Latest news with #NegroLeagues
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
The power of teamwork
Last year, Major League Baseball helped shine a spotlight on Birmingham, Alabama's historic Rickwood Field, which for decades was the home of the Birmingham Black Barons, a Negro Leagues team where Willie Mays got his start. The event was designed to celebrate the ballpark's storied past and honor the history of the Negro Leagues. The event's centerpiece was a regular-season matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. Getting the relatively tiny—and not particularly modern—park ready for primetime took plenty of work. Enter BaAM Productions. 'Creativity is at the heart of what we do,' says Annemarie Roe, president of BaAM, '[whether that's] making an idea real or creating a concept that we can build on with our clients.' BaAM is no stranger to such high-profile events. In the past year alone, the company helped stage the NHL Draft at the Las Vegas Sphere, managed event construction for Super Bowl LVIII, and kicked off procurement and delivery planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But while BaAM's client list is impressive, the real story is in how it does its work. Its unique team-based approach to tackling events on a global stage is a key reason why BaAM has earned a spot on Fast Compan y's list of the Most Innovative Companies. The importance of transparency BaAM's team members wore many hats heading into the Rickwood Field game. They coordinated construction projects to help maintain the historic feel of the stadium while also meeting MLB's stringent requirements. They designed and integrated the fan experience and MLB-led visual elements across the three-day event. And they planned event operations with nearly 40 local vendors to provide production, hospitality, concessions, and other services. Through it all, each of the stakeholder groups collaborated closely, staying focused on the event as a whole—not just on their particular slice of the project. 'Transparent collaboration allows us to hit a new level of ideation and expertise,' Roe says. Inside BaAM, this transparency has a name: informed creativity. The concept originated through an internal branding exercise where the BaAM team was asked to imagine the company as a person. 'The top two characteristics were creativity and wisdom,' Roe says. 'This shared concept is one we've developed and continue to foster together as a group.' There's no 'I' in team To help ensure all BaAM teams are on the same page and working toward a shared outcome, the company borrowed a concept from team sports: the coach. At BaAM, this role is played by the director of people and culture, who 's available to all team members throughout the conception and realization of projects. 'The coach is there as a sounding board, a trainer, an observer, and someone who can call you out or congratulate you or prop you up,' Roe says. It makes sense that BaAM looks to sports for inspiration. Much of the company's work centers on sports, and Roe says observing what makes sports teams successful has informed how the company operates on many levels. 'We've had a lot of inspiration from the concept of team and the passion that happens in and around sports,' she says. 'Ultimately, it's that passion that gets us up in the morning and keeps us going.'
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A newbie's guide to the 27th Roxbury International Film Festival
Advertisement Q. Thanks for taking the time to chat, and congratulations on the festival's 27th anniversary. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A. It's pretty crazy. You don't even think about the years, you know — you just keep doing it. And then you look back and say, 'Wow! How did we got to this point?' Q. What is the festival's mission? A. Our mission is to celebrate people of color around the world, and to give opportunities for emerging and established filmmakers to share their vision and their voice. Four Women of Gulu Town. Pauline Greenlick Q. So what does that mean? Is it just filmmakers of color? A. No, it's helping to support those filmmakers who are creating a more diverse vision of people of color. That vision can be celebratory, or can introduce us to people we didn't know before. We're helping to lift up those stories. That's what our focus has always been over the past 27 years. Advertisement Q. How has the festival evolved since its first year? Has it been shaped by ideas from attendees and filmmakers, or film topics? A. For starters, the quality of filmmaking has changed, which is great. And when we started the festival, there were filmmakers from MassArt whose films were not getting into festivals. Back in the 1990s, those festivals were only interested in urban dramas, and Black film is not a monolith. So we also accepted love stories and experimental films that were being rejected by other festival programmers because they didn't understand them. In the earliest days of Rox Film, there weren't a lot of Black film festivals, so we wanted to give people an opportunity. Initially, we focused on local filmmakers. Then we expanded to people who wanted to bring their films to our festival. 