NEWS

JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION PRESIDENT AND CEO, DELLA BRITTON BAEZA AND VICE-CHAIR SHARON ROBINSON ATTEND STAR-STUDDED CIVIL RIGHTS GAME

Major League Baseball (MLB), a longtime sponsor of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, hosted the second annual Civil Rights Game on March 29th in Memphis featuring the New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox, and JRF President and CEO, Della Britton Baeza and Vice-Chair Sharon Robinson had a front row seat to the both the game and the educational panel discussions surrounding it. 

The Civil Rights Game, which pitted two MLB teams who sponsor JRF Scholars, pays tribute to one of the most significant eras of social change in American history and honors Major League Baseball’s involvement in the historic struggle through which legendary African-American players broke barriers and made important contributions to American society.  

MLB hosted a panel discussion entitled Baseball and the Civil Rights Movement at the National Civil Rights Museum prior to the game.  The Museum is located at the Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.  Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, a renowned expert on race and justice, moderated the panel discussion, which featured Sharon Robinson, Martin Luther King III, Belize Ambassador Shabazz, New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, and Chicago White Sox Manager Ken Williams.

Grammy Award-winning gospel artist Bebe Winans performed the National Anthem while Stax Recording artist Lalah Hathaway, daughter of the late great Donny Hathaway, sang “America the Beautiful” during the 7th Inning Stretch, capping the dynamic weekend of events.