100 Strong…A Front Page Story That Could Not Be Denied

I’ve pitched so many stories to the media that I’ve lost count, it’s definitely in the hundreds by now. Most of them get picked up, some need a little persistance and a few get no traction at all. The media is a fickle beast. I never take it personally when stories aren’t picked up, but I do get frustrated from time to time when I see silly things getting coverage, or a ridiculus amount of coverage. I just shake my head. But I continue to perservere because a good story, a really good story cannot be denied.

So when I was approached by Justice Donald McLeod (who is also one of my FKB Media Book A Speakers) to get coverage for the upcoming graduation of the latest cohort of boys from the Strong Academy, I was up for the challenge. I was motivated to get this story out there because there had a been a recent spate of images particularly on television of Black boys and men accused of very violent criminal behaviour. Having worked in this industry for over 30 years, I know that one bad apple taints the whole community, even though it’s unfair to do so. I also know that there is an inherent fear that many in the wider community have towards young Black teenage boys and young Black men. Once again, a very unfair brush to paint the whole community with, but it is something that I have known and witnessed my entire life.

The Strong Academy is a summer program designed to mobilize and equip young Black boys with the tools necessary to achieve their maximum potential in education and build on life skills. For over 12 years, the transformative 4-week program takes 100 Black boys and they, “walk into this space with uncertainty and walk out with purpose,” says Justice McLeod. More than 1000 Black boys have completed the program since its inception with a 99% graduation rate. Now that’s a story!

I wrote a media release about the powerful image of 100 Black boys aged 12 to 15 years old graduating the program at a ceremony at the end of July. I sent out it to all Toronto television, print and radio stations. We received coverage in the community paper Caribbean Camera and one major outlet picked it up - The Toronto Star. Reporter Nathan Bawaan reached out to me about doing a pre-interview with Justice McLeod and attending the ceremony with a photographer. We were ecstatic that one of Canada’s largest newspapers would be doing a story on the graduation. Despite the fact that no television cameras showed up to the ceremony to show these positive images, we knew an article in The Star would help shift the narrative a tad because it is so well read.

I was up early the next day after the graduation and read the online article with such pride (please make sure to click the link and read it). But it was an email later that morning from Nathan that blew my mind: “It’s also on the front page of today’s paper, and incudes photos of Jared Hendly and Brennan-Jay Bennett (the 12-year-old valedictorian).” I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t have imagined it. A front page story, right in the centre, above the fold with a colour photo. My heart was bursting for the 100 Strong Foundation, founders Justice Donald McLeod and Ainsworth Morgan, but most of all for all of those young Black boys who are on the path to success. My former CTV colleague and good friend Carol Charles was so impressed when I sent her the article that she wanted to do a story for CTV Toronto News when she returned from vacation. You see, a story like this doesn’t have a time limit.

I’ll be back pitching again as 100 Strong and the boys hold their first ever gala on August 28th - it’s already sold out! These are the types of stories that inspire, motivate and can make enormous strides in changing the narrative, not just for the wider community but for other Black boys watching and consuming media. There is a positive path that can be taken, you just have to see it to achieve it.

Friday August 1, 2025, 100 Strong Academy makes the front page of The Toronto Star