27 years later, it's exciting to see that 40 percent of this year's entries are from local filmmakers. Some of these are from people who grew up going to the festival, or who were actors in a film that played here. Others were just film lovers who created their own production studios to contribute to this Black and brown ecosystem of media makers. We're seeing how they've grown up to become filmmakers telling stories that are really impactful for their communities. It's something we're really excited about celebrating. Q. For submissions, is there a cut-off on runtime or any restrictions on style? A. There's a cut-off for feature films of two hours. The main reason for that is, when we curate, we put shorts with features. We have a great short on basketball paired with 'Rap Dixon: Beyond Baseball,' a feature-length film about the Negro Leagues. Advertisement Last year, Boston magazine [named] us Q. I say this all the time: Regardless of runtime, shorts ARE still movies! A. Exactly! And this year we have a ton of shorts. Many of them are by local filmmakers. Q. Regarding the shorts: You have several programs grouped by topic. Are those topic buckets consistent or do they change from year to year based on your submissions? A. Every year the themes change. But every year, there are always relationship and sports-themed shorts. There's a great program on reparations this year as well. Faith Ringgold and Mary Baxter in 'Paint Me a Road Out of Here.' Heather Woodfield Q. Your opening night film, ' installed at Rikers Island. How did you come to select that as the opener? A. It wasn't originally scheduled that way. Our festival always opens on a Thursday, and we never do screenings on Juneteenth because of all of the other events that day. But I couldn't wrap my head around opening that film on the festival's first Friday, because that's always a great night for the relationship shorts. So I decided we just have to be part of the ecosystem of Juneteenth. It's a free screening because the museum is free that day. People know Ringgold through her decades of artwork, but the film provides so much more detail. Advertisement How great is it to use the opportunity through film to tell deeper stories of our heroes? It's the same as what we're doing with the tribute to Frank Silvera [on June 26]. Q. The actor from Kubrick's 'Killer's Kiss?' Sorry, I'm a noirista, so I had to ask. A. Yes! Uncle Frank is my great-uncle. We talk about Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte as pioneers, but we don't talk about Silvera. People think his life started in New York City, but he was working here in Boston at the Negro Theater back in 1935. We want to showcase this history, because even historians like Ruben Santiago-Hudson were surprised when I told them of Uncle Frank's achievements here in Boston. Q. I'm a newbie to this festival, so I'm intrigued by the Daily Script Reads and the Filmmaker Hangouts sections you have every day. What are those about? A. The Daily Script read allows local writers to submit their new screenplays and we spend a lunch hour listening to them. We invite the writers and we cast it with local actors. Three years ago, local filmmaker David Curtis had his script read, and the film he made screens as Advertisement As for the Hangouts: There used to be a great festival in Bermuda that I attended every year, and they had these Filmmaker Hangouts where, after a film, people would go to a restaurant and chat with filmmakers. It's the whole networking thing, and it brings business to local venues, so I adopted it. We are not a hierarchical festival. The whole point of Rox Film is to give a platform for attendees to meet other people and have discussions about the films. The Roxbury International Film Festival runs from June 19-27 at various Boston venues. Tickets and scheduling can be found . Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
Los Angeles Times
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Dodgers Dugout: Who is the best Dodgers catcher ever, Roy Campanella or Mike Piazza?
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Good news: Shohei Ohtani could be back on the mound before the All-Star break. More on that in Friday's edition. We are going to break the 'Top 10' series into its own edition of the newsletter each week to keep the newsletters from being too long. Sort of like turning 'War and Peace' into two editions: 'War' and 'Peace.' Here are my picks for the top 10 catchers in Dodgers history, followed by how all of you voted. Numbers listed are with the Dodgers only. Click on the player's name to be taken to the Baseball Reference page with all their stats. 