#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Jackie Robinson Museum Grand Opening, Brittney Griner testifies, Tiffany Haddish talks The Bizio

Episode Date: July 27, 2022

7.27.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Jackie Robinson Museum Grand Opening, Brittney Griner testifies, Tiffany Haddish talks The Bizio LIVE from New York City on day 3 of the Jackie Robinson Museum's grand opening. The United States proposes a deal for the safe return of Brittney Griner and another U.S citizen detained in Russia. We'll hear what Secretary of State Anthony Blnken said about the nation's effort to bring the WNBA star home. President Joe Biden no longer has covid. The president explains why his bout with COVID differed from his predecessor. I'll be talking to Florida Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried who wants to become the state's first female governor. And in our Tech Talk Segment, Actress Tiffany Haddish teams up with a black-owned tech company to compete against the Big 5. Support RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ [e-mail] Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox 👉🏾 http://www.blackstarnetwork.com #RolandMartinUnfiltered and the #BlackStarNetwork are news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I'm real revolutionary right now. I'm proud. Support this man, Black Media. He makes sure that our stories are told. Thank you for being the voice of Black America, Roland. I love y'all. All momentum we have now, we have to keep this going. The video looks phenomenal. See, there's a difference between Black Star Network and Black-owned media and something like CNN. You can't be Black-owned media and be scape.

It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home. You dig? Today is Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Coming up on Roller Mark Nunkers, swimming live on the Black Star Network. We are live in New York City on the third day of the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum, where tonight they will be actually having the screening of the movie After Jackie.

And there will be a celebrity Q screening of the movie after Jackie. And there will be a celebrity Q&A after that. We'll be broadcasting that live for you. Also on today's show, the United States proposes a prison swap to get Brittany Griner back home. We'll tell you about that, give you those details. Also on today's show, the Department of Justice hits a real estate company owned by Warren Buffett, the second largest racial discrimination, highly discrimination settlement in American history. We'll give you those details.

Also, President Joe Biden no longer has COVID. We will show you exactly what he had to say. Also on today's show, Nikki Freed. She's running for governor of Florida. She will join us on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And Tiffany Haddish will join us in our Tech Talk segment. Yes, she is involved with the technology company. We'll tell you all about it.

All that and more right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. It is time to bring the funk. Let's go. He's got it. Whatever the biz, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the spook, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time.

And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks, he's rolling. Yeah, yeah. It's Uncle Roro, yo It's Roland Martin, yeah Rolling with Roland now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real

The best you know, he's Roland Martin Now He's fresh, he's real, the best, you know he's rolling, Martel. Martel. Folks, this is day three of the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. Tonight, they are showing the movie After Jackie. And so we are here to broadcast this. Still today there was a block party where they had children and others who were going through the museum for the first time. And so we certainly are happy to be here and be able to show that for you. Also, there's going to be a celebrity talkback take place after the documentary,

and we'll also be showing you that right here on the Black Star Network. Folks, it has been three days of festivities beginning on Monday. We were here on Monday where they had a showing, if you will, a private showing for folks who were donors of the museum. Then, of course, yesterday, last night, they had the gala party. Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh, they performed. We'll hear from them a little bit later as they share their thoughts about performing. And also Ray Chu and his wife as well. They put together the music last night, and so we'll hear from them as well.

But first off on today's show, the federal government, they have proposed a prisoner swap for Brittany Griner. She's been held now for 160 days in Russia after being caught with cannabis in her luggage. And so what is being proposed right now, folks, is actually a prisoner swap. And the prisoner swap is an arms dealer who is being held in the United States. Actually, there are a couple of people who are being held there, first of all, in Russia. And so they have been negotiating for quite some time. Now, remember, Brittany Griner, she pled guilty to the charges of bringing the items in. She has testified saying she was not aware of what was actually going on. Here's Secretary of State Antony Blinken talking about this negotiation.

In the coming days, I expect to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov for the first time since the war began. I plan to raise an issue that's a top priority for us, the release of Americans Paul Whelan and Brittany Griner, who have been wrongly detained and must be allowed to come home. We put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal. I'll use the conversation to follow up personally and, I hope, move us toward a resolution.

As I said, Greiner testified earlier today at her possession trial, and she said the interpreter translated only a fraction of what she said during questioning when she was detained at Moscow's airport in February. She said officials told her to sign documents without explaining what they were. She also said no one explained her rights nor gave her access to a lawyer. Again, as I said, she has pled guilty to those charges, and folks have said that hopefully they believe that is going to pave the way for her to be released. My panel today, Reverend Patillo, Executive Director of the Rainbow Push Coalition, Peach Tree Street Project, Monique Presley, Legal Analyst and Host of Make It Make Sense with Monique Presley,

Dr. Jason Nichols, Senior Lecturer, African American Studies Department, University of Maryland, College Park. Monique, there have been a number of people, a number of black women and others, who have been making the point that more pressure needs to be applied to get Brittany Griner released. This proposed prisoner swap was what many people said we were virtually going to get to. And so if this is successful, Brittany Griner may very well be on her way home soon. Ladies and gentlemen, can you open up the doors? Monique, you're muted.

You're muted. I was saying it did take time for them to get that together. I wish that it had happened sooner. And I pray that it is successful. These things obviously come at a cost. And Russia was not going to be willing to just release her and get nothing in exchange. So I pray that it works. Robert Petillo, again, this is major here because, again, she's being held. We know exactly what's going on.

You've got Putin and Ukraine war that's going on. And, frankly, she's being held. We know exactly what's going on. You've got Putin and Ukraine, a war that's going on. And, frankly, she's a prisoner of war. He's using her as a chess piece against the United States. Well, I had the honor of being on Russian television earlier today, along with Reverend Jesse Jackson, to discuss the release of Ms. Griner, particularly on humanitarian grounds. We cannot ignore the fact that this sets a dangerous precedence going forward, offering a prison swap in exchange for a U.S. celebrity.

What would stop the Iranian government from kidnapping Rihanna? Or what would stop the Chinese from detaining LeBron James in the future in order to get many of their prisoners held here in the United States to be released. Particularly this individual, Victor Boot, who was an arms dealer for the FARC, the Colombian terrorist organization, that has resulted in the deaths and displacements of tens of thousands of people in Central and South America. We have to make sure we're very judicious in how we approach this situation. At the end of the day, we do want Ms. Griner and all the other Americans being unjustly held there in Russia to be released. But we also need to make sure that America is doing their part and upholding human

rights standards that they claim that they want to enforce against other nations. I think a big part of this also has to be, up until about five years ago, Brittany Grinder would have gone to jail in America for doing the same thing. And we are not going to address cannabis decriminalization here in the United States of America. It's difficult for us to say that Brittany Grinder is being held against her human rights for having marijuana when there are people in the United States in prison right now for the exact same substance that we don't want to give the same justice to. So we have to make sure that we are doing this in a judicious way and following all international human rights norms. But we have to also use this opportunity to focus on creating change we need

here at home. Jason, your thoughts? Well, first of all, I don't know anybody who's been held that long for 0.7 grams of marijuana here in the United States. They've been held, you know, there are people who are incarcerated for something that lots of people make lots of money on in some states like Colorado, where you can be a weed millionaire while others are held behind bars, primarily black and brown. But what she did was incredibly minor. And this is 100 percent a political move and a she is a political prisoner in Russia. I do think that this, you know, as Robert is kind of stating here, I think that this swap is imbalanced. Paul Whelan, if you know, he basically was set up by the Russian government. I 100 percent believe that he is not guilty of espionage and all the things that they are saying that he committed. And he's been in prison unjustly for a very long time. And now you have Brittany Griner, who is a political prisoner and a ploy by the Russian government. And I think the United

States is in a jam because we need to get our citizens home, particularly ones who have not committed crimes or committed very minor crimes, and they can't be held that way. That said, this is imbalanced because you have a person who is an international terrorist who is probably going to be released after 10 years when he was supposed to serve 25, you know, for somebody who is accused of having 0.7 grams of hash oil. That's not a balanced trade. Well, first of all again the trade hasn't happened we'll see exactly what happens uh when it comes to uh that decision and hopefully it can get resolved soon let's talk let's go to minnesota where two ex-cops who were convicted in federal court of violating george ford civil rights they are headed to prison a federal judge sentenced Thao Thao to three and a half

years and Jay Alexander King to three years in prison for their involvement in the death of George Floyd. King was the one who pinned Floyd's back and Thao held back bystanders while Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes. Prosecutors say King didn't say anything to stop Chauvin. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson cited King's rookie status as a reason for the Lido sentence. The federal prosecutor Amanda Sertic disagreed, saying, quote, all he had to do per MPD, Minneapolis Police Department policy, was an attempt to intervene. But he didn't say a word, not one word. Defendant King's world argument about his junior status doesn't hold much weight because the bar for him was so low and he didn't even try to get over it.

King and Fowle now await a state trial on October 24th where they face aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Robert, obviously this was different from Chauvin's case where the state went first, then the feds came. Here, the feds went first and then the state. Just your assessment of the officers involved in the death of George Floyd going to prison. Well, I think it's great that we can have a conviction in cases like this,

which is a divergence from historical precedence. But at the same time, this is a ridiculously light sentence. If you put this in the civilian context, it was just one person commits a murder, another person holds the person down, another person holds the crowd back. They all would have been charged with felony murder or under accomplice liability and all face the exact same punishment. In this case, you have somebody serving three and a half years, which is less than a slap on the wrist when it comes to the amount of time they will actually serve for the ostensive aiding and abetting or being party to a murder. And so I think while we can celebrate the fact that the justice system has worked in some measure, we do have to ensure there is parity and fairness in our judicial system where simply being a quote-unquote rookie cop doesn't inoculate you

from the full punishment of the law that any other citizen would face. Monique, I was at the Rock Nation Social Justice Conference, and Minister of Attorney General Keith Ellison was on one of the panels. And he said, folks, let's be clear. Your protest made the prosecution possible. Your protest is what is working to hold these folks accountable. And so because he was answering a question of some people who say, well, you know what? Protest doesn't do anything. It really isn't enough.

And his whole point was, no, that has to continue, because that's why we are seeing the kind of pressure we put on DAs and others to actually prosecute cops for wrongdoing. Yeah, and I think that's disgraceful. I think that he's correct. And I think that the protests have proven to be necessary for that purpose. But it is not supposed to be the case that prosecutors are swayed one way or the other due to public pressure when their obligation is to apply the law and to prosecute crimes, to charge and prosecute cases that they know that they, or at least they strongly believe, can be proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And the fact that it's necessary for millions to take to streets all over the world to get sworn oath-taking government officials to do their constitutional duty is a disgrace. Jason.

Yeah, I honestly just want to echo what Monique said. I think that it's terrifying that one way or the other, that public pressure can lead to indictments. I think that that's a slippery slope. You know, I wouldn't want for someone to be angry at Roland Martin, and then you see a bunch of right-wing protesters protesters and then you get a BS indictment. So I think one of the things that we have to expect from our law enforcement officials, which includes district attorneys and state's attorneys and, of course, ADAs, is, of course, for them to apply the law and for them to hold people accountable. And in this particular case, these men clearly aided in the death of George Floyd and should have been punished and should have been tried and held accountable the way they were. But it should not come from public protest.

I think that that's a dangerous, you know, I pronounce it precedent. Now I'm like questioning myself because I keep hearing my brother, Robert Petillo, say precedent. But, you know, it sets a dangerous tone for the future where that can be held against, you know, innocent people are put through a prosecution because of public pressure. And it shouldn't be that way. Can I add something? Well, here's the deal. Yeah. I was just going to say it's not a dangerous precedent for a few for the future. We've actually seen those things play out. Perhaps people have heard of a case where a well-known veteran entertainer was due to public pressure and due to the cry of the mob prosecuted by a state-elected prosecutor in the state of Pennsylvania, who waited until the 11th hour

before the statute of limitations ran to charge an over-decade-old case. And ultimately, on appeal, that case was dismissed. And the only reason that that happened was because of public pressure. So when the prosecutor does the right thing because of public pressure, it's wrong. When the prosecutor does the wrong thing because of public pressure, it's wrong. In either instance, we have the right to our voices. We always should use them. That's why we have elections. We put those people in office if they run for those offices. But for a prosecutor to bend to the will or the emotions of people in making decisions about violations of the law and of the Constitution is an error. It is misconduct. Well, look, I understand the point that Keith Ellison was making

and what he was trying to say to people is that taking to the streets protest does indeed matter because it's about holding people accountable. And the bottom line is this here. It's not like we've actually seen a plethora of DAs doing the right thing by prosecuting people. So I understand his point and I agree with it 100%.

Got to go to a break. We come back. We'll talk with Nikki Frye. She's running for governor of Florida. The question is this here. Can Democrats in Florida get their act together? That used to be a blue state. Then it was a purple state.

Florida is now a red state. Can she be the Democratic nominee to beat Ron DeSantis and all the money he has raised as the incumbent governor? That is next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Rock has been live with the jack robinson museum grand opening week right here on the black star network On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you see the headlines. All frightening, right? Interest rates are going up. The recession is on the way.

The stock market is up and down. But you know what they say, scared money, don't make money. That's why I'm excited on our next Get Wealthy to have a conversation with someone who has written a new book, Fearless Finances, and she's going to share exactly what you need to do to secure your bag, regardless of the ups and downs of the economy or the stock market. Oftentimes you can start with as little as $5. That's right here, only on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. Pull up a chair, take your seat, the Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network.

Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. My name is Charlie Wilson. Hi, I'm Sally Richardson-Whitfield. And I'm Dodger Whitfield. Hey, everybody, this is your man Fred Hammond, and you're watching Roland Martin, my man, unfiltered. primary folks will not happen until august 23rd and there are four democratic nominees for governor who want to be the one to run against uh incumbent governor ron desantis those four candidates are

uh congressman charlie Crist, former governor of Florida, Catons Daniel Robert Willis, as well as the Agriculture Commissioner of the state, Nikki Frye. Nikki joins us right now on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Glad to have you on the show, Nikki. Thank you so very much. First and foremost, Ron DeSennis has raised a significant amount of money. He is a darling of the MAGA crowd. He already has his eyes set on running for president in 2024, but he wants to do so as the governor of Florida. How are you and others going to stop him from winning another term? First of all, Roland, it is such an honor to be on with

you tonight. You are a legend, but you already know that. Look, here's the deal. You know, Ron has been flying so close to the sun. He is right now speaking very loudly to a very small population here in the state of Florida. And then after we win this primary, we'll be able to create such a coalition of individuals who really have been hurt and humiliated and silenced by the Cisantis administration. I was the first person in 2020, as our only statewide elected Democrat, to really call him out for becoming a dictator. That's what he's done. He is taking away people's rights to protest, rights to vote. Look, he took away our two black congressional districts here in the state of

Florida. He's now going after teachers, higher ed system, going after Disney World. There are so many things that he really, truly has done here in the state of Florida that come the general election, the money is going to pour here into the state of Florida because people realize that he wants to run for president of the United States. And so this is going to be a POTUS primary. And we know that we've got the right equation. We've got the right candidate. And it's a matter of going everywhere in our state and giving people another option, but also talking about the economy. People are hurting right now. And DeSantis is more concerned about blaming President Biden than really looking at the issues on the ground that is happening and hurting people every single

day here. Well, here's a perfect example. DeSantis is going around the state right now presenting checks left and right. That's money that came from the bill that Biden pushed that many Republicans voted against. Are you and other Democrats following him around? Are people holding up signs saying, hey, thank Biden. These checks ain't the Sanders' money. This came from the Democratic president. I mean, here's a guy literally trying to take credit and burn his credentials with money that Republicans did not want to vote for.

Absolutely. You know, when that money first was passed in 2021, you know, he came out and said, well, we didn't get enough money or we got too much money. And so I called out his nepotism and I called out the hypocrisy of some of those dollars. And now he's touting the fact that we've got the largest surplus in the history of the state of Florida. Well, of course you do, because all this money came down from President Biden. And so every single time we are calling it out on social media, we are calling out as much as we can, making people understand the money that is going into these communities is coming from the Biden plans that they passed. And not a single Republican in the state of Florida, you know, voted for it. So we are calling this out and making people understand.

And look also where the money is going. The money is going into white wealthy communities or in white rural communities and not really focusing on what is happening on the ground in so many pockets of our communities that haven't seen any of these dollars for stimulants to see where we can put money for producing more jobs and economic opportunities, especially in our black and brown communities. So we are calling them out as loud as possible. And certainly after the primary, we will have an even larger microphone that we're going to be able to crisscross our state and remind people that this money came from Washington, D.C. This has absolutely nothing to do with Ron DeSantis. In fact, he wants to talk about inflation. Well, then you shouldn't have taken the money to begin with, if that really isAGAN, One of the things that you have to deal with, and we have to be

honest, Democrats have been poorest in the state. The state party has had fundamental problems. We can look at, again, the gains Republicans have made. They have been significant. And so there's a huge task at hand. Congresswoman Val Demings has the same issue running against Senator Marco Rubio in the United States Senate race. If I go back to the race four years ago, Andrew Gillum versus Ron Ascendance, Gillum loses by 30,000 votes. One of the issues that I'm going to tell as a Democrat, they actually had a graphic, and I showed it consistently.

Well, they showed the top 12 or 15 counties in the state. Well, it took you to get to like number 11 in terms of turnout before you saw a blue county. I believe it was Broward County. Miami-Dade was lower. And so what are you and others going to do or trying to do to really repair the infrastructure of the Democratic Party in terms of being able to get folks out to vote, appeal to Latino voters. They've been voting significantly with Republicans, but also turning out black voters. If you don't do well as Democrats in Brown or Miami-Dade County, you have no shot at winning. What's the plan?

Absolutely. And you're 100 percent correct. You know, when I ran in 2018, I was on the same ticket as Andrew. And I think every single day the black voters that came out because I know that they mobilized and they came out for Andrew and I reaped the benefit of that. And so understanding what happened in 2018 and what Democrats do really bad. We spend so much time and energy talking about just the top of the ticket and putting all of our resources at the top of the ticket. And down ballot candidates, our grassroots organizing events, our caucuses, our clubs, our House and our Senate seats, our city and county commission seats don't have the resources

that are necessary. So it's part of my pledge that we need the money at the top, but we need to make sure that it's going down. And what's really cool is that we have the opportunity this year that there may be four women that come out of this primary season, and three that would be women of color. And so looking at the ways to actually market and brand the Democratic Party and do commercials together, all five of us. That would be Val, myself, and the other three members of the Cabinet on the slate doing commercials together, really exciting the base, showing the complete difference. The other thing that we don't do well, which is something that I did well in 2018, which is how I won, is that we only focus on the blue

counties. The only person who's been able to do this well in Florida since our last Democratic governor is Barack Obama. He came and understood that we can't just talk to the blue areas. We've got to go to the red rural communities, go to the red counties, and make sure that we're losing by less. And that's what I did in 2018. I targeted 13 counties in my state and said, I know I can't win these. I flipped two of them, but losing by less in some of those areas to make up for the gap. Because no matter how much that we turn out in

Dade and Broward and some of our other blue areas, we can't overcome if we ignore them. And when it comes to the Hispanic community, we also in 2020 ignored them. We basically conceded the state. We had very little involvement from the Biden campaign here in 2020, where you saw the Trump machine come here and talking to the Hispanic community. So, day one of my campaign, we started what's called the Nikki Escucha Tour, Nikki Listens. We crisscrossed our state talking to the Hispanic community, but not as a whole. We talked to the Puerto Rican community, the Cuban community, Colombian, Venezuelan, even making sure that we're talking to the Haitian community, which is different than just the black community, making sure that we're talking to the

Caribbean community. And so we as Democrats haven't done a good job making sure that we understood and listened to what are the issues on the ground infecting each of these different communities. I was born and raised in Miami. My back neighbors were Cubans growing up. I heard the stories. I went to Cayo Ocho once a month growing up. And a lot of times it's understanding that the personal plight that so many of these individuals went through to get to Florida, get to America, understanding those situations and saying, look, at the end of the day, we all want freedom.

We all want democracy. And unfortunately, you've got a governor right here who's doing just the opposite. And we understand the economic struggles that so many people are dealing with today that Ron DeSantis is not dealing with. He wants to focus his time and energy on Washington, D.C., and not in the actual backyards of the people here in our state. Well, here's a perfect example. Here's Ronis Henderson. I mean, just flat out lying in this news conference. See if I can play this here. Here we go. All right, so for some reason we're not playing it. But basically DeSantis is out here talking about how school workers are telling kids, oh, you have the option to change your gender. I mean, he's throwing things out.

We saw him attack the black congressional district. We saw what happened with Disney as well. I mean, this guy has lied. He lied about critical race theory being in math books. You know, and I think, you know, so are people literally calling him on his lies? Yes, we are doing that every single day. And what is great is the fact that, you know, as our only statewide elected Democrat, I have been in the trenches. I have been fighting him for the last three and a half years. And so now as I travel the state and talking

to other electeds, other candidates, I make sure that we stay very on focus and on point because we as Democrats get this tendency to throw everything out there and hope that something sticks. We've got to be very message-focused, got to make sure that we call him out on the lies, on what he's doing. We had Nazis that were protesting in Tampa over this weekend right outside of where he was giving a speech, showing and holding Nazi flags, holding pictures of him and praising Ron DeSantis. I went out there on Sunday at the exact same spot asking Ron DeSantis to denounce Nazis. This should be basic 101 for any American here, and especially an individual who leads a state of 22 million people, the most diverse state in the nation, with the third largest

Jewish population. And so it's going to take all of us this courage to stand up and speak loudly on these issues. And we are saying these things. And, of course, unfortunately, the national media, you know, wants to disanoint him as the next heir apparent to Trump and doesn't realize that we need help here on the ground, that we can beat him and we will beat him. He only won by 33,000 votes. This is a state that less than 1% margins are the decisions between winners and losers. I flipped a seat by almost a million votes, 20 points in 2018, to be the first female to ever been elected commissioner of agriculture here in the state and here in the Southeast.

And so we are going to have to have Democrats stay very laser-focused, calling this out, but also not falling for his traps, because that's what he also likes to do. He likes to throw out these things that he knows polls well, not only on his base, but even on some of the moderates in our state. We as Democrats can't focus on falling for his traps. We need to make sure that we are message disciplined. We're talking about the economy and we're calling out his lies. Even this weekend, he was, excuse me, not last weekend, he said that, again, math books had woke in them. And so that's why they had to be taken off the shelves.

This is a situation in Florida. And so this has to be all hands on deck to everybody across the country. This guy is the largest threat to democracy in the entire country. And we're going to need backup and support. I will make sure that we are organized here on the ground. But the resources from across the country is going to be necessary for help and support come November. All right, then. Nikki Freed, Commissioner Freed, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

I look forward to having you back, and we'll certainly be watching this race intensely. Well, I appreciate your time and appreciate what you do out here. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Folks, got to go to break. We come back. We'll talk with Tiffany Haddish as well as a gentleman she's working with

on a technology platform. That's right. And no, it's not comedy. We'll explain next right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Broadcasting live from the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Broadcasting live from the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City, right here on the Black Star Network.

Don't forget, download the Black Star Network app. Folks, Black-owned, you know what we do. This is about telling our story. And so, again, every platform, Apple phone, Android phone, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV. Also, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar you give goes to support what we do. And so, checks and money orders go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196.

Cash app, Dallas side, RM unfiltered. PayPal is RMartin unfiltered. Venmo is rm unfiltered. Zelle is rolling at rollingsmartin.com. We'll be right back. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, you see the headlines. All frightening, right? Interest rates are going up. The recession is on the way. The stock market is up and down. But you know what they say, scared money, don't make money. That's why I'm excited on our next Get Wealthy to have a conversation with someone who has written a new

book, Fearless Finances, and she's going to share exactly what you need to do to secure your bag, regardless of the ups and downs of the economy or the stock market. Oftentimes you can start with as little as five dollars. That's right here only on Get Wealthy on Blackstar Network. I'm Dion Cole. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay woke. All right, folks, y'all know we are all about black-owned African-Americans who are doing things in the tech space every Wednesday. We have Tech Talk. And so my next guest are two folks who have come up with a concept that,

you know what, maybe you're tired of Zoom or you're tired of Microsoft Teams or Google Meets or any of the other platforms out there. It's called Bizio, B-I-Z-I-O. Comedian Tiffany Haddish, she has teamed up with Richard Thompson, founder of Digital Air Technology and Analytics, to create this platform. Richard joins us from New York. Tiffany is out in L.A. Glad to have both of you on the show.

And so, Tiffany, you're on the show. Yeah, I'm on the show now. I need it. Y'all, Tiffany's on stage. Y'all, Tiffany's on stage at the Superdome at Essence Festival. And so she's on stage with Kitty Burns. Kitty's like, what's up, Ro, from the stage. Tiffany goes, hey, Roland, you ain't call me back. I was like, Lord, up, Ro? She's out from the stage. Tiffany goes, hey, Roland, you ain't calling me back.

I was like, Lord, look at her showing herself. But, but, it was an email, wasn't a call. But it's all right. Except, except when you called me at my girl's trip. I never got that call. But it's all right. Glad to have you here. Let's talk about this busy. What do you mean you never got that call but it's all right glad to have you here let's talk about this busy you know you remember your publicist no i'll tell you about later okay so let's talk about this busy first of all uh tiffany tiffany where where did this come from in terms of you

and richard how did y'all come together to work on this concept? Well, I had been talking to a few of my friends about, you know, how I want to invest my money in technology that's owned by black people. Straight up, I feel like, you know, every time I am asked to invest in something technology-wise, and I love technology. I'm a big tech head. So, and every time it's like never developed by us, never really for us, never, you know, it's like, oh, us, never really for us, never, you know,

it's like, oh, if we do this, it's going to make them rich. But how does that feed us? Like, I'm so much about like, how do I contribute to my community? Like, yeah, great. I'm making people laugh. I'm doing this. I'm opening a grocery store, but how can I really contribute and be effective in making small black businesses grow, making them big black businesses,

and also just making it where we can communicate with each other and we're keeping the dollar circulating in our community as opposed to it going outside. You're absolutely right. That's one of the reasons why I invested in Isaac Hayes Fanbase, because, again, we are very great, Richard, at making other people rich. Black people, we're early adopters. We download apps. We're very involved.

Yet, when it's black-owned, folks are like, I don't quite know. I'm like, yo, what the hell? Have the same energy as you have for some other folks. And so, Richard, how long were you working on this idea? How long were you working on this idea? How long has it been around? Okay, thank you. Well, Mr. Martin, I want to thank you first.

It is an honor being on your show, getting a chance to be with you. You've been in one of the major, like, journalism, that's been, like, putting our African community in a place where it should be. Myself, I've been, like like developing enterprise technology uh for like over 25 years uh been building up most of the communication systems for uh barbark's capital black rock i used to run a new front office for uh barclays and front office trading for BlackRock. And one of the things that always got to me is that they never, it was very little recruitment of African-Americans to the front office space where dollars are really made at. And if you also look in enterprise technologies like Microsoft,

IBM, Google, when it comes to the recruitment of our community, it's very little. It's less than 3%. So those things bother me very much. I left in 2011 to actually go after how do we actually move the needle. And that was creating the enterprise technology company so we can actually have a competitive space of a Microsoft, of a Google, of Apple, not just apps. No, let's get to the core of it.

