Quick summary: The World Series kicked off this Friday, with game two starting at 8 p.m. ET tonight. In this newsletter, we're uplifting a short list of legendary and lesser-known baseball players who have contributed so much to the sport. From Roberto Clemente to Willie Mays and Frank Hart, we highlight key moments from their legacies, featuring stories from palabra., Black Voice News, Haitian Times and AsAmNews.
The (Roberto) Clemente Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. Photo by Mark McClure via Creative Commons
The non-enthusiast’s guide to baseball
Hey fam,
The World Series kicked off yesterday, and if you’re anything like me (aka not a die-hard Yankees fan), you might not have the faintest idea of what’s going on. But don’t sleep on baseball — this sport is steeped in Black and diasporic excellence and has deep ties to racial justice. That’s what I’ve gathered from reading coverage from URL Media partners palabra., AsAmNews and Haitian Times. I’ve learned that baseball is more than just pitching, batting and home runs. Let’s take a look at some game-changers you may or may not know who’ve given so much to the world of baseball.
Robert ClementeAs a Puerto Rican with African roots, Clemente was a trailblazer in baseball and his island's history.
“There have been a number of very good Puerto Rican baseball players in the majors, and Clemente, of course, was a pioneer, the one who opened the door,” says Flavio Cumpiano, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who took part in Roberto Clemente Day in 2008, celebrated at Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums every September 15, at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, in this story published in palabra.More than 50 years after Roberto Clemente’s death, Puerto Rican MLB historian Jorge Colón Delgado points out that 19 statues honor the Hall of Famer, along with several parks and schools bearing his name. By the time Clemente became a World Series champ in 1960, he had already set himself apart by unapologetically speaking Spanish during live interviews — a bold move back then — and confronting racism head-on. palabra. reminds us that Clemente led the charge to halt games on the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral.The right fielder’s life tragically ended during a humanitarian mission to provide hurricane relief to Nicaragua in late 1972.“When he died, it impacted the world,” said Clemente’s friend, former sports broadcaster Luis Rodríguez Mayoral.
Get real-time election updates on WhatsApp 📱
With early voting already underway in key states, we know it's important to create space for our readers to process what we're hearing from friends, family and the news. That's why we're launching a special WhatsApp Broadcast Channel from Oct. 28 to Nov. 21, 2024.
And we want your input! Help us shape our WhatsApp channel by taking this quick, three-question survey. It’s pain-free, we promise — and it'll help us address what matters most to you in the two weeks leading up to Election Day and in the weeks post-election.Also, as a thank you for your participation, we’ll be randomly selecting two lucky winners who will receive a special gift from team URL!
Featured Stories
“The current voting age is an injustice and should be lowered to 16. So many issues in our modern political landscape directly affect people who are too young to vote — just look at book bans, gun control, or trans rights. The people who are impacted by these policies deserve the right to vote on them.” Here’s what the Baltimore Beat heard from some young people about Election 2024 →
Documented and the International Rescue Committee have launched a new platform designed to provide asylum seekers and migrants with reliable, multilingual resources about shelter, employment, labor, legal support and more →
One in four Minnesotans are people of color, according to new data from the American Community Survey. Sahan Journal presents five takeaways from the survey, focusing on the median household income and nationalities of Minnesotan immigrants. Read more here →
This week, the N.J. Assembly Education Committee passed a bill requiring most public schools to provide sunscreen or sun-protective clothing for students at school events. “Ninety percent of skin cancer is preventable,” said Erika Tvedten, a dermatology resident at Cooper University Hospital in Camden who testified in favor of the bill. “Even if you’re tan or your skin type is dark, your skin does not redden, the sun can still cause cellular damage that can lead to cancer.” Read more from Trenton Journal →
From launching a prolific record label alongside megastar Jay-Z to being at the center of one of the most premier urban fashion brands in the early 2000s, music mogul and entrepreneur Dame Dash’s career has been marred by industry beefs and legal troubles. Despite all this, the New York native’s latest venture, America Nu, focuses on entertainment for people of all ages, including a science show featuring his fiancée and their son. Parlé Mag has more →
While national attention is focused on the presidential race, voters in San Francisco will also decide on ten California propositions and 15 ballot measures, including the mayoral race and critical Board of Supervisors contests. El Tecolote has identified the most relevant state and local races and ballot measures for our community →
For decades, Trump has unapologetically spewed falsehoods about the five Black and Brown men — now known as the “Exonerated Five” — who were falsely accused of assaulting a white woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989. On the debate stage last month, Trump falsely said the men pleaded guilty. Now they’re suing. Capital B has more →
The case of Brittany Watts, a 33-year-old Ohio woman who underwent an induced miscarriage and was charged with a fifth-degree felony is a cautionary tale about the criminalization of abortion and Black reproductive health. Learn more about her story from PushBlack →