1. Roy Campanella (1948-57, .276/.360/.500, 123 OPS+, 3 MVP awards, 8-time All Star) One of the greatest catchers of all time, Roy Campanella (he did not have a middle name) was born Nov. 19, 1921, in Philadelphia. He loved baseball as a kid and grew up a Phillies fan. They once offered him an invitation to try out but rescinded it when they found out he was Black. Campanella played in the Negro Leagues after high school, and in October 1945 he was the catcher for an all-star team that played five games against a team of major leaguers at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodger manager Chuck Dressen led the major leaguers and was impressed by Campanella. He touted him to Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who arranged a meeting. Rickey offered Campanella a contract, but he said no because he mistakenly thought Rickey was offering him a contract with the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a Negro Leagues team Rickey was rumored to be starting. The next week, Campanella and Jackie Robinson happened to be staying at the same hotel. Robinson told Campanella he had signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was then that Campanella realized what Rickey was offering. He sent Rickey a telegram asking if he could sign with the team. Campanella played for the Dodgers from 1948 until his career was cut short after the 1957 season. In that time, all he did was win three NL MVP awards, make eight All-Star teams, hit 242 homers, have a .500 slugging percentage and play Gold Glove-worthy defense behind the plate. The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, and Campanella was all set to be the team's starting catcher in Los Angeles. But on Jan. 28, 1958, while driving in New York, Campanella's car hit a patch of ice, ran into a telephone pole and overturned. Campanella broke his neck and was paralyzed. He eventually regained use of his arms but used a wheelchair for the rest of his life before dying of a heart attack on June 26, 1993. 2. Mike Piazza (1992-98, .331/.394/.572, 160 OPS+, 1993 Rookie of the Year, 5-time All Star) The Dodgers chose Piazza in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft, the 1,390th player picked overall. No one picked that low has had a career like Piazza's, but it's a bittersweet one for Dodgers fans. Piazza made his major league debut near the end of the 1992 season and won Rookie of the Year in 1993 after hitting .318 with 35 home runs and 112 RBIs. Amazingly enough, Piazza played only five full seasons with the Dodgers, but what seasons they were. After his 1993 season, he hit .319, .346, .336 and .362 and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in each of those seasons. His best season was his final full season, 1997, when he hit .362 with 40 homers and 124 RBIs. Piazza's contract was scheduled to run out after the 1998 season, and he was due a large increase in salary. Negotiations turned ugly, and the Dodgers, then owned by Fox, wanted to make a statement. So, on May 15, 1998, they traded the best-hitting catcher in history to the Florida Marlins, along with Todd Zeile, for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich and Manuel Barrios. 3. Mike Scioscia (1980-92, .259/.344/.356, 99 OPS+, 2-time All Star) Scioscia was with the Dodgers for 13 seasons; he never won a Gold Glove, never led the league in any offensive category and made only two All-Star teams. But what he did can't be understated: He gave you above-average play almost every season for 13 seasons. You never had to worry about the position when Scioscia was there, and he hit one of the most important home runs in Dodgers history when he connected off Dwight Gooden in Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS. Scioscia is the only person in major league history who played at least 10 seasons with only one team and then managed at least 10 seasons with a different team. Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully each said that Scioscia was the best plate blocker he had ever seen, high praise considering they also saw Steve Yeager, another excellent plate blocker. Most Dodger fans remember when Jack Clark leveled Scioscia while trying to score. Scioscia was knocked unconscious but held onto the ball. You can watch a compilation of Scioscia blocking the plate, including the Clark collision, by clicking here. 4. Will Smith (2019-current, .263/.356/.474, 127 OPS+, 2-time All Star) The book is still being written about Smith, who may very well move to the top of this list when his career is through. I've written a lot about Smith over the years, so let's go with 10 little-known facts instead. —His full name is William Dills Smith. —As a senior in high school (Kentucky Country Day School), he pitched and went 7-1 with an 0.87 ERA. He went undrafted and went to Louisville. —He played for Rancho Cucamonga in 2017 and was named to the California League All-Star team. —His first major league homer was a walk-off home run against the Phillies. —He backed up Austin Barnes before becoming the Dodgers' starting catcher on July 26, 2019. —He is one of four catchers to hit 100 home runs with the Dodgers, along with Campanella, Piazza and Steve Yeager. —Smith is one of three catchers to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats (spread over two days), along with Johnny Bench and Benito Santiago. —His favorite player growing up was David Ortiz. —One of only three catchers to steal a base in an All-Star game, joining Iván Rodríguez and Tony Peña. —Hit only .243 in four minor-league seasons, which shows you can't always judge everything by just stats. 