And then also get to the core of how do we put ourselves in capital markets. I got a chance to meet Tiffany through a very good friend of mine. His name is Jimmy Martinez, Jimmy Marr. We had wanted a voice that was true, someone that is actually committed to the cause of helping our community. And Tiffany, seeing what we were doing right from the gate, this

always gets to me because she loves her people so much, she just put her money right in. She's like, Rich, I see what you guys are doing. I see this commitment. Your struggle is our struggle. Your victory is our victory. So we just came together said know what we're just gonna do ourselves uh we're always marginalized in in

technology we're always large lines and we can't money manage our money i'll say forget this we've been doing it for so long we can just put it up ourselves put up we look like a google it's just not it's just not uh the zoom but if you go into, we got drives, right? We got mail coming along. But we also have a Salesforce type CRM, QuickBooks. Everything that we need to back up and say that we're in our communities. And then we got our own training systems

that we're using that right now being activated on the continent of Africa. We connected Ghana and Kenya to make it trains there. And we've done it just with us, right, because it had to be done. A real black Wall Street. A real black. Hello. We aren't just making apps.

The infrastructure that moves. So, first of all, where can I access it? That's first. Is it in an app? Is it desktop-based? Is it pad-based? So where can I access it. That's first. Is it an app? Is it desktop-based? Is it pad-based? So where can I access it right now? So right now, you just go to

thebizio.com, and that's the entrance way forward to the portal. And the app, we will be releasing in the app store right now. They're just waiting for the approval in a few more days, and you'll see the Bizio Meet, what you're on right now, will be an actual app.

So this is it. So this is it right here. Guys, show my iPad. So it's B-I-Z-I-O.com? Yeah, T-H-E. Put in The BusyO first. T-H-E, TheBusyO.com. See?

There you go. So, again, so for the folks out there, so I want people who are watching, when we talk about our TikTok segment, I want them also downloading and looking at it while we're doing it as well. And so, Tiffany, he said there are several things that it does. So it's not just one thing. And so that's also pretty cool because it allows you to tap into different lanes of people as opposed to just sort of one thing. Yeah, it's a place where small black businesses can keep their, not even big businesses, but you can do QuickBooks so you can keep accounts of everything that's going on in your business. We also are in a couple of schools too, right, Rich? We're in, so my dream is that we're able to communicate and like, let each

other know what's going on in the community and not have it be, you know, um, manipulated, uh, through the, uh, voice of, uh, somebody that's not like us, you know what I'm saying? Um, as a, as someone in the entertainment business, I love to be able to talk directly to my fans and not have it be censored or, you know, they exaggerate or put stuff on it that's not true. And, you know, when it comes to our health, our finances, the way that we do things in the world, like, I notice they're able to control their media and communicate the way they want to with each other. But we are not always able to do that that's why i love you like because you have your platform and you talk to us right and we're sharing information with each other and i think that's so important so not only can you do like your own um you know accounting on here but we can have our own this

is our zoom okay this busy old meets is it's thing, so it's not being, you know, monitored by them. And then you have your own, we have a whole, like, you know, board where you can click in and see what's going on in the community, what's going on over here, what's going on in Africa, and all of that, where we're communicating with each other. So the diaspora will be connected. Yes. Wow, absolutely. So as I'm scrolling through here, you know, and looking at the options, it definitely provides all of that. I'm going to bring my panel in for questions.

Let me first start. Jason, you're a professor at the University of Maryland. You get the first question for Tiffany and Richard regarding the Bizio. T-H-E Bizio dot com. Jason. Jason. Jason! You're muted, dude!

I'm sorry. Lord, have mercy. Real quick. Thank you all for coming on and thank you all for explaining what it is that you've created here. I think it's amazing that you're connecting all these different parts of the diaspora and getting more African-Americans into tech. So that's one of my questions. Is there any way or anything you're doing to get perhaps young black people who are interested in tech to work for the company and maybe expand the company using young black people in tech? Because that is going to be, you know, I was just reading a book that said that tech

is going to be bigger than construction for the next decade. So is there anything that you guys are doing to maybe mentor young people to get them and get people working in your company, black people as you guys grow? Yes. Oh, like Tiffany, do you want me to answer that? Go ahead,

Rich. Take it. Well, one of the things that we're doing, like we, we, we have partnerships with, with UCF regarding HBCU.

One of the first things we're putting in is a finance platform, financial wealth platform, and we'll be training HBCU students to work on our platform. Because, like, being in the front office, especially in that space, we don't get access to Bloomberg. It's very expensive, right? So to be able to bring that data and access to Waltham, how we'll have this managed and be able to create, you know, quants for myself, that's part of my background also. So partnering with USCF and creating partnerships with the HBCU, we're going to be able to now bring on 500 students at first to be able to be trained. You say, hey, if we get you trained so you can see what a training floor looks like or what the tech that goes along to actually create that looks like. We want to get that training out earlier.

And then we'll have the Hattus report. Forget the Bloomberg report. There we go. There we go. There we go. We're coming with all that energy. I have some black students, too, if you need, you know. Yes. Students.

You know, I'm not an HBCU, but we definitely have some black students at the University of Maryland. If you're looking for some talented students, let me know. Yes. All right. Robert Pet. If you're looking for some talented students, let me know how that is. Yes. All right. Robert Petillo, you're next. Thank you all so much for this outstanding application. I do have a question about growth. A lot of things, it's not about the product itself,

it's how it's advertised, how it's pushed to people. Have you guys reached out to black content creators, bloggers, internet influencers, business owners, and putting this into their hands to make sure that they can push out to the audience? Because often it's far more important to make sure more people know about it, even more so than having an outstanding product you already have. Tiffany, you want to go to the actual Grow Growth Strategy? Yeah, so we're definitely on top of that, you know, I'm also a content creator and an influential person.

But I can't do it all by myself. I'm making movies and stuff, too. So we definitely are reaching out to, huh? I said right, right? That part. So that part. I just want to get with that. So, but we definitely are reaching out to content creators. Right now, we just launched like two weeks ago.

So it's a slow rollout process because we want to make sure that it works. Like for me, it's like anything that I put out to the market, I want to make sure that it works. Like for me, it's like anything that I put out to the market, I want to make sure that it's 100% efficient. And so we've already did the first kickoff. The next go-round, we have a whole ambassador program. And you'll be hearing more about it. You're hearing it here first,

but we already have a bunch of people signed up, but there'll be even more and more to come. You'll be seeing on my social media platforms, me putting it out there. I mean, I'm setting up where all my meetings happen here on Busy L Meets. So I don't play. I don't play. Yeah. We're going to make them give it us.

And that's how you actually do it. Monique? Yeah. And that's how you actually do it. Monique? Yeah, first of all, Howard University is right down the street. I just want to clarify that for that University of Maryland offer. HU, just let me just off the jump say that. And then I'm really thankful that you all are doing this, but I am just extra proud to be a black woman right now. They always were trying to marginalize and put us in boxes and only even if it's a great box, they want us to just be in the one. So thank you, Tiffany, for this, because even in the doing of it,

you're setting examples for daughters like mine that we don't have to be compartmentalized and we can't be kept in one space. And as we branch out, we can branch out in ways that help our community. So thank you. Best believe. Let me tell you something. My business manager was getting on me because she's like, you putting how much money in it is? You know, you could go on vacations. You need to move out of South Central LA and move into the Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills. And I'm like, I'd rather stay in South Central LA, invest my money in companies that I believe in that are owned by us and watch them grow and see South Central LA turn into Beverly Hills, right? See my community transform into something amazing. And like, I could be like really like, send you some, go buy

me like designer, all designer clothes, which I've been doing kind of, but they've been giving them to me because I talked about it, but also like, you know, I could be having me a Bugatti and all that, but instead I decided to build a platform. That's going to build us. I'm so much.

I'd rather put my money in my people and put all my money in me. I put a lot of it in me too, but you know, you know what I'm saying? Amen. But, but, of it in me too, but you know what I'm saying. Amen. But the thing there, but the thing there, Richard

with Tiffany just said is that and I need all these black folks right now who are watching us on the Black Star Network who are watching us on Facebook, on YouTube. Also, y'all on YouTube, stop freeloading.

Hit the damn like button. We should be at 1,000 by now. But here's the whole deal. Black folks spend too much time flossing. Ross Perot, who passed away. Ross Perot was worth $3-4 billion. Ross Perot, remember that random president?

He drove a minivan. Warren Buffett got like damn near $100 billion. He drove like a truck. So I get, hey, the finer things in life, but the reality is what Tiffany is doing. Look, I put $50,000 into Fanbase. That's called taking money, and you might have a multiple of $100,000, $500,000, $1,000.

Everybody running around right now trying to buy the lotto tickets to hit that lotto, that mega millions is now over a billion dollars. But guess what? If you invest your money in certain companies, that could be your billion. Exactly. I'm tired of being dudes wearing diamonds on their neck but still renting a one-bedroom apartment. Get out of my face with that. I need people. I want people around me that own land. I want to show my people how to own land, own companies.

That's where the money's at, baby. That's where the growth is. That's where you will be able to see your children have food on the table every day when you build something that we use. We spend more money on other people's stuff as opposed to let's build it ourselves and spend it for us.

Let's watch us grow. There'll be less crime, I can tell you that much. There'll be less of us in jail. And to actually add to that, the digital revolution industry is actually happening now because we got Web3 happening, which, you know, the privacy and security of data. And then you have the industry 4.0, which talks about automation, right? Those two things are

happening. And without us training our workforce to be able to participate that because the businesses are not going to train our communities. The business is built on that architecture so that we can now train our communities to create wealth for the for for for community. And if you look at those companies, they represent seven trillion dollars worth of market cap. So if you go into Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, that's $7 trillion. Little that comes to our communities is hit. So if we create

an enterprise that looks like those companies and we actually protect our data, now we start to get into the ballgame and have a greater impact to our wealth in our future. And we will outperform now. Yes.

Well, and the fact of the matter is this here, and I can tell you this, folks, I know this because of private equity. Black and minority firms outperform white firms when it comes to the private equity. They don't get the multibillion-dollar funds to be able to manage. And so I think this is an absolutely fabulous idea. I look forward to actually testing it. You say you're rolling it out. So, Richard, when does the app roll out?

So right now, to use the platform, can you only use it on your computer? When will you be able to use the Vizio on the iPad as well as on the phone? Yeah, they'll be available August 1st. So I will keep you updated right now. We're just waiting for approval. The apps are done. So as soon as it's approved by Apple, and we look forward to being by the top of the month, it will be available. Absolutely.

Well, look, I think that is fabulous. And, again, I'm a firm believer. Oh, where'd Tiffany go? I'm a firm believer in us. So the reason we created this segment was specifically to allow for African-Americans in technology to be able to tout their products. And so we appreciate both of you joining us on the show. Richard, thank you so very much. Tiffany, thank you so very much for coming on the show. Certainly let us know how it goes.

And, again, we do look forward to actually seeing this app and actually using it because it is about us creating wealth. And, look, we use technology like more than anybody else and it's great to be able to do it with black folks. Thank you. All right, folks, I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you so very much. All right, Tiffany, I'll send you a text.

I don't see your picture there. I'll send you a text. All right, folks, we're going to go to break. When we come back, there we go. We come back more Roland Martin Unfiltered. We'll hear from Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Ray Chu, Vivian Chu about the Jackie Robinson Museum. And we also will talk with the director of the movie After Jackie. All of that in the second hour.

Roller Moon Unfiltered. YouTube, Facebook, hit that like button. Hit that share button. Spread the message. We're here in New York City celebrating the great Jackie Robinson and his amazing legacy on the Black Start Network, Black-owned, unapologetic, and unfiltered. The American Pronunciation Guide Presents ''How to Pronounce Sexy'' Sexy to me is the exact same feeling as running water, ever flowing.

Water always finds a way to get through. And so when you know that you're sexy, there are no questions about it. It is an ever flowing emotion. It is an ever flowing feeling. When you question it though, you stop the water. I actually, I struggle with this a lot, mainly because I've been told what sexy should look like, what it should feel like. As a model who did Sports Illustrated, you're told that this is what sells sexy, but then you travel the world and what's sexy to one person is not sexy to another person.

I'm more of a mind fuck kind of person. How can you stimulate the brain? To me, that's, that's it. Pull up a chair. Take your seat. The Black Tape. With me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a

deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. Hi, I'm Dr. Jackie Hood-Martin, and I have a question for you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Blackstar Network, a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We'll be right back. Half-feet, seven inches tall, weighs 276 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She may be in need of medical attention. Anyone with information about Shaw Miki Williams should call the Copiah County, Mississippi Sheriff's Office at 601-892-2023.

601-892-2023. Some good news about a black and missing reported on the other day. Marshal Grant Griffin, he was found yesterday. We got an email from Grant's father who told us his son was found and is safe. So we are certainly glad to hear that. Folks, in North Carolina, thousands of fellows in North Carolina are getting their voting rights restored. Starting today, the Board of Education elections will allow anyone not currently in jail or on parole to register to vote. In March, a panel of judges struck down an old North Carolina law preventing anyone from registering until the end of their sentence. The judges said the law discriminates explicitly against black folks.

This is a perfect example. I keep saying it, Monique, why voting matters and why you need to have people that need to be supporting civil rights lawyers who are out there fighting the good fight because them battling these type of laws has now created the opportunity for folks to be able to vote in North Carolina who are formerly incarcerated. Is Monique there? Okay, Monique can't hear me. What's the deal, y'all?

Yeah. Robert, can you hear me? I hear you. Yeah, I hear you as well. Okay, you weigh in on you. You weigh in on the story. So, yeah, I think that's absolutely correct that, you know, the public pressure, the things that we can do as a community can actually affect change. I can hear you, but not the show. Jason, go ahead, Jason. And this is the kind of thing that can sway elections.

