead of investing in another community.
“We are still mentally enslaved,” Sandra shares with me at the beginning of our dialogue. “The vision is to inspire consumers to use their purchasing power! We inspire and empower through our designs. We need to invest massively in the Black community so that we have a stronger political position to make actionable changes. We are also all about encouraging the youth to aspire to ownership. SDHToronto will continue to produce empowering designs to help foster much needed change. With your help, we will empower lives all across the globe.”
What made Sandra Hamilton want to take on such a task? Well like everything else, her experiences have led her to her purpose. I would like to introduce to the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper readers, Sandra Hamilton, founder of SDHToronto Inc.
“I was born in Walsall, England, and moved to Canada when I was three years old,” Sandra begins. “Interestingly enough Simone, for a long time I didn’t like my name because when people would say it, the name sounded very Anglosaxon. It is now that I realize that because it is an English name, it is pronounced differently over there.” I could completely relate with a middle name like Jennifer, so I chuckled at the similarity.
“My parents are both Jamaican, and they decided to move to Sudbury, Ontario. This was during the time when nickel mining was the thing, especially for immigrants. I am one of six children, and in Sudbury, everyone was an immigrant. I grew up with a whole bunch of ethnicities. This is where I started playing basketball. Out of this came many things.”
Sandra was ranked one of the top two guards in Canada. This is when she first saw the covert face of racism. “I tried out for Laurentian University, and I didn’t make it. I believe there was a cap on Black people or something. Why wouldn’t they want to have someone ranked 2nd in the country playing for their team? Very weird.”
She decided to take up track and field, and became skilled at shot put. She ranked 6th in the country, and had a moment of satisfaction when she saw that same coach who had rejected her at a banquet, and here she was receiving an award. “She was pissed to see me there,” Sandra said laughing.
She ended up going to Sheridan College and it is because of her that they have a women’s basketball team. “I asked them if they had a team and they said no. So I asked what it would take to start a team, they told me, and I got it done.” The first year was a trial year; the second year she had the highest points scored. She then got a call to go play pro in England. When she came back to Canada, things were different. As she watched the mainstream media, she continued to see negative portrayals of Black men, and this did not sit well with her. This is what inspired her next project and that provided her with the opportunity to work with: Darryl Walker, Donavan Bailey, and Isaiah Thomas.
Basketball was still not out of her system, and Sandra ended up going to France to play basketball there. “I dealt with a lot of racial discrimination. I played well, and ended up in the first division. Winning is not top of mind for racist. They would rather lose than play with a Black woman. The girls were getting jealous; they kept talking about me behind my back.”
She left France, and ended up in Wales. “I was on a team that was finally accepting of me, but when I would walk around stores with my brother (who came with me this time), people would look at us shamelessly. They would follow us around the store, and just stare at us, cars would slow down and look at us. After more of these disturbing events, and one major one, I ended up leaving, and found out that there had been an article written about me called, We are Sorry Sandra.”
Sandra decided to do one more run, when she got a call to play basketball in Spain; again, racial profiled, but she was playing the game she loved so she looked past it all, but never forgot it.
After Hamilton’s basketball career came to a close, her life exploded with joy when she had the opportunity to work with Isiah Thomas at the Toronto Raptors. One of her many job requirements was to bring the Raptor players to Toronto schools, and work as community relations. On one of her trips to the schools she met an administrator who promised her a job in teaching when she was ready to move on to her next chapter. A few years later, Hamilton took her up on that offer and began teaching. Hamilton soon began writing and illustrating children’s books about ninjas learning phonics, currently available on Amazon.com.
Life has a way of testing us, and for Sandra this was no exception. Within five to six years, she was in three accidents. Many years into teaching, Hamilton was feeling depressed. “The last accident, I started spiralling out of control. I had so many questions. I was in a lot of pain. It was frustrating for me. I was contemplating life, and I started drawing. When I looked at my work, I began to fall in love with my drawings and I was like, these are things I would love to wear.
I shared it with friends and family, and they thought my designs were cool as well, and that was the beginning of it all.”
She knew these inspiring designs would never be found in a Canadian store, so she thought of making her designs available to the Black community and Allies online. Hamilton wanted everyone around the globe to have access to her positive streetwear, so she opened SDHToronto, an online store with “…designs that speak 2U and 4U.”
“My sons, Shanon, and Daniel have been a huge help with SDHToronto. They have helped shape my business, and without them, I would not be here today. I am so thankful for their ingenuity, and willingness to help me.”
Sandra Hamilton found a way to turn her emotional, physical, and mental pain, and turn it into products of power for her community. How can we not support that? Let us continue to support Black owned businesses in Canada, and we can start by checking Sandra out at:
SDHToronto INC | CEO
www.blackintelligenceofficial.com
IG: @sdhtoronto | @blackintelligenceofficial