5. Steve Yeager (1972-85, .228/.299/.358, 84 OPS+) Yeager was one of the best defensive catchers in history but had the misfortune of being a direct contemporary of the best defensive catcher in history, Johnny Bench. Otherwise, Yeager would have multiple Gold Gloves. His best season offensively was 1977, when he .256 with 21 doubles and 16 homers. Dodger fans remember how he blocked the plate, becoming an almost impenetrable wall whenever a runner tried to score and Yeager had the ball. He also had a powerful throwing arm. Hall of Famer Lou Brock said that Yeager was the toughest catcher to steal against. In 1976, Yeager was in the on-deck circle with Bill Russell at the plate. Russell's bat shattered as he hit a ground ball and a jagged piece of the bat stabbed Yeager in the throat, piercing his esophagus and narrowly missing his carotid artery. While he was recovering, Yeager and Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler designed a device that hung from the catcher's mask, protecting his throat. For years, most catchers wore a mask that had this device, which Yeager and Buhler patented. Yeager served as technical advisor for the first three 'Major League' movies and appeared in them as third-base coach Duke Temple. 6. John Roseboro (1957-67, .249/.326/.371, 95 OPS+, 2 Gold Gloves, 5-time All Star) Roseboro was the starting catcher on three World Series title teams, and when people mention the great Dodgers pitching staffs of the 1960s, they seldom mention who was catcher for all those great pitchers. It was mainly Roseboro. Roseboro became a catcher when he tried out for his high school team. No one tried out as a catcher, so he volunteered. He wanted to be a football player at Ohio's Central State College, not a baseball player. He became ineligible for football because of poor grades and was working out with the baseball team one day when Dodgers scout Hugh Alexander saw him. Alexander was searching for a left-handed hitting catcher and Roseboro fit the bill. He invited Roseboro to try out with the Dodgers. Five years later, in 1957, Roseboro had moved steadily through the minor-league system as a catcher when he got the call to report to Brooklyn. Only, not as a catcher. They wanted him to play first base because Gil Hodges was injured. So Roseboro's first games as a Dodger were at first base. In the offseason, the Dodgers moved to L.A., and Campanella had the car wreck that ended his career. The Dodgers had three catchers: Roseboro, Rube Walker and Joe Pignatano. Walker was past his prime and retired after starting the season five for 44. Manager Walter Alston named Roseboro, 20, the Dodgers' new starting catcher. Roseboro was the starting catcher through the 1967 season. He was involved in a legendary fight with Juan Marichal, but his career was so much more than that, even though that seems to be what he is remembered for today. Which is a shame. The Dodgers won titles in 1959, 1963 and 1965 with Roseboro in the lineup, and he is a big reason why they won. Roseboro died of a stroke on Aug. 16, 2002. He was 69. One of the speakers at his funeral: Juan Marichal. You could easily move Roseboro to third on this list. Once you get past the top two, the choices could go a lot of different ways, depending on what you view as most important about each player. 7. Babe Phelps (1935-41, .315/.368/.477, 125 OPS+, 3-time All Star) Perhaps the second-best-hitting catcher in Dodgers history, Ernest Gordon Phelps was born April 19, 1908, in Odenton, Md. As most kids did back then, he played baseball every chance he got. The Washington Senators signed him in 1929. He was then a first baseman and outfielder, but was mainly a professional hitter. The Senators brought him to the majors briefly in 1931 and he was such a strong hitter and built like Babe Ruth that his teammates nicknamed him Babe. But, while Ruth was a good fielder, Phelps was not, and the Senators traded him to the Chicago Cubs, who decided to convert him to catcher. It was a strange move, because the Cubs had a great catcher in Gabby Hartnett. After two seasons as Hartnett's backup, his contract was sold to Brooklyn, where he became the backup to Al Lopez. Phelps hit .364 in 47 games, so the Dodgers traded Lopez after the season and named Phelps the starting catcher. He hit .367 in 1936, finishing second to Paul Waner for the batting title. His .367 average is still the highest for a catcher who qualified for the batting title. Phelps remained a strong hitter throughout his Dodgers career, but he put on weight every season too, getting so out of shape that his teammates nicknamed him Blimp. His offense didn't suffer, but his defense did, and he became relatively immobile. He was considered one of the nicest guys in the league and was a fan favorite. Before the 1940 season, the Dodgers made a change that eventually ended Phelps' career: they started traveling by plane, and