This is one of the reasons why we have voter suppression, trying to keep people, you know, people who may have had a felony record, keeping them from voting. This is what swayed elections for generations in the state of Florida that we were just mentioning, was that if you had a felony record, you were disenfranchised. And once they fixed that, they started, you know, Ron DeSantis started finding loopholes, saying you had to pay all of your court fines and everything before you could actually vote. There's no reason why people shouldn't be able to vote

if they were incarcerated. There are two states in this nation where you can vote while you're incarcerated. It just so happens those are two of the whitest states in the nation, which is Maine and Vermont, I believe. So this is really important. Voting is a key element of our citizenship. And I know that as someone who teaches about, you know, reconstruction every semester, how important the vote was to Black people and how incarceration has been used as a means to keep black people from voting. We need to make sure that this is the case nationwide. And this is a really important step forward in the state of North Carolina.

It is. This next story, Warren Buffett's mortgage company, they have reached a historic $24 million settlement with the Department of Justice due to the issue of redlining. Triton Mortgage Company is accused of discriminating against potential black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware for 2015-2019.

Employees did not approve loans to black prospects and called certain neighborhoods ghettos. The company is setting aside $20 million in loans for underserved communities and hiring minority loan officers. The company stopped writing mortgages in 2020. As part of the settlement, the company denies the allegations and insists it does not discriminate against homebuyers of color.

Well, we know that's bullshit, Robert and Monique, because you don't pay $24 million just for the hell of it. Absolutely. And, Roland, just kind of going back to the last story just very quickly, I think people need to understand that felony disenfranchisement is unconstitutional. It's one of the last remaining vestiges of Jim Crow that we've seen to have just accepted into society. But it's based upon a misreading and misapplication of the 15th Amendment that Jim Crow-era judges kind of read into the judicial record and that we go

with right now. The amendment says prosecution or participation in a conviction of a crime or insurrection. It was meant to stop people who participated in the Civil War as insurrectionists from being able to vote. And now, 150 years later, it's being used to stop African-Americans from being able to vote. So we need to challenge that judicially. And I think state legislatures need to keep that in mind when repealing the felony disenfranchisement law. They are indeed Jim Crow era laws meant to stop African-Americans from voting. And then secondarily, on this redlining case, let's remember something that the Supreme Court next term will be taking up what's called the Interstate Commerce Clause. The Interstate Commerce Clause is that expansion of federal rights that allow the federal government to intercede in state-level or individualized conduct if they had any industry or any touching of interstate commerce. In some, that means that the only reason the federal government can enforce redlining and other civil rights standards against individual businesses is because of the interstate

commerce clause. What we have seen from this court right now is this six-three majority is willing to overturn any precedents, and so we cannot simply get distracted by some of the more media-driven stories. Once that interstate commerce clause is gone, which may be next term and which I think we need to be starting to plan for and fight against now, then all bets will be off, will be down to every single state being for themselves as a dangerous place to be at constitutionally. Monique, this is another example of the great work that Christian Clark is doing, leading the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. And I will hope the White House is paying attention.

They should be touting these wins in this civil rights DOJ. Yes, this is another great piece of work that they're doing. And they are putting out the press releases, the talking points about all of these things that are happening. And so I think it would be great for everybody to be doing what you're doing, which is covering it and pushing it out there so that as many people as possible can know about this work that is happening because there really is only so much tooting of the own horn that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice can do without it kind of crossing the lines into self-aggrandizement, which is frowned upon in government spaces for government lawyers who, as I said before, are supposed to be beholden to the Constitution of the United States. But it's up to us

to take the things that they're doing. And anytime somebody says, this administration ain't done nothing for Black people, we should have a for real Black card with those things listed and including some great things that I think will be coming down the pipe very soon like tomorrow. Alright folks, hold tight one second, we'll come back.

We'll talk more about the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. A little bit later, it's going to be showing the movie after Jackie. We'll talk with the director in just a second. We'll also hear from Slick Rick, from Doug E. Fresh, Vivian Chu, Ray Chu, that performed last night here. We'll have that for you. You're watching Will and Martin Unfiltered with the Black Star Network.

Back in a moment. Thank you. Ever feel as if your life is teetering and the weight and pressure of the world is consistently on your shoulders? Well, let me tell you, living a balanced life isn't easy. Join me each Tuesday on Blackstar Network for a balanced life with Dr. Jackie. We'll laugh together, cry together, pull ourselves together, and cheer each other on. So join me for new shows each Tuesday on Black Star Network, A Balanced Life with Dr. Jackie. We're all impacted by the culture, whether we know it or not. From politics to music and entertainment, it's a huge part of our lives, and we're going or not. From politics to music and entertainment,

it's a huge part of our lives. And we're going to talk about it every day right here on The Culture with me, Faraji Muhammad, only on the Black Star Network. Hey, everybody. It's your girl, LuMail. So what's up? This is your boy, Earthquake. Hi, I'm Chaley Rose.

And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered here at the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. This is day three. Last night, the big gala party took place. The performers were Slick Rick and my man Doug E. Fresh. They certainly tore the house down. They were rocking all night long. I had folks out here dancing and having a good time.

It was great to see them on the stage. We live streamed it on Blackstar Network. If y'all want to see the performance, go to the app. You can check it all out. After the performance, I caught up with both of them as well as music directors, Ray Chu and his wife Vivian when they talked about

just what it meant for them to be involved in this historic opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. What's up, Slick Rick with Dunny Fresh? Thank you for having us to celebrate Jackie Robinson's Museum. Part of, like, American history, you know what I mean?

It's good to be a part of it, you know what I mean? And all that good stuff, you know? So, shout out to the vets. Love, right? Guys, I appreciate it. First of all, keep watching my man. He's on fire. That's first. Let me get that on the plate. Second of all, reason why I'm saying that is because he's here covering something that means a lot. This is our history. Jackie Robinson has played such a major role in changing the conditions in America and went through a lot, more than anybody could ever

imagine. And he still made it happen. So he should be an inspiration for all of us on what we can do. And 100th birthday to Ms. Robinson, always. Getting the call to be part of the event scene to present all the entertainment for the Jackie Robinson Museum was an honor. It was an honor because Mr. Robinson is not just about baseball. He was about racial equality. And to celebrate Mrs. Robinson's 100th birthday, Mrs. Robinson, thank you. Thank you for trusting me. Great you. Good you. True entertainment. Thank you 100th birthday. Mrs. Robinson, thank you for trusting me.

Rachel, Vivian Chu, Chu Entertainment. My pleasure. Well, I'll tell you what. This is such an honor to be entrusted with the music and the production of this show tonight. You know, my wife and I put the whole thing together. And it's an honor because not only about Jackie Robinson, but Rachel Robinson, her 100th birthday. And the legacy of the Robinsons is incredible.

So for us to be a part of that is an honor. Thank you. Folks, joining us right now is the director of this movie they're about to show. It's called After Jackie. Andre Gaines with us right now. They'll be showing it any moment. Andre, first of all, glad to have you here. Thanks, sir.

And so tell us, what is After Jackie? So After Jackie is about all the players that came after Jackie Robinson. So there's sort of no life in history in the United States before Jackie Robinson, but there's a whole history that really came after Jackie Robinson. So there's sort of no life in history in the United States before Jackie Robinson, but there's a whole history that really came after Jackie Robinson, especially in the game of baseball, that doesn't get a lot of credit, including Jackie himself being the civil rights leader. A lot of people don't realize that he was marching with Dr. King, and so this was really the story about his life after baseball, and then also about several of the players that came after him that he was ushering into the game.

Now, this movie here aired on the History Network, right? Yeah, on History Channel. Yeah, so it came out on History Channel, Juneteenth weekend, and we're screening it here tonight with the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. It's been a beautiful event, a special event, being able to see Rachel Robinson and the whole family come out yesterday for the grand opening. And it'd be great to see them again tonight for the screening. I mean, it is a remarkable story.

And you're right. There were so many phenomenal baseball players who came after Jackie Robinson who get sort of lost in all the focus just on him. Yeah, so much focus was on not only Jackie Robinson, but really just him integrating baseball. We never really see the story of Jackie's life after that happens. We just sort of assume that everything was unicorns and glitter, but it really wasn't. And we also see that he had these battles he had to fight on the field.

But then in this film, we really highlight Bob Gibson, Bill White, Kurt Flood, three players that were all on the St. Louis Cardinals who had a very unique style of baseball, which was more reminiscent of the Negro Leagues. And also they were the first time we really saw the combined player-activist. You know, Jackie was a player first and then became an activist in retirement. But once we get to the 60s, early 60s, we finally see the beginnings of the combined player-activist,

where these guys are playing at the highest level possible, but then also fighting for freedom and equality when they go off the field. Of course, we lost Bob Gibson last year, along with Henry Hank Aaron as well. So many great players. You're absolutely right. We talk about Bill White. We still got Bill White. He's still here with us.

We talk about Curt Flood. I mean, there is no athlete. That's right. As a baseball player, there's no athlete today who should not pay homage to Kurt Flood because it was his lawsuit, although he lost, it was his lawsuit that paved the way for free agency in sports. That's right. A lot of people don't realize that at all.

I mean, this isn't all of sport. This is not just baseball, where he pioneered free agency, modern-day free agency by fighting against something called the reserve clause in baseball, which was like, you shouldn't be able to own me. I should be able to play on a team wherever I want to. But without Kurt Flood, we wouldn't have a LeBron James, who was one of our executive producers and the decision of being able to go wherever it is that he wanted to. And we have Kurt Flood to thank for that.

He made a tremendous, tremendous sacrifice. All right. Well, look, Andre, we certainly appreciate it. Looks like we're about to start screening right now. So thank you very much for joining us and sharing your thoughts. As always, good to see you. All right. Thank you very much Andre, we certainly appreciate it. Looks like we're about to start screening right now. So thank you very much for joining us and sharing your thoughts. As always, good to see you. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Folks, we're going to switch over. We have the feed from them, correct? All right. So let's do this here. First of all, let me thank Monique, Robert, as well as Jason for y'all joining us on today's show.

What we're going to do, folks, we're going to actually switch over to the feed from the program here so you can actually experience this event as well. We want to thank the Jack Robinson Foundation, DELLA, Britain for allowing us to do this. Look, we've been broadcasting since Monday. This is why Black Star Network was created to be able to cover these type of events that's happening in the black community all across the country. Your support absolutely matters. So we thank all of you for doing so. And so let's go to the stage. Adela Britton, who is speaking, she is the CEO of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Has long wanted to have a fixed tribute to Jackie, where we could tell his full story

and inspire others to recognize what one man can do and to step up and do their part for whatever issue they care about to make progress and hopefully to allow us to live up to the true American dream of equal opportunity for everyone. These are things I don't have to say to this audience. You guys get it. It's an exciting panel tonight. And I do want to say to Spring Hill, listen, we have gotten to know you. This is the second promotion we've done with you. The t-shirts of Jackie on your website. We are grateful to you. And I want to introduce

the chief content officer after me, Jamal Henderson. Have a good time tonight and thank you for being here. Good evening, good evening. This is a special one. We're really, really excited to be here. Thank you to the foundation. Thank you to Chevrolet, our partners at Chevrolet for helping make this happen. My name is Jamal Henderson. I'm the chief content officer at the Spring Hill Company.

And this is a special film for us. This is the embodiment of More Than an Athlete. It's the reason why Matt and LeBron started the company. It's the reason why we're all here. Really excited that the whole team could be here. So shout out to all the Spring Hill people in the place to be who made this happen. It's beautiful. But really want to all the Spring Hill people in the place to be who made this happen. It's beautiful. But really want to thank the Robinson family.

Want to thank Della. Want to thank the whole foundation. It's a beautiful museum. I hope you guys all get a chance to check it out. I also want to acknowledge Andre Gaines in the building, our director, my man. What's up, brother? I want to thank the team at Firelight, Stanley Nelson, that were a big part of this.

Major League Baseball, a very big part of this. And everybody that was involved in this project. It's a really special one. So without further ado, guys, this is After Jackie. We'll be right back. I'd rather fail being who I am than fail being somebody they want me to be. I was here to be off, we be off, like be off, we be off. See your legacy. I love this thing. I am more than an athlete.

I'm still a human being that has a platform and a voice. And in 1946, baseball refreshed itself once more with new players, eager men, among them a talented athlete from the University of California at Los Angeles. His name was Jackie Robinson. After waiting a hundred years, these people legally free, not spiritually free, never morally free, but if the right man and ability on the field had with control of himself off the field, if I could find that hand of a man, the American public would accept me. Jackie Robinson smashes the double to left field. The Jackie Robinson story gets a tremendous amount of attention.

All of it warranted. But the notion that he broke baseball's color barrier and then everything was fine is, of course, ludicrous. What we often are led to believe is that that was the end of the fight. The truth is that the struggles continue and particularly three players Bill White, Bob Gibson and Kurt Flood had to fight battles that Jackie didn't fight and that changed the game. Bob Gibson, Kurt Flood, Bill White, those guys have opinions. They push back. They said this is unacceptable. How can they do this?

Not because I'm a professional athlete or because I'm a Negro even, but I am a human being. Those guys said, what does it matter what's happening on the field if what happens off the field for the players on the field is unsafe? Living outside of baseball was really difficult. We had more problems with trying to find places to live than trying to play the game. A lot of times, really, somebody would do something about that. Believe me, a lot of times, it's you.

You're the one that's been chosen. It wasn't easy. Of course, what Jackie did wasn't easy either. Those guys had to be built differently just because what they went through every day, you know, we take that for granted. Thank God for them that they were able to go through it and make my life easier. And those are the four guys that should never die in Major League Baseball. If they didn't exactly go through what Jackie Robinson did as the first,

they went through hell. Six decades before Jackie Robinson made history at Ebbets Field, baseball was flourishing across America's 38 states. In 1878, Bud Fowler, the son of an escaped slave, became the first black ball player to establish himself on an integrated professional roster just over a decade after the abolishment of slavery. Baseball and African Americans have a unique history because of baseball's significance as a symbol of America. Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother were other African Americans who played in the 1880s.

