MLB.com launches
Negro League section
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
NEW YORK - MLB
Advanced Media, the interac
tive media and Internet com
pany of Major League
Baseball announced recently
the launch of its newly created
Negro League section on
MLB.com, the official MLB
Web site.
The new section, provid
ing some ?ff the most compre
hensive material on the Negro
League available anywhere on
the Internet, can be reached at
http://www.mlb.com.
"The Negro Leagues
played a critically important
role in the history of base
ball," said Bob Bowman,
chief executive officer of
MLBAM. "Our new section
provides fans with a greater
appreciation of the talent, ded
ication and courage of the
more than 2,600 Negro
League players. The story of
the Negro Leagues provides a
valuable educational opportu
nity for fans of all ages,"
Bowman said.
The launch of the new sec
tion coincides with Black
History Month in February.
The new Negro League
section offers articles and edi
torials about the league and its
history; a photo gallery of
players, teams and games;c
video and audio clips of inter
views with Negro League
players and Major Leaguers
who played against them;
audio clips of induction cere
monies at the Negro League
Hall of Fame; an e-commerce
area offering Cooperstown
Collection jerseys, hats, and
collectibles, and a link to the
Negro League Hall of Fame in
Kansas City. Mo.
Major League Baseball is a
major sponsor of the Negro
Leagues Baseball Museum
(NLBM) in Kansas City. The
privately funded, not-for-prof
it museum is dedicated to pre
serving and illuminating the
rich history of African
American baseball.
0 RAY GORA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Brown Jackson crosses home plate after hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning of the 1958 Negro League's East vs.
West All-Star game held annually at Old Comiskey Park in Chicago, III. Andrew "Rube" Foster is credited with forming the
National Negro Baseball League in 1929, the first official Negro league.
Why I'm boycotting Black History Month Celelmm Bind Histon h
"But if there be no resur
rection of the dead, then is
Christ not risen: Andnf Christ
be not risen, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain."
- 1 Corinthians 15:13-14
people became big business admitted hip-hop addict
and the number one form of more than 20 years, if 1 can
entertainment in America, without gangsta rap for
Hip-hop has become one big days, anybody can. I guaran
killing field that leaves those that at the end of the 28 d
who enter mentally and spiri- we will find ourselves spiri
tually dead. How can we cele- ally and mentally renewed.
r as rating symbols, we will use
> Black Power fists.
V Third, we must collectively
; ask our brothers and sisters in
s hip-hop to join us in our quest
to resurrect the minds of our
people. We must tell the white
Pharaohs of the music industry
to let our people go to be free
to serve their people through
their music and influence.
Only when we take steps
like these will we prove our
selves worthy to pick up the
mantle left behind by our
ancestors. There will be a res
urrection of the African com
munity and as they say in the
r church. "Ain't nobody gonna
be mad but the devil."
r Minister Paul Scott is the
\ founder of the New Righteous
i Movement based, in Durham,
3 which teaches African libera
tion theology. He can be |
e reached at
s operationmedia @ yahoo, com
Recently, I asked my moth
er-in-law whether she was
going to watch the television
miniseries "Roots" in celebra
tion of the 25th anniversary of
its first showing. She said she
would not and dropped her
head and stared at the floor. 1
was shocked because Mamma
always watched stuff dealing
with our history. She gave me
that look that only mothers-in
r??o c.. ...,i ;
Maicoim, Martin and Marcus Kool Moe L> established a h
when we allow the media to hop report card in the m
tell our young brothas to light 1980s to rate rappers on th
a blunt with the torch that lyrical skills, we will set U|
these great men Carried? report card to rate rappers
While many are familiar their musical contributions
with the old "how many peo- the liberation of African p?
pie does it take to screw in a pie (or lack thereof). As
light bulb" joke, the question Source magazine uses mil
for us in 2002 is how many ?^______
law can give. You know, the
kind of look that pierces your
soul and makes you think that
maybe you should have kept
your big mouth shut.
I braced myself for a long
sermon but she only said,
"You know, 25 years ago, I
thought things would get bet
ter, but they have only gotten
worst."
She walked out the room,
leaving me thinking about the
many ways in which my gen
eration had failed her.
It was not entirely our
fault. I mean, we got miked
signals from the leaders of the
1960s. Did we segregate or
integrate? Was it Black Power
or Green Power? Did we help
build America up or did we
burn it down? There also was
no concrete definition of what
"the struggle" actually was.
Was it cultural or economic.
personal or collective, aca
demic or street?
What resulted was a vague
ly defined war that was at the
beck and call of the power
structure that was supposed to
be "the enemy." When and
why black people protested
became controlled by the
white-owned media and public
relations firms. I always found
it funny that a company that
was the black community's
most hated adversary one year
could become 21st century
abolitionists and proud spon
sors of Black History Month
the next. They say that money
talks but it also laughs as pub
lic relations firms have a good
time laughing at our fickle
ness.
Enr manv hrnfhac u/hn
became frustrated with trying
to decipher the black empow
erment user manual, becoming
a "g" (gangsta) became a
viable option.
Coiporate America and its
evil twin, the white suprema
cist system, was right there to
capitalize on our confusion.
While we were stalled at the
crossroads of indecision, cor
porate America set up kill 'em
all records at the corner of
Sell-Out Street and Liberation
Lane. The genocide of African
gians and philosophers does ii
take to defeat the hip-hop con
spiracy to destroy black chil
dren?. With all of our think
tanks and conferences, we still
have not been able to stop
Hollyhood from pimpin* our v
culture and using it against us.
I guess having the answer
and having the courage to
carry out the solution are two
different subjects. We are like
the preacha who whoops, hol
las and turns back flips before
a congregation that will leave
the service just as broken as
they were when they walked
through the door. If we are not
about the business of resur
recting the spiritually and
mentally dead in our commu
nity, then all of our mtellectu
alizing. debating and preach
ing is in vain.
Malcolm X once brilliantly
analyzed the image-making
role of the media and how it
can make your enemy your
friend and your friend your
enemy. Until we effectively
deal with the role that the
media play in our suffering,
we will never reach the brotha
on the corner who sees another
black man as his enemy.
This is why we are boy
cotting Black History Month
this year and instead partici
pating in Black Resurrection
Month, during which we will
fry to destroy the hip-hop con
spiracy once and for all. We
are not looking to engage in
the usual 20-year plan for
black liberation but we are
looking for our condition to be
changed.
First, we are asking the
black community to join us in
a hip-hop fast, where we will
abstain from listening to or
watching anything that disre
spects the black community
and portrays us in a negative
light during February. As an
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