Phelps was terrified of flying. He made one flight with the team, and then refused to go on another flight, traveling by train throughout the season while the rest of the team flew. The Dodgers acquired Mickey Owen before the 1941 season, and held part of their spring training in Cuba. Phelps refused to fly to Cuba, so the team worked out without him. Owen was named the starting catcher. Then, on June 12, 1941, the team was going to travel ... by train ... to Pittsburgh. Phelps never showed up. Eventually reached by telephone, he said the stress of travel was too much and he was having heart palpitations. He had claimed this before and the Dodgers' team doctor examined him and said he was fine. Thinking he was faking it or a hypochondriac, manager Leo Durocher demanded that Phelps be traded. Finding no takers, the Dodgers suspended him. A couple of months later, the team was in a pennant race and wanted a left-handed bat on the bench. The Dodgers wanted to bring Phelps back, but because of suspension rules at the time, they couldn't without Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis' permission. Landis met with Phelps and refused to reinstate him. The Dodgers lost in the World Series. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after the season. In 1950, Dodgers fans voted Phelps as the catcher for the all-time Dodgers team, a testament to his popularity. He died in 1992 in Odenton, Md. 8. Russell Martin (2006-10, 2019, .268/.362/.391, 99 OPS+, 1 Gold Glove, 2-time All Star) Martin was a rare catcher who was fast enough to steal bases, including a career-high 21 with the Dodgers in 2007. He was with the team for five seasons, but was hurt for the latter part of the 2010 season and the team let him go as a free agent. They replaced him with Rod Barajas, while Martin signed with the Yankees and put together several solid seasons after that. He returned to L.A. for his final season in the majors, and hit .220 in 83 games, sharing catching duties with Austin Barnes and then-rookie Will Smith. He played in one of the five postseason games against Washington that season, going two for four with a double and a homer. He became a fan favorite in 2019 for pitching four scoreless innings during the season, giving up only two hits and striking out two while throwing a low-80s fastball. Whenever the Dodgers' bullpen had problems that season (see, this season is nothing new), fans would often call for Martin to pitch. He is one of 12 catchers since 1901 to steal at least 100 bases, and his 67 steals is the most by a catcher in Dodgers history. 9. Mickey Owen (1941-45, .258/.319/.315, 80 OPS+, 4-time All Star) Much like Roseboro, Owen is remembered for something (that passed ball in the 1941 World Series) that has overshadowed a solid career. He was a four-time All-Star and during that 1941 season had set a then-record for most consecutive errorless chances handled by a catcher (508). He is also the first player to hit a pinch-hit homer in the All-Star game, which he did in 1942. Arnold Owen (no middle name) was born April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Mo. (By the way, isn't baseball amazing? Here we are, 109 years after a player was born, talking about his career). Owen signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1935 and quickly became known for his defense. He was quickly promoted to the majors, and played 80 games with the Cardinals in 1937. After four seasons of solid defense but subpar hitting, the Cardinals traded him to Brooklyn before the 1941 season for catcher Gus Mancuso and $60,000. Owen was called Mickey because of his resemblance to the great catcher Mickey Cochrane. However, when he came to the Dodgers, manager Leo Durocher refused to call him that, referring to him as Arnold. Owen was considered the best defensive catcher in the NL, and if the Gold Glove had been around, probably would have won at least five. He was drafted into the Navy midway through the 1945 season and while he was in the Navy on April 1, 1946, Jorge Pasquel of the Mexican League announced that he signed Owen to a five-year deal as a player-manager for the Veracruz Blues. Commissioner Happy Chandler announced that any player who jumped would be banned for five years if they tried to return. Owen did not like playing in Mexico and, in 1947, petitioned to return to the majors. Chandler denied the appeal. He eventually dropped the suspensions before the 1949 season. The Dodgers released Owen and he signed with the Cubs. Owen retired after the 1954 season and started a baseball camp for kids in Missouri. He ran the camp until 1985, and the camp remained active until 2005. You would often see ads for it in the Sporting News, nestled among the baseball box scores. Owen died in Mt. Vernon, Mo., of complications from Alzheimer's Disease. He was 89. 