So if our forefathers helped build this, as your forefathers helped build this, this is a sign of great things to come. But what happens is the demise of black baseball pretty quickly. As the national pastime grew in popularity with integrated rosters, by July of 1887, the game's best player, Cap Anson, decided he no longer wanted to play on the same field as black ballplayers. Anson sent a telegram refusing to play an upcoming exhibition game. And by the next day, owners instituted a gentleman's agreement which prohibited black ballplayers from playing in the league. But we also have to consider the larger context,

Jim Crow America. This was a time when African Americans were being barred from competing in most aspects of society. The unofficial ban would consume the sport for the next 60 years. Before 1947, before the color barrier was broken, the entire major leagues, American league and national league was white. There were of course great players,

but it was diminished league talent wise because there were so many excellent players that never had a chance to compete in anything beyond an exhibition format black folks had to find a way to play the skill was never the issue everybody knew the black folks could play baseball that was the whole problem negroes have the chance to play baseball for pay only in a segregated league. Back in the days when I was coming up, a lot of black players would think about playing in an Negro league, and that was just like getting to the major leagues, you know, playing with the Clowns, the Bremen, the Black Barons,

or something like that. You know, if you ever got to playing with one of those teams, you reached the major leagues. You've gotten as far as you can go. The talent for any fair observer was undeniable. Churches would plan their Sundays around being able to attend Negro League games. The Negro Leagues were one of the most successful businesses in the black community during the 1920s. White citizens also came to support because they knew they were watching some of the greatest baseball players of the day.

The style of play in the Negro Leagues was different from the style of play that dominated Major League Baseball. You saw more daring base running, stealing home. Because athleticism was so emphasized as a matter of strategy, you know, like it's important, it must have been just an incredible joy to watch live. In 1942, while hundreds of players served in World War II, including superstars like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, organized baseball still stood firm on the unofficial ban against people of color. The racist policy prompted black journalists like Wendell Smith to publish a series of articles challenging elite segregation.

Wendell Smith was an African-American sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, then the most important African-American newspaper in the United States. They had real megaphones when it came to the black community. And they weren't just sportswriters. They were on a crusade to integrate Major League Baseball. Smith began identifying black superstars within the Negro Leagues and sought to convince owners of the immense talent that could transform the game. One of the most important moments he was involved in was a tryout for Jackie Robinson in 1945 with the Boston Red Sox. Ultimately, the Red Sox decided not to sign Jackie Robinson, but it also is a moment where Smith was using his influence to try to create opportunities for African Americans. As clubs balked at his columns and organized workouts, there was one powerful baseball man who sought out the advice of Wendell Smith.

Branch Rickey secretly makes plans to break baseball's color line. The dynamic, outspoken general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers sees the Negro athlete as an untapped reservoir of talent. It was totally smart of Branch Rickey to rely on someone like Wendell Smith. He knew all the best black players and he knew both who could perform well on the field, but had the sort of mental toughness to be able to be the first. Why was Jackie Robinson the person chosen? He was playing with the Kansas City Monarchs, but he probably wasn't the greatest player in the Negro Leagues.

The reason Robinson was chosen was because there were factors beyond the game that mattered. Jackie had, if not comfort, but at least experience dealing with white people. He went to UCLA. He went to UCLA. He went to a school that was integrated. He had at least a little bit of context of coexisting in that kind of environment. And so these factors spoke to his character and his ability to navigate difficult racial situations.

He was everything that I had hoped he would be at that moment. So when Branch Rickey meets with Jackie Robinson, and Jackie Robinson asks about, what if this happens, what if that happens, Branch Rickey says to him, essentially, He had to know that he would be called these names and his mother would be attacked, and he had to realize that he must be able to

handle himself under those dark conditions i need someone with the power with the strength not to react to every time it was going to be death threats it was going to be bad really bad and not just in the south it was going to be bad just about everywhere all i can see is your black face that black face right over me. So I haul up and punch you right in the cheek. What do you do? Mr. Rickey, I've got two teeth. Branch Rickey knew what he was getting into,

and that's why it was so important for him to get the right guy. Robinson played brilliantly and drew just the kind of huge crowds that Branch Rickey had hoped for. Sports presents one of those first real opportunities for black people to rise above their station as second-class citizens. So everybody's looking to Jackie. He is it, and people understand that every time he takes the field, this is history in the making. They want to be a part of that. They want to witness that.

Jackie Robinson up. Well, the whole world was watching Jackie. Jackie rifles a shot at the left field. The first Negro player to appear in an All-Star game. The Brooklyn Dodgers' speed motion doesn't stop running until he flies to the second with a double. I think he brought something from the Negro League game that a lot of people don't realize, which is aggressiveness on the base pass. It was a surprise element.

Gamer surprised the umpire. He was a jack of all trades, literally. He played second base, played first base, played third base, played the outfield. He was a manager's dream where you can plug him in anywhere. An elite base runner, an elite defensive player, you know, could hit, could do it all. Now, black fans of baseball, if they have money to go to one baseball game a week, they don't really want to go see the black players who are still playing on these segregated ball clubs. They want to go see Jackie.

And there it was, a home run in the Gathering Twilight to give Brooklyn a 9-8 victory and a tie for the National League Panthers. What Jackie was doing was telling people all over the world, if you can look at somebody that played baseball, then you can live with them

no matter what color they may be. Any team that wanted to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers eventually had to concede the racism and decide, yeah, we need that talent. What a future this youngster has. It took Mays fewer than eight seasons to become the only player in history to hit more than 200 home runs while stealing more than 200 bases.

That very early wave of baseball players, one of the things that they proved was that they were great ballplayers. The generation that came after Jackie Robinson is no less heroic, because these players went through grief and trials and tribulations in places that were far from being integrated, especially before they got to the big leagues. The Dodgers clinched the National League pennant late in September. Once more, they will face the Yankees in the World Series. For Jackie Robinson, there may not be another.

Since 1947, the Dodgers have won the pennant four times, and four times they have lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. By 1955, Jackie had become the elder statesman on the Dodgers. In the World Series opener of 1955, he stole home against Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford. At age 36, Jackie channeled the revolutionary speed and talent of his youth and helped the Dodgers finally get past

the New York Yankees dynasty. As the team celebrated their first championship in franchise history, a new generation of leaders sought to change America. We don't have a right to be free, we have a duty to be free. So when you sit down on the bus and you sit down in the front or you sit down by a high person, you are sitting down because you have a duty to sit down,

not merely because you have a right. On December 1st, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to adhere to the segregated seating mandate on public buses. As the city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, 26-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was compelled to take action and was arrested for speaking out.

Martin Luther King often credited Jackie Robinson for establishing a foundation for much of his work. Because before King developed a national prominence, Jackie had it. As Martin Luther King was serving time for his role in the Montgomery bus boycott, on the field, Jackie had begun to draw heavy criticism. Jackie is a guy who likes to mouth off, many say. He's a troublemaker. And Jackie himself admits, my temper cost me my popularity. Jackie Robinson dealt with a lot of things early in his career

that I think over time he may have carried a lot of anger for the things that he had to endure. He didn't push back in a manner where he was going to show himself as being the angry black man that a lot of people wanted him to be. He just had to play the game and not respond to the evil that was out there, at least early on. And I believe the understanding was by the third season, he could then respond, especially on the field.

So that's when you see him start to argue with umpires when he thought there was a bad call. Once told to turn the other cheek, Jackie could no longer tolerate getting spiked, threatened, or receiving biased calls based on the color of his skin. By the end of his career, he was seen as ungrateful. He was seen as too grand and too demanding. Jackie Robinson was demanding equality. He was demanding opportunity for African Americans. But because he was unwilling to just be a symbol, he was booed

at games, and he was often ostracized by reporters as well for not knowing his place. In the twilight of his baseball career, reporters call him the old gray Batman. His legs lack speed, agility, his reflexes are sluggish. Following the 1956 season, Jackie's diminished play on the field prompted the Dodgers to trade him to their crosstown rival, the New York Giants. With his best years behind him, Jackie elected instead to retire from baseball and pursue his passion as an activist. By the time Jackie Robinson retired, he was among the most hated men in baseball. But he wanted to be actively involved in the civil rights movement. He wanted to

use his voice to push baseball to do better and to be more. What's the real reason you're giving up baseball? Well, because I'm 38 and I don't think that my future is too bright in baseball and I'm not going to stick around and be a fellow that's kicked around from pillar to post. When Jackie Robinson moved on from baseball, away from the awards, the trophies, the ceremonies. Away from the place he had fought so hard to win for himself and his race, he faced another America. A political and economic America in which black people had not yet received their full share of equality. As the civil rights movement spread across the United States, Jackie found an ally in Dr. King. Their mutual admiration led to a partnership that thrust Jackie into the front lines of the fight for freedom and equality.

The civil rights movement has shown that the way that African Americans are going to progress in society is to confront the continued racial inequality. I don't like to read about pregnant women being poked in the stomach by police and in their nightsticks. I don't like to see young Negro kids of seven, eight, nine years old being thrown across the street. I believe that I must go down and say to the people down there, thank you for what you're doing, not only for me and my children, but I believe for America. So I'm going down to do whatever I possibly can. There is not a single Negro in these United States that hasn't made until the most underprivileged Negro in the deepest part of this South hasn't made. It was a little different right after Jackie.

And as we enter into the 50s and 60s, we see that the sacrifice that was made didn't really turn out how we thought it would. Baseball had been integrated in as much as the roster being fielded had black players. Jim Crow America did not allow white and black people to coexist in many public and private spaces. Teammates that were actively oppositional, certainly opponents who did not want to get shown up by a Negro ball player. There was plenty of discrimination that these players faced despite their talents being used for the success of the ball club. Jackie Robinson opened the door and so many other great ball players walked through and had to go through their own hard experiences, even when they made it to the major leagues.

Though Jackie Robinson's sacrifice integrated baseball, it hardly led to widespread equality after his retirement we are in the real critical period they ought to look at the kinds of problems that they are subjecting our people to and if they would look at the overall picture i think they would take a tremendous pride in the contributions that the negro has made to our country. For players like Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, and Frank Robinson, speaking out against segregation and bigotry was not always an available option.

For real change, there had to be a group of men willing to carry Jackie's legacy to a place he could not. One such group of black ballplayers was forming in St. Louis, whose battles fought on and off the field would change the game and the country forever. We are, ladies and gentlemen, at the crossroads. We can either move forward or we can go back, depending upon what our leaders are set to do, knowing full well that until all receive equality, that none really have equality. Jackie Robinson was a very honest man about our society. And I think what Jackie Robinson did more than anything else,

he gave the Bill Whites and the Bob Gibsons and the Kurt Floods the path on how to be able to get more things on a more equal plane, not only in the game, but certainly in society. By 1959, two years into his retirement from baseball, Jackie traveled the country to advocate for civil rights, especially in the Jim Crow South, where his fight inspired the next generation rising through the league. In St. Louis, three young black ballplayers will soon battle opposing forces both on and off the field and bring real change to Major League Baseball and the nation.

I'm from California. I'm from a laid-back society. I'm from a place where people do pretty much as they want to. Kirk grew up in this multiracial, multiethnic place. He was just the kind of person who could get along with everyone but had this kind of left-brain creative side and also this super-athletic side. I'm from 50 miles south of Cleveland. We lived in segregated housing,

but the education was fine. It was integrated. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska. I played summer baseball in little towns in Iowa and Minnesota and places where I was the only black person there. There was an opportunity that didn't exist in the ghetto. You didn't have the opportunity to go from being poverty stricken to being the president of the United States.

The only way out is either in sports or being a doctor or something like that. And there's only going to be so many athletes and there's only going to be so many doctors. The rest of them are just out. In our public housing area, we had a baseball field. It kept us busy. It kept us out of trouble. And Jack was our first idol. I guess up until I started playing high school did I really start to say, if you're going to do it, you might as well be the best at it and really work my rear end off at doing it. The day Kurt turned 18 in January of 1956, he signs with the Cincinnati Reds. I think the whole experience from the moment he signed that contract was a rude awakening.

The first black player to play on Creighton's baseball team and basketball team, this was when I was 17 years old. We were halfway to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play a basketball game and the coach came up and told me that I had to go stay across town. Couldn't stay with the rest of the team. I started crying because it hurt me. He had told me that I had to go stay across town. Couldn't stay with the rest of the team. And I started crying because it hurt me. If he had told me that before I left for that trip, I wouldn't have gone. And I told him that, and he said, yes, I know that. That's why I didn't tell you.

Bob Gibson had to find something that he could concentrate on to just channel all of his anger and energy into one thing. It happened to be pitching a baseball. I signed at Omaha. Omaha was triple 18. I played a year and a half in minor league baseball before I went to St. Louis. When I was 18 years old, I signed with the Giants. The Giants sent me to Danville, Virginia. I was the only black player in the league.

They shouldn't have sent me there. There were problems. Got a lot of nicknames there. Negative racial nicknames. But, you know, I took it out on the league. They should have sent me there. There were problems. Got a lot of nicknames there. Negative racial nicknames. But I, you know, I took it out on the baseball. Anything they wanted to call me. Yes, the nigger was just whatever. And I got in trouble once. They're calling me everything and I gave them the finger. And after the ball game, taking a shower and our bus driver comes in and says hey you guys you better get bats we all got bats and we walked out to our bus and as we left of course they

threw rocks at our bus and that was a part of baseball despite making his major league debut with the Giants, Bill White arrived back from military service before the 1958 season and was stunned to find a team that had no position for him. And I think for the first time a player said, trade me. That was me. I told him, look, can't play? Trade me. And that upset our general manager, and he sent me to the cardinals which was the best thing ever happened to me short right field fits 303 down the line straight across

we had a lot of fun he was a good hitter hit nearly 300 career-wise bill white shows why he made the national league all-star team And he was really good around the back. Classy first baseman as far as the smoothness of him. His gold gloves would certainly prove that. If Bill White's trade to St. Louis demonstrated the fragile nature of a big league career, Curt Flood's trade to the Cardinals reinforced it. Here's somebody who's suffered through two years of the minor leagues, finally gets to the major leagues,

when the Reds realize we have too many black players on our team, and they basically trade Kirk for nothing to the St. Louis Cardinals. He vowed that he would never get traded ever again. Kirk wore number 42 in the minor leagues after he got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He took half of Jackie's number, 21. in the minor leagues. After he got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, he took half of Jackie's number, 21.