10. Joe Ferguson (1970-76, 1978-81, .245/.359/.419, 119 OPS+) The Dodgers had two good, young catchers in the early 1970s, Ferguson and Yeager. They eventually decided to go with Yeager because of his superior defense, but Ferguson was a much better hitter. He also played in the outfield quite a bit for L.A. and his most famous Dodger moment probably came as an outfielder, when he cut in front of Jim Wynn to catch a fly ball and throw out Sal Bando trying to score in the 1974 World Series. You can watch that play by clicking here. Watch how far Ferguson had to run to get to the ball, and watch how well Yeager blocked the plate. Ferguson's other great moment as a Dodger came in 1980. The Dodgers were three games behind the Houston Astros with three to play ... all against the Astros. In the first game, the Dodgers and Astros were tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 10th. Houston's Ken Forsch went to the mound for his 10th inning of work. On Forsch's first pitch, Ferguson homered to left to give the Dodgers the walk-off win. 'I go up in that situation and I'm looking to hit at least a double,' Ferguson said, 'I've got to drive the ball. It wasn't that Forsch was losing command of his pitches. It was just that he didn't have that little extra. He knows what I can do, because I've done it against him before.' You can watch that home run here. By the way, the winning pitcher in that game: Fernando Valenzuela. Almost 1,486 ballots were sent in. First place received 12 points, second place nine, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Here are your choices: 1. Roy Campanella, 1,209 first-place votes, 15,867 points 2. Mike Piazza, 124 first-place votes, 11,733 points 3. John Roseboro, 82 first-place votes, 8,642 points 4. Mike Scioscia, 33 first-place votes, 8,256 points 5. Will Smith, 13 first-place votes, 7,918 points 6. Steve Yeager, 19 first-place votes, 7,006 points 7. Russell Martin, 5,774 points 8. Joe Ferguson, 2,803 points 9. Mickey Owen, 2,444 points 10. Jeff Torborg,1,512 points The next five: Paul Lo Duca, Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Ellis, Rick Dempsey, Norm Sherry. Who are your top 10 Dodgers first basemen of all time (including Brooklyn)? Email your list to top10firstbasemen@ and let me know. Many of you have asked for a list of players to consider for each position. Here are the 40 strongest first baseman candidates, in alphabetical order. Del Bissonette, Jack Bolling, Ken Boyer, Greg Brock, Dan Brouthers, Enos Cabell, Dolph Camilli, Hee-Seop Choi, Jake Daubert, Frank Dillon, Jack Doyle, Jack Fournier, Dave Foutz, David Freese, Freddie Freeman, Nomar Garciaparra, Steve Garvey, Adrián González, Buddy Hassett, Gil Hodges, Hughie Jennings, Tim Jordan, Eric Karros, Ed Konetchy, Norm Larker, Sam Leslie, George LaChance, James Loney, Dan McGann, Eddie Murray, Dick Nen, Dave Orr, Wes Parker, Bill Phillips, Albert Pujols, Olmedo Sáenz, Ed Stevens, Dick Stuart, Franklin Stubbs, Tommy Tucker. A reminder that players are listed at the position in which they played the most games for the Dodgers, which is why Garciaparra is listed here and not at shortstop. Mike Piazza hits a home run over the left-field roof and out of Dodger Stadium. Watch and listen here. Have a comment or something you'd like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Miami Herald
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Hate spoke with defacing of Jackie Robinson mural. But love will prevail
I woke up this morning and it hit me: The year is nearly half gone. And there are things that I still need to get done before the end of 2025. Topping that list is to have more compassion and love for my fellow human beings. That's not a very tall order. But one needs a willing spirit to cast aside the hate and ugliness that keeps coming at you. For some of us, it is easy to love those who love you. We can count on their smiles, their warm and encouraging words to help light up our world. But the reality is this: Not everyone will love you, or even like you, or people who look like you. Some people will hate you simply because you are kind. Being hateful themselves, they can't understand how you're kind no matter what they hurl your way. Some people will hate you simply for no reason at all. Others will hate you because you've learned how to step over the obstacles they've placed before you to stop you. They hate you because you have learned how to take the sour lemons they hurled your way and make the sweetest lemonade ever. One of the most common reasons to hate another person is because he/she looks different. This is racial hate. And if it continues to go unchecked, this kind of hate — this racial hate — will continue to tear our communities, our country apart. I thought about the many ways haters conjure up ways to celebrate their hate when I learned about the recent defacing of the Dorsey Park murals in Overtown. The murals honor Black history and feature several Black heroes, including Jackie Robinson, whose mural was among those defaced with the N-word and a Nazi swastika. In 1947, Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first Black ballplayer in Major League Baseball. He has long been one of my heroes. A Minnie Miñoso mural was also vandalized. Miñoso, a Black Cuban baseball player, played in the Negro Leagues before playing with the Chicago White