This is Kurt Flood, smallest man in the Cards outfield. Kurt Flood changed our whole dynamic as far as speed is concerned. There he goes. And Flood swipes up. Kurt Flood was one of the best defenders in the game. Kurt Flood, defensive center fielder. He'd go get it. My father was a great musician.

He played great blues. And as only a musician can be a perfectionist, that he was. And he gave me that wonderful gift. Holstered by the acquisitions of Flood and White, the Cardinals' missing link was the homegrown talent of future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. The hard-throwing, unorthodox Gibson made his debut in 1959, and after making limited relief appearances in his first three seasons, he would eventually become one of the most feared starters in Major League Baseball.

I've heard this story about Bob Gibson a lot. He was throwing at guys and throwing up and in and doing different things to intimidate guys. Looking at a guy like Gibson, he was a different beast. He says he never hit anybody. They just didn't get out of the way, so that was his thing. He's like, I'm going to own half the plate. The inside portion of the plate is something that was no man's land

as far as your own health and safety was concerned, which is why Bob Gibson had one of the nastiest sliders in the history of the game. Bob had only two pitches, fastball, slider. He said, Tim, if you can count to two, you can catch me. We were talking about old baseball players, and Babe Ruth came up. And Bob Gibson said, hey, if a guy pointed where he was going to hit my next pitch, I would drill him right in his right ear and out his left ear. And I believe he would have dead it too, even a vague reason. As White, Flood, and Gibson arrived on the scene in 1959,

success was not immediate. Finishing their first season together in seventh place. But the adversity on the field couldn't compare to the mistreatment and difficulties that all black players face off the field, regardless of their talent. In spring training, the bus would take the white players to their hotel. Somehow they would have found a black home that would take the black players and the dark Hispanic players. The only other teams in the South were Jacksonville, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia. In those two cities, the players of color could not stay in the hotel.

There were all sorts of problems back in those days. You were expected to perform, and you had all of these other problems away from the field which certainly weighed on you it was during this turbulent time that wendell smith once again gave voice to black players writing articles that shined light on the challenges they face especially in the jim crow south what wendell smith was showing is we're 14 years since Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, and we're still treating black players like second-class citizens when they have to go play in the South. Bob and Bill and Kurt had to fight battles to become Major League stars.

When we think about what Jackie had to do to integrate Major League Baseball, in order to get him prepared for that, the Dodgers didn't send him south. They sent him to Montreal. And also when they had spring training, instead of going to Florida, they went to Cuba. When we think about the subsequent years after that, players had to go down to Florida, had to go down to the deep south, where the laws of segregation were really strict. When you went to Florida for spring training, it made no difference that you were a ballplayer. They were going to have to deal with the same issues that any other black person would have to in the Jim Crow South. This is an historic land where life still holds the flavor and color of the old South. St. Petersburg, Florida, where each year the big league players come for their annual spring training

under the warm, tropical Florida sun. I grew up in St. Petersburg. We grew up with Jim Crow. There were places you couldn't go. For example, if you wanted a cab, you had to take the black cab company. It was explained to me as a kid that we were not members of the club. It's just not the things we're used to down here. I mean, they come in, and they sit down, and we're not used to them sitting down beside us,

because I wasn't raised with them. I never have lived with them, and I'm not going to start now. The Bainbridge Hotel is where the Cardinals headquarters were. It's a train station. It's right across the street from the hotel. You could see the hotel from where I walk out the door. I took my bag and went into the Bainbridge, and I said, My name is Bob Gibson, and I'm with the Cardinals, and I said, my name is Bob Gibson,

and I'm with the Cardinals, and you're supposed to have a place for me. And he says, yeah, we have a place for you. He said, you go out that door right over there, and then right outside, there's a cab sitting there. You tell him you want him to take you to Mrs. Johnson. That's where all the guys are staying. I said, all the guys are

staying there? He says, yeah, pretty much. The white players would stay with the white players, and the black players would go to a place called Colored Town. I really was disappointed because I knew that that stuff existed, but I'd never really run into it where it was as blatant as it was. They were right in your face. The St. Louis Cardinals loosen up their dormant muscles at spring training at Al Ang Field in St. Petersburg. Jim Crow had such a handicap on, like, teammate cohesion. Because, like, if you're black and you're not allowed to stay in a decent hotel, why would you bring your wife or your children to suffer those indignities? You know, that means

that like families don't get together, those friendships don't coalesce or develop. There was a discussion in my mother's kitchen involving Kurt Flood, Bill White, and Elston Howard regarding the St. Pete Yacht Club. And for years, the black players were not invited. Yacht Club would always have a breakfast for the Cardinals during spring training. One day I looked at the list and said, wait a minute, how come there are no black players on that list? Bill White and his teammates turned to civil rights pioneer in St. Petersburg, Dr. Ralph Wimbish. My dad, he was a doctor. He was president of the NAACP. He was always doing something, particularly against the racial climate at the time. Bill White used to call

him the devil because my dad would always be raising hell with white folks. We all would eat at Dr. Wimbish's house maybe two, three times a week, and we'd sit around and basically talk about the problems that we were having, you know, as far as racially it was concerned, and we had somebody who was embedded in the community that was on our side, which was really good. Dr. Wimbish started thinking about things that players were going through, and we said, let's do something about it. Cardinals had always gone to him to find housing for black players. And one day, as part of his boycott, he says, I'm not going to do that anymore.

Major league clubs like the Yankees and Cardinals were stunned by the refusal of Dr. Wimbush to help them find segregated accommodations for black players. And news quickly spread around the country as notable writers such as Alex Haley and Wendell Smith brought nationwide attention to the issue. The Yankees, in response, left town. They went to Fort Lauderdale. After the Yankees said they would leave town, my dad got death threats, phone calls, that we had a cross burner in our yard.

To force the Cardinals to look at their own role in the spring training housing dilemma, Bill White met with the owner, August Bush, chairman and heir to the Budweiser Brewing Empire. I'm not sure how Bill met with August Bush, but he did. And he explained the problem, which I'm sure he knew it was anyway. So it meant a lot for the Cardinals players, black and white, to go and confront their owner and say, we don't want to do this anymore. By demanding better treatment for black players on the team, that creates a fertile ground for friendships to really arise. The issue

hit home for August Bush when he was faced with the financial pressure of a Budweiser boycott, which had sold more beer to the black community than any other beer company in the country. And August Bush worked it out to buy a hotel. I think it was the Outrigger Inn. They bought the motel. They cleared up everything. We became all about the St. Louis Cardinal baseball. Cardinal fans from St. Louis would always come by and see it was well integrated. When fools, my kids went down, everybody's swimming together. We decided to have barbecues and we got to know each other better. And I think that's what made us a better team. We had a harmonious situation, but Bill White was responsible for that.

You know, to demand this kind of equality was very much in sync with where the civil rights movement was going at that point. The city of St. Petersburg changed a lot of things and it wasn't done right away, it was done gradually. So baseball did force the South to make a lot of changes. What I find fascinating is the Cardinals' spring training story is 15 years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. The problem doesn't go away. For many of these players, the fact that they had to go through what they went through years after Robinson broke baseball's color barrier says a lot about how slowly things changed and how they were part of helping things change as well wasn't just Jackie Robinson although he and his spirit obviously led the way the Cardinals won their battle in st. Pete

but as they began the 1961 season it became evident that escaping the hatred and bigotry of the times was a more formidable obstacle. Even in their own locker room. Lots of running and exercises are on the menu for the Redbirds. As Sally Hemus wants his charges in prime condition for the long season ahead. The Cardinals began the 1961 season as a team that had come together during spring training. But the unity displayed off the field hardly translated to positive play on it. And by mid-June, the team, although packed with talent, was eight games below.500. At the forefront of the problem was the manager, Salihimasus. Manager Sully Hemus summons relief base Lindy McDaniel.

Sully Hemus had these predisposed notions about Kurt and about Bob. There was an element of racism there, like he didn't recognize their intelligence. Yeah, I had problems with our manager. He didn't like me. I didn't like him. He didn't have much confidence in Gibson, so much so that when they would have the pitchers' meetings and go over the hitters before games,

so he wouldn't even include Gibson. He didn't think Bob Gibson. Thank you. He put Kirk Floyd in the outfield and made him one of the best defensive centerfields the game has ever seen. And he took Bob Gibson out of the bullpen and made him a starter. Batting ninth and pitching, number 45, Bob Gibson. Of course, after he took over in St. Louis, I can't say it was smooth sailing. Then I had to really learn how to play ball before I was just trying to survive. There goes Bob Gibson rolling out for the mound. learned how to play ball before I was just trying to survive. The black players that were not playing under Salahemis were played under Johnny Keene.

It was no question about making a big difference in that Cardinal team. Under Johnny Keene, the 1961 Redbirds dug their way out of the cellar, but still finished in fifth place. In January 1962, with the season over and the team preparing for spring training, Jackie Robinson invited Bill White, Kurt Flood, and a handful of prominent athletes to a rally in Mississippi. While White was unable to attend, Flood jumped at the opportunity. After 61, Jackie did something for Kurt that I think opened Kurt's eyes. That Kurt could use his celebrity as a baseball player, not just to effect change in baseball, but to effect change in the wider world. That Kurt could be part of the civil rights movement. You know, that was growing every day. Jackie invited Kurt Flood to go to an NAACP rally in Jackson, Mississippi, and Kurt was not going to say no to his idol.

My baseball career is just starting. Many of you, I'm sure, have never heard about me, but this career with the NAACP is just starting as well. It took courage to go to an NAACP rally in Jackson, Mississippi. They were literally putting their lives on the line, and they knew it. Kurt and Jackie and Medgar Evers were being surveilled 24-7 down there. We'll be demonstrating here until freedom comes to Negroes here in Jackson, Mississippi. Months later, Medgar Evers was shot in the back and killed.

This is the 1960s we're talking about, where the civil rights movement was getting louder, the need for equality more explicit. I think that one day white Americans are going to take a real good look at themselves and recognize the harm that they're doing to America, not to black people, but to America. What happens inside of Bush Stadium

is not necessarily representative of the lives that those players have lived outside of the stadium. It had a lot to do with with a guy's outlook on life not just in baseball but what happens around you but as an athlete they don't expect those types of things to affect you so you're supposed to go out and do your job but being human it has some effect on you. And here's a home run by Jim Norton. When I go out there from the first pitch to the last, I give everything I got, and if I run out of gas before the game's over, we've got nine other guys to go.

The 60s was a very challenging time in our society. If you watched how elegant and how professional Bill White, Bob Gibson, Kurt Flood were, that team was special because of everything that was going on in the country. No matter what kind of programs have been instituted since the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, the cities are still in decay. And so the Cardinals, I think, embody that anger.

A slow start to the 1964 season created a substantial gap between the Cardinals and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies. By July, St. Louis was 11 games behind the first-place Phillies. Desperate for a midseason spark, the Cardinals traded for an underperforming outfielder who immediately caught fire and never looked back lubrock lines a single in left center field in 64 lubrock is traded from the cubs to the cardinals he's headed right after a record set by legendary

ty cobb when lubrock signed changed our whole. When he was with the Cubs, they said, you can't run. You're not fast enough to run and steal bases. Well, when he got to the Cardinals, they told him, whenever you think time is ready, run. There goes that man again. His second stolen base in the game, and his thievery promptly pays off. St. Louis had always been a team who could rally late in the game and his lead read promptly pays off. St. Louis had always been a team who would rally late in the season. Through history, the Cardinals have been a team, if they're two

or three games out going into September, they could catch you at the finish line. Despite holding a six and a half game lead with 12 games to go, the Phillies collapsed. And eight days later, the Cardinals had a chance to overtake first place. A bouncing ball, they should do it. The Cardinals are in first place. We were just a team that was used to playing together and used to playing hard. We were hungry and we expected to win. To complete one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of sports, the Cardinals needed to beat the Mets in the complete one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of sports, the Cardinals needed to beat the Mets in the final game of the season to win the National

League pennant. If you've never heard Mr. Gusley Bush excited, you just heard him over my shoulder. Let's go! High pop ball! The card is there! The Cardinals win the pennant! The Cardinals win the pennant! The Cardinals win the pennant! It's been the pennant! The Tigers won the pennant! It's been a hectic thing, but it's all worth it. Most of us felt an aura about us that made us very special. And I guess it had to do with, a lot with the fact that we were such a mixed up group of guys and that we were overcoming all of the prejudice and all the BS during that very very difficult time there was something about us that that that drew us together even within the trouble that we were having as blacks and as whites and here we were living together and winning together and

sharing together and enjoying each other and it was an amazing turn of events. After 162 games played, we won it all in the National League. It was a miracle finish. Now, all of a sudden, we went on to the Yankees in the World Series. They were the New York Yankees. They didn't lose. St. Louis in 1964 is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founders and the Cardinals dramatically climaxed that celebration by winning their first pennant in 18 years and here again are the New York Yankees

they've been in 15 of the last 18 World Series. The big bad New York Yankees. The greatest franchise in sports. They had won five or more World Championships than any other team. They played a slower, station-to-station brand of baseball. With the exception of Elston Howard, we're basically all white. Here's the windup. Yankees being among the last to integrate depended on the home run.

As the Cardinals came along, and it was a different style of play. Alex Blood, who's threatening to steal. There he goes. Yankees are home run hitters. They're base stealers. They had speed. They had talent. They had defense.

They had speed, they had talent, they had defense, they had power. The Cardinals' style of play reminds us of the Negro Leagues that's rooted in an earlier history. It shows that the paradigm has shifted, that you can put a better team on the field and a different kind of team on the field. Buoyed by the momentum of a historic pennant comeback, a sold-out crowd filled Sportsman's Park to witness the clash of styles that pitted the old way of the game versus the new. For baseball to be a showcase for black excellence, for people at the absolute top of their craft, it shows that given an opportunity to shine, can all the cardinals are ready and alert here comes Sedecky's pitch to fill in and the series is underway Downing now faces Kurt and the little center fielder drives the ball deep to left field Lou Brat hits on the next pitch wraps a double into the left field corner

being in the world series to be able to play gives you a personal satisfaction of being the best that particular year and we all would like to be the best whatever it is Tom Trash singles the summer the Yankees lead 2-1 we knew that we had to keep the fast players of Brock and Flood off the bases he was going to be a well contested the series mannell tears into it with a terrific shot shannon races to the fence but it's a futile justice what a wallop it's sunday in new york nancy stadium is packed again race boyer checks his, the ball rolls to Bill

White for the final. The Cardinals win it 4-3. 5-3, the two-all. It meant something for the Cardinals not only to just be facing them, but to have this incredible, intense tug of war against Mickey Mantle,

against Whitey Ford, against all the grace of their day but the cardinals they had bob gibson bob gibson raises a fastball past hard swinging mickey mannil one of the reasons i was so effective in the world series was because the players on the other team in the other league they didn't know that much about me the two-hour tips from the tremendous stuff at this point also strikes out Joe Peppetel. Their team's success was dependent on their excellent star-level black players. Rock cracks the swing of a right field. Gibson's winning roll with the first run.

There was one play that happened. We had man of first and second. I think we had two outs. And Bob Gibson was on the mound. And Bob's legend hadn't really been cemented at that point. And Joe Pepitone came up, and he hits a line drive through the middle and panned off towards the third baseline. I went over, and with one motion, I picked the ball up,

jumped and turned and threw the first. And, of course, we gotettitone by half a step. He's out! I think there was another pitcher in baseball could have made that play, but Bob Gibson. And plays like that just turn the whole game around, because you start saying, wow, these guys, they're really as good as advertised. Kind of a dramatic 5-2 victory, but Gibson is 3-2 edge in the third. Facing elimination in Game 6, the Yankees turn to their veteran core of Mantle and Maris.

We were no strangers to the pressure of baseball's biggest stage. But Maris doesn't miss this one. On the pavilion roof for a home run. Fair by only a foot or two. With Mantle up, Flood gets ready. On Simmons' next pitch, Mantle pours all his power into his swing. There it goes, over the roof. Next up is Kirk Flood, and he grounds to shot.

Flood is out. It's the double play. Ports the series into a final seventh game. Sometimes I think we latch into cliche when we talk about the merits of team and team chemistry always seems that a team that wins has great team chemistry but there is something to that that ballplayers go through something together it does bond them that was part of the chemistry for the Cardinals,

that when they finally stood up and said, we're not going to live in separate places, we're all going to live together, and our families are going to be together, that that helped them eventually get to the World Series. If we played our game, and if we played up to whatever that potential was, then we're going to beat you. Bob Gibson will work with only two days rest.

If you're tired during the World Series, then you have a problem. I don't care how many innings or how many games you play, winning the game and winning the World Series, that was important. 500 sportswriters are waiting to describe the action to the world. In the second inning, the Yankees had the bases loaded with two outs. But Gibson gets Stottlemeyer on strike stand to threat. Lou Brock lifts in the downing first pitch. A tremendous drive. It might be out of here.

It could be. It is. A home run. In the Yankees sixth inning with Richardson on second and Myers on first Kipson yes

keeps firing free and easy Mantle felt the powerful drive to left center and after the three a home run McCarver

tossed to Kipson who still needs one more out Tim McCarver caught me probably three-fourths of my career

I used to joke with Tim a lot about pitching. I told him the only thing he knows about pitching is it's hard to hit. So don't come out telling me what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing wrong. When I ask you to come out to the mound, then come out to the mound. I never caught anybody quite like Bob. He could figure out what type of stuff I had on any particular day, and he knew what pitch to go with what situation.

That's when people that didn't know Gibson saw Gibson really pitch in the clutch and you know, become a World Series hero. And then he comes into the national spotlight. So Willie Gibson reaches back for something extra. Richardson pops up. Al Maxwell gathers it in. The Cardinals are the new world champions. Gibson, Boyer, and McCarver join in a big pair of hugs.

I think we were happy, and we threw the gloves up, and we did all that. We cheered, and we grabbed each other. This wasn't a celebration where all the white guys were hugging each other and all the black guys were hugging each other it was everybody hugging each other because they shared the common goal of success in winning a world series the way things came together with all the other things that were going on in this country it was the one time where everybody felt good about being an American. They beat the New York Yankees, the premier sports dynasty of its time and perhaps ever. Any of those Cardinals players from that 64 team that beat the Yankees, back when

white and black players had each other's backs, speaking to their ownership, demanding better treatment for black players. That is where the Cardinals trace the lineage of their championship success. But their biggest battles, both on and off the field, were still to come. The Cardinals' 1964 World Series victory over the yankees sent a message to baseball and by the mid 1960s the prominence of black stars was growing across major league rosters when the racially

integrated st louis cardinals take down the white new york yanke, it shows the power of the National League in terms of integration. For the Black Cardinals, the World Series celebration was short-lived. During the 1964 off-season, the harsh reality of being Black in America came into stark focus, especially for Curt Flood. Their celebrity only went so far. After the Cardinals won the 1964 World Series, Kurt had gotten

back together with his first wife. They decided to return to the Bay Area, and they tried to rent a home in a town called Alamo, California. The person who owned the house found out that the person renting the house was black, and he threatened Kurt, and he said,

I'm going to be out there with a shotgun, and if you move into that house, I'm going to shoot you dead. How can they do this? Not because I'm a professional athlete or because I'm a Negro even, but I am a human being. It's sad that people just want athletes in a certain way. They just want to be entertained by them on the field, and they don't want to hear what they have to say off the field.

And Kurt went into court and got a court order and armed police protection, and they moved into that house. Prejudice is not only confined to the southern part of our United States, and if they move their mustache and look under their nose, they find it right here at home, too. You have black players succeeding on the field and, in many cases, getting along very well with their teammates. But there was this prevailing idea that because black people and white people were so intrinsically different, there was no way that they could culturally occupy the same spaces. For Flood, the experience was painfully similar to what his mentor, Jackie Robinson, had endured a decade earlier.

We were put through the usual bag of kicks right in this state. At first, we were told that the house we were interested in had been sold just before we inquired. And once we met a broker who told us he would like to help us find a home, but his clients were against selling to Negroes. Every generation has its own fight. And because prior generations fought other battles, they're able to push for more and to demand more.

By the end of the 1965 season, the Cardinals found themselves in a disappointing seventh place. In an effort to get back on top, the organization would rebuild around Flood, Brock, Gibson, and McCarver while trading veterans like Bill White. Bob and Bill had a conversation one night. said Bill one of these days they're gonna trade us one of us from this ball club we're not gonna be together Bill said I don't worry about it man it's not gonna happen well the very next year Bill White gets traded to Philadelphia. First baseman Bill White obtained from the Cardinals along with Grote in an offseason trade.

Philadelphia had a bad reputation as a place for black ball players. Philadelphia gave Jackie Robinson a harder time than any other team in the major leagues. That was a place that did not have the reputation that the Cardinals franchise had. Bill, being a great communicator, understood what was at stake, was able to handle it in a very elegant manner. Ownerships all in bet on the core of Flood, Brock, and Gibson paid off. In 1967, the Cardinals won over 100 games and earned a chance at a second World Series victory in four years. They would face the Boston Red Sox,

the last team to integrate in all of Major League Baseball, a full 12 years after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers. There go the Cardinals. A Cardinals team that's ready to be a great team, and they were. Winning the World Series in 1964, going back in 67, they were set up to be a great team, and they were a great team throughout the 1960s. And back in those days, you pitched nine innings and what really made you angry if you had a reputation of being a guy that couldn't finish a ball game.

Gibson has a two-hitter and a seven-to-two lead. Now one out from victory, Gibson makes a supreme effort and shots right out. The Cardinals win. They're the new world champions. We won it again in 1967. Sure was a lot of fun being on those teams. Blacks, whites, up and down. Didn't matter. And Bob Gibson, with his third victory, has brought them through in the decisive seventh game.

You have to remember, between 64 and 68, when they're going to these three World Series, you know, you had the Harlem Riots of 64. Then you had Detroit in 67 and Newark. In an era where, you know, there was so much civil unrest, they played like pros, they played like champions. They showed how blacks and whites could work together to achieve the common goal of success in winning a World Series. This was a difficult time. This is the decade of assassination where people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, all lost their life because they were engaged in creating greater opportunities for African Americans.

What about things that were happening in 1968? Martin Luther King assassination and the riots, did that affect you at all? Oh yeah, it sure did. And my personality and what I was is as a result of what happens around you. And a lot of times when you when you come into the ballpark and you're in a nasty mood and you start reflecting on your childhood and what has happened over the years, and it has a great effect on you. Having Gibson as the focal point of that team embodied that anger. I have this killer instinct

that black people didn't really get to really express themselves that way or exhibit, so they could vicariously live through this guy that comes out to the mound and just throws smoke. Good hitter! 17 strikeouts in one game. World Series record all over the place. Congratulations.

Thanks a lot for this great. The 1968 season was dubbed the year of the pitcher, and in the National League, Bob Gibson dominated with the lowest earned run average baseball had seen in a half century, leading the Cardinals to the brink of winning back-to-back World Series. Facing familiar Game 7 pressure, the Cardinals turned to their ace. And the Tigers now made their first threat with two out bases by Cash and Horton. So there were a number of things that went on in the world series but kirk plus play or the play he didn't make things didn't go well after that

that's one out of nine against the pitching of gibson and that was a home run fly ball and he started over something happened to his head. Who else is going to score? And he started over. Something happened to his underfoot. Watch this now. Flood very rarely has ever misjudged a ball out there. Flood's uncharacteristic mistake would partly cost the Cardinals the World Series in 1968. That's right, the new world champion.

I didn't think the ball was hit as well as it was. And then when I realized it, I tried to reverse my feeling. You're coming back next year. First of all, I will see you the same time right here next year. Unbeknownst to the Cardinals' core, everything is about to change, especially for Curt Flood. What happened to Flood, considered the best center fielder in the National League? Kurt says the ball got lost momentarily in the white-shirted background.

No doubt he lost sight of it and then almost lost his pudding. Kurt Flood was considered one of the best center fielders in baseball, which amplified the shock of his game seven misplay in the 1968 World Series. At the beginning of the offseason, Flood approached August Bush with a request for a raise. His current salary of $90,000 was amongst the highest in the league. Ownership was floored. He went to the owner, Augustus Bush, and said that he thought he deserved $120,000 a year and would have made him the top paid player in baseball, or at least comparable to the top paid players. That rankled Gussie Bush, the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, who saw Kurt Flood, I think, as an ungrateful athlete. All the power was in the hands of the major

league owners. The players had no power. There was no free agency because of the reserve system. Since the early days of professional baseball, a short clause was inserted into every major league contract, which gave owners unilateral authority to renew yearly deals. Known as the reserve clause, players were effectively bound to the same team for life, and owners were allowed to pay them whatever they thought the players were worth. We abolished slavery with the 13th Amendment, and what the Reserve Clause did is it indentured players

subject to the owner's whim. So Kirk did the only thing in that Reserve Clause era that a player could do, which is refuse to sign. And that created all sorts of animosity and bad blood to start the 69 season. And then he doesn't have a great year. He's showing signs of decline. Near the end of the season, August Bush made a shocking change. Unwilling to deliver the message himself, Bush sent a public relations employee lion-siding flood with the news that he and Tim McCarver had been traded to

the last place, Philadelphia Phillies. You've just traded two of the mainstays off the retime World Series appearance team. And then he shipped off to the worst team in the major leagues. How does he know that the Philadelphia Phillies are the worst team in the major league for black players? Because Bill White's told him. I said, if I don't want to go to Philadelphia, why should I really have to? Why should I have to go? Is this America or where are we anyway? Sometimes people don't understand and they don't put the two together. This is the civil rights movement.

There are people being lynched, little children being bombed, wanting their civil rights, their rights to do what the Constitution says you have a right to do. Kurt said, here I am in a profession that does not give me that basic right. I talked with Marvin Miller, who was then the director of the Players Association. He said, Kurt's going to kill you. He said, but if you really want to do this, it is a good time for it to be done because it is right. It is a good time to be done because one person really should not be able to own another person. Miller said, you'll never get another job in the major leagues again. You're going to be ostracized. You are going to be on the outside of this game looking in not unlike his hero Jackie Robinson

flood refused to report to the Phillies and instead sued organized baseball for his freedom they say baseball is the all-american sport well when you think about the all-american sport you would think of some something democratic but nevertheless these things do not hold true as far as baseball is concerned not when you can be sold like like they did in 1890. Perrimano makes $90,000 a year which isn't exactly slave wages what you were taught to that a well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave. As his case went through the court system, Flood elected to take a year off, at which time the Phillies traded his rights to the Washington Senators. Desperately needing the money, Flood attempted a major league comeback in 1971.

The comeback is really, it just gets sadder. He was less than satisfied with his performance so far, and we were all some disappointed. We thought he would come along quicker. The shell of the player he once was, Flood had a front-row seat to the hate that festered towards him every day. Angry fans who had once cheered his dazzling plays in center field now said he was killing the game

and greeted him with beer cans and racial slurs as his back was turned to the outfield when he shows up at rfk and there's a black wreath in kurt's locker kurt says well if somebody can get to my locker that means they can get to me after 21 games kurt just leaves he just gets on a flight from mallorca spain and he sends the senators a telegram said i just can't do it and he basically exiles himself to spain where he's basically becomes destitute in march of 1972 after 11 months of his self-imposed exile, Flood received word that his suit reached the United States Supreme Court. The now retired player returned home, ready to plead his case, and armed with the legal backing of a former Supreme Court justice named Arthur Goldberg.