Sox. His portrait had a swastika spray-painted on it. READ MORE: Jackie Robinson mural defaced at Overtown park where Negro Leagues once played Unlike many other landmarks in Overtown, Dorsey Park — or the Dust Bowl, as we Blacks called it back in the day (the 1940s and 1950s) — is still in the same location at Northwest First Avenue and 17th Street. Back then, Dorsey Park was the only stadium in town for Blacks. It was dubbed the 'Dust Bowl' because unlike the gleaming Orange Bowl Stadium that was well-kept by the city of Miami and had a nice grassy surface for games to be played on, the Dust Bowl was just that — a stadium full of dust. Even so, the Dust Bowl was a beloved site in Miami's segregated Overtown community. During the football season, it was the home of Booker T. Washington Jr./Sr. High School football games. During home games, the BTW Marching Band and Majorettes would lead the parade to the Dust Bowl. I can still hear the sound of marching feet hitting the asphalt streets as the band, led by band master Timothy O. Savage, made its way on game day from the school, then at Northwest 13th Street and Sixth Avenue, over to Northwest Second Avenue and on to Dorsey Park. The Dust Bowl was more than where local Black high school football teams played. It was also the place that the Negro Leagues' Ethiopian Clowns called home. And where carnivals were held. It was our park, made possible in 1917, when D. A. Dorsey, a Miami Black millionaire businessman and philanthropist, sold the parcel of land to the City of Miami to be used as a park for Blacks. Dorsey, Miami's first Black millionaire, died in 1940. It wasn't until 1954 that rivals BTW and then-Dorsey High in Liberty City were allowed to have their annual Turkey Day Classic game (held Thanksgiving morning) in the Orange Bowl. All other games were still in the Dust Bowl. Last week, memories of the good times we had in the Dust Bowl flooded my mind when I learned that some haters had vandalized the murals, which were a collaboration among the Moving Lives of Kids (MLK Mural Project), URGENT, Inc. and Touching Miami with Love. The MLK Mural Project was founded by artist Kyle Holbrook, who told the Herald in a statement: 'This was an act of hate, but it will not define us. This mural was born from a community's pride, history, and power. We will restore it—stronger, bolder, and with even more purpose. Black history is American history. And no spray paint can erase that truth.' Yes, hate raised its ugly head in the vandalization of the Dorsey Park murals. But love is alive and well. Local artists are already working to undo the damage. And Holbrook said he is already thinking of ways to rework the mural, making it even bigger and better. That's how love works. It shames the devil. When hate pokes up its ugly head, love overshadows it with goodness and gracefulness and purpose. Each of us can use the next six months working on our own heart, praying for a heart that is filled with compassion and love. And kindness. I believe it can be done.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Reggie Jackson joins as ‘deeply personal' partner for new NLBM hotel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hall of Fame outfielder Reggie Jackson, also known as 'Mr. October', has joined on as a founding legacy partner for the new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Hotel, according to a release from Grayson Capital. The Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel in Kansas City's 18th and Vine District will feature an upscale restaurant, rooftop bar, a cultural partnership platform and more as a 30,000 square foot expansion of the museum. It's all part of a new, cultural destination known as the Negro Leagues Baseball Musuem Campus. Frank White shares stadium discrepancy between county, KCMO and MO Jackson described the partnership as 'deeply personal' as the legendary ball player has personal connections to both KC and NLBM. 'Returning to Kansas City, where my MLB career began—and helping honor the Negro Leagues, where my father Martinez Jackson played for the Newark Eagles—is deeply personal,' said Jackson. 'This hotel will celebrate the greatness of those who came before me and inspire the generations to come.' The release goes on to say that Jackson's involvement will include driving awareness, fostering generational ties to baseball's historic players and advancing the project. Jackson is focused on helping NLBM impact both the KC and baseball communities throughout the future. Watch FOX4 News free on streaming TV devices by downloading WDAF+ Reggie's involvement is a significant addition to our project. His connection to the Negro Leagues is deep and meaningful, and his voice will elevate our mission to educate and inspire through the game of baseball,' echoed NLBM President Bob Kendrick. The hotel and campus will support both the continuing investments in the 18th and Vine District as well as the cultural movement surrounding the NLBM. For more information on the NLBM and its new developments, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