It was not easy when they went to trial, and none of his teammates stood up. Bob Gibson was Kurt's best friend, and he said to Kurt, he said, buddy, I'm behind you, but I'm going to be 30 steps behind you. I guess it would have been support, but I was concerned about me and my family and making a living, and I didn't want to be in the middle of that at all. Only three people testified on Kurt's behalf. Bill Veck, the maverick owner of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.

Hank Greenberg, the Hall of Fame first baseman from the Detroit Tigers. And Jackie Robinson. When Jackie Robinson, who was suffering from diabetes, he was going blind, and he had a cane, walked down the middle of that courtroom, and he stopped, and he whispered in Kurt's ear, and he said, keep your head up. You're doing the right thing. That meant everything to Kurt Flood. When that happened, he had all of his doubts dissipated. Kurt, I think, saw the link between what he was doing and what Jackie was doing. And Jackie's willingness, even at the end of his life, even when his health was failing, to stand up for Kurt meant the world to him. As Flood's case went on, his lawyer, Arthur Goldberg, froze in front of his former colleagues and was unsuccessful in arguing that the league was violating federal antitrust and civil rights laws in a five to three decision the court affirmed that professional baseball and its reserve

clause were immune from these violations on the notion that baseball was not interstate commerce it was a painful way to lose and Kurt couldn't get past it Kurt thought that race had something to do with the way that his case was decided. He gave up everything. He gave it all up for the principle of, I own me. No one else can own me. And he really believed in this country and the rights that everyone should have. What he did for baseball is he was like, hey, I got my family here.

I'm not going. My kids go to school here. I'm not going. And that started a change for baseball. One guy's small idea turned in that everybody in the world who plays this sport can prosper from. I think every person that has a good idea that's never been tried before, he is the one that's going to probably suffer. And the people that are first are probably the ones that get castigated probably the most.

Baseball has known many moments of greatness in its long history, but none has been as significant or compelling as that April 15th afternoon, 25 years ago, when Jackie Robinson and eight other Dodgers took the field for his appearance at first base. Baseball had come of age. At the 1972 World Series, less than two weeks before he would die, Jackie Robinson addressed the world of baseball. And people thought he was going to use that moment to just celebrate his career and the progress in baseball. I'm extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon, but must admit I'm going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day

and see a black face managing in baseball. Thank you very much. He reminded people that it had been 25 years since he integrated the game and there were no African-American managers. And it wouldn't be until 1974, 27 years after Jackie Robinson integrated the game, that Frank Robinson would be named as the player manager of the Cleveland Indians. On October 24th, 1972,

Jackie Robinson suffered a fatal heart attack just nine days after his final public appearance. To his last breath, he was fighting for baseball to diversify across every level of the sport. Jackie helped set an example of how people could come together that laid the groundwork for the rest of us to come in. So I think baseball has done a pretty good job of helping this country get away from the negativity of segregation.

Bill White was traded back to the Cardinals, where he would retire in 1969. After 13 years of breaking barriers in the big leagues, he became the first to break the color barrier in broadcasting. Here it is again. Here it is again, right down the middle. Watch here. Ball's there. When he transitioned out of the game into broadcasting, you have to remember nobody at that time looked like us on the air, whether it was radio or TV. There was no one before him that was in that position. Deep to left.

Yastrzemski will not get it. It's a home run. What it takes to even get to being a color analyst as a brother, it takes so much more than what it takes everybody else. That's what he represents. We need to see African-Americans in all aspects of the game, in particular in the thinking and leadership positions. Broadcasting allows African Americans to demonstrate a broad knowledge base of the game, which then hopefully helps create greater opportunities in the front office.

After a 17-year broadcasting career with the Yankees, Bill White set his sights on another first for African Americans, becoming the first black president of a major sports league. You all know this man, and I am not going to take up any more time. I simply would like to introduce William D. White, 13th president of the National League. Thank you. Bill White was one of the first in all of sport, not just baseball, all of sport,

who could do something within the front office or within administration of the game. My job then was to try to get more people into administrative jobs. I think that made a great impact on the lives of people. He's a direct pathway to what we're doing today. He was the foundation. He was the first. It is really important that we continue that legacy. I hope to bring a little more harmony between the players and the administration.

Bill White, in my opinion, is the second most influential African-American behind Jackie Robinson in the game of baseball. Bob Gibson spent his entire 17-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals and retired in 1975, having accomplished nearly every accolade possible at the most commanding and cerebral position on the field. He left the game having inspired the next generation of black aces to defy stereotypes, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981. Bob Gibson's legacy should be that he was a fierce competitor, and he was one of the greatest clutch or playoff or World Series pitchers that ever lived.

He was like the Michael Jordan of baseball. He was just win at all costs, no nonsense. Bob was crucial in being able to go out and dominate and, you know, really change the game. They changed the mound because of this man. Baseball lowered the mound after the 1968 season because he was so dominant, changed the balance of power between the pitchers and the hitters forever. You know, having a chance to see somebody on the mound that looked like me just, you know, gave me that inspiration to go out and try to be a major league player

and be a part of history now, looking back on it. You know, calling myself a Black Ace and being a part of that group is special to me. I remember one of the problems in baseball was a myth that black guys couldn't play shortstop and couldn't pitch because it was a position where you really need to think. You need to think a lot. But took over then that myth just went by the wayside. In the years following the unceremonious end to Curt Flood's career, he again left the country to escape. By 1975, four years after he struck the first blow against the reserve system,

his sacrifice culminated in the groundbreaking advancement he had envisioned, the dissolution of the reserve clause and the birth of what we now call free agency. It's not up to the team anymore. You know, they can trade you early, but they can't do it later. All these things that the guys before me went through, I've been able to reap the benefits. I don't think players now understand what Kurt means to them. Not only did he affect the black players, he affected white players as well.

He affected everyone. Just because of Kurt, I was able to sign my contract. If we can maximize our dollars just because of Kurt. So I think he should get some more recognition. You know, he changed American sports. What Kurt did and said, this is not fair. And I can't abide it. You know, it's hard to be Kurt Flood because that took a tremendous amount of courage.

One of the tragedies of Jackie being the first to play in the majors, obviously, since the 1880s, and Flood being the person that tested the reserve clause is that you know it really debilitated the health of both both of them, you know took these stands and Sacrificed for everybody that came after a Jackie only lived to be obviously in his early 50s and Flood, you know Really was not a healthy man years years after his major league career, I Just wish that Kirk Flood had been alive when LeBron James had been able to do the decision

because that's exactly what Kirk Flood wanted. He wanted players to be able to choose where they go play. To have that kind of power was the reason why Kirk Flood gave up his career. It would delight me where a ball player would say, hey, listen, I really appreciate everything that you've done. You've made my life a lot better. The legacy of Jackie Robinson can be measured by the next generation's willingness to continue his fight.

As Bill White, Kirk Flood, and Bob Gibson left the game, their efforts and sacrifices advanced the cause of black players on and off the field. And by the early 1980s, baseball would be on the verge of reaching the highest black representation in its history. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask you to please rise for the national anthem. As baseball entered a new decade, black representation was at an all-time high, accounting for nearly 20% of the player pool. At the 1981 All-Star Game, this immense talent was on full display with 18 black players across both the rosters. When you look into the 60s and the 70s,

where there were more black players who really fought the fight, and then you go to the 80s. Well hit! In the right center field! All right! All those players kept fighting for what Jackie wanted in his vision. 80s, you got Dave Winfield. You got Barry Bonds and Ricky Henderson.

You got Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee and Vince Coleman. Reggie Jackson. Tony Gwynn. You know, Goodens and the Strawberries. You know, Gary Sheffield and Cecil Fielder and so many other players that made the game really, really fun to watch, but also served to kind of hide some of these issues

that have always been persistent in Major League Baseball at that time that still show up today. As Black representation leveled off by the mid-1990s, when Ken Griffey Jr. became the face of baseball, the percentage of Black players began a gradual descent. Despite the slow decline, players like Griffey took it upon themselves to honor the legacy of players who paved the way for their success. To me, there's some players that should never die. These are the guys that made it easier for, you know, black ballplayers, people of color to play. Jackie's legacy is more than just baseball, what he did for others.

That's his legacy. Number 42 from this day forward will never again be issued by a major league club. Ten years after Bud Selig retired Jackie Robinson's number on the 50th anniversary of Jackie breaking baseball's color barrier, Griffey approached the commissioner with an idea. And I said, hey, you know, bud, can I wear 42? Next day he called me back. He said, do you mind if everybody wears it? I go, absolutely not. The more the merrier. Jackie Robinson opened the door and so many other great ballplayers walked through and had to go through their own hard experiences. At the forefront of that, Kurt Flood, Bob Gibson, and Bill White.

But their story is no less heroic. No justice, no peace! Everything that's happening today in society, we can go back and we can pull up the historical receipts to explain why today looks like today. It's part of the American story. It's part of what the country is supposed to be about, equal opportunity. No justice, no peace! Sports have often been at the forefront of racial progress. Now the significance of baseball as a marker is not what it once was. There was a time where like black baseball was black baseball.

Now black baseball is a part of baseball where we fit in. What we brought to the game made the entire game better. I think everybody knows that and it's just a matter of educating people. Why would a black kid go into something that he doesn't see any black people? So we have to find some way to change that. All we can do as the black players in MLB is just force them to put us in the limelight out front

so black kids can see. We all have to come together, do whatever we can in the black communities to get kids playing. Not only playing the game, but in the front offices. The commissioner's office, our job is to grow the game every single day. Create opportunities for African American young people that love the game and be mentors and role models for those young people. This has to be an all hands on deck effort. This has to be everybody saying there aren't enough black Americans in this sport that they help to build.

You know watching Jackie, Jackie you know was a player that was an activist just kind of by what he did. What Curt and Bill and Bob were able to do in that era. It was those guys coming together. What they did back then is still relevant today. I hope my grandchild says, Kurt, he must have been all right because he stood up for what he wanted. He did the things that he thought to be right. I'm the guy that made it a little bit better for a lot of players.

You had all of these other problems away from the field, which certainly weighed on you. I knew there were guys that didn't like me but you don't have to like me I just want you to respect me. Baseball has been in the vanguard of a lot of changes the integration on the field the integration of cities we force this country do a lot of things that they hadn't done before Whether the people who did the work to lead to Brown v. Board of Education or did the work that was part of the civil rights movement, whether they out loud said Jackie Robinson showed us the way

or whether it was more of a symbolic effect I don't know the fact of the matter is that baseball played the role that it did in this country that was the case and so in that sense baseball's integration is not just a great 20th century sports story it's a great 20th century sports story, it's funny, right? It's funny. It's funny. If you don't dream it, you can't become it. You can't become it. I just want to spin it all. We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all.

We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all. We gon' run it up. We gon' run it up. We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all. We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all.

We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all. We gon' run it up. We gon' run it up. We gon' run it up. I just want to spin it all. I'd rather fail being who I am than fail being somebody they want me to be. I love this thing. I am more than an athlete. I'm still a human being that has a platform and a voice. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage professional softball player, journalist, and our moderator for this evening, A.J. Andrews.

All right. How's everybody doing this evening? How's everybody doing this evening? How's everybody doing this evening? She's got it. We're doing good. Okay. Well, thank you all for joining us today. As I was introduced, I am a professional softball player and a broadcaster.

And as a black professional athlete, as well as a broadcaster, I have been able to reap the benefits of the sacrifices that were made by the men in this film, just as many people that will be on this panel and as well as you in this crowd. And so today, as we continue to talk about the sacrifices that these men made, men who through determination, resiliency, and selflessness built a table that allows us to sit and eat and read what we have today. I'm excited to introduce my panel who's going to be discussing the after Jackie. Many know the before, some know the before Jackie, many know the during, very few knew

the after. And today we're going to continue to discuss. So to join me today on this panel, I have Jamal Henderson, Chief Content Officer at Spring Hill Company. Andre Gaines, Director of this film, After Jackie. Charles Chapman, Multicultural Marketing at Chevrolet. Jesus Nice, Television Personality. Psychological Marketing at Chevrolet. Jesus Nice, Television Personality. And CeCe Sabathia, six-time All-Star Cy Young Award winner,

Vice President of Players Alliance, and even has a special seat at the MLB office. Please hush. There you go. How are you guys doing today? Doing well. Great. Doing great. Excited to discuss this film after Jackie. I think what's so important about this film is the fact that we don't know what we don't know.

And many of us don't understand or know what happened after Jackie. I think we hear about Jackie Robinson, and we just think he broke the color barrier, and that's it. That's the end of racism in baseball, and that is where it ended. But in reality, Jackie was not the end, but he was the beginning. The beginning that opened the door so that other black baseball players could walk through it, but they faced their own struggles with inequality when they did walk through. So Andre, I've got to ask you, though, it's been 75 years since Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball.

Why now did you decide to make this film, and why did you decide to center it around Bill White, Bob Gibson, and Kurt? Well, first of all, thanks for having me. And it's a really great question because there's a group of unsung heroes that just have never gotten their due. And as a filmmaker, I sort of, I take it upon myself as a personal mission

to give them their due. It's almost like this beautiful museum we have with a curator finding an artifact that nobody has ever seen, but putting it in a museum and putting it on display for everybody to be able to see. Because After Jackie really has two meanings. It's really the Jackie Robinson after the one that we know, who integrated baseball, this civil rights leader that we've never really heard much about. But then also the guys that he helped support, that he was an advocate of, who he helped usher in. And, you know, it's not dissimilar to B.C. and A.D., right?

It's sort of a life in American history that was before Jackie Robinson and life that was right after Jackie Robinson. So it was an appropriate story to tell, regardless of the 75th anniversary, regardless of the opening of the museum, but an even more special and beautiful event to be able to coincide with both of those milestones in American history. And we have him to thank for the legacy of us being able to sit here today. We absolutely have Jackie Robinson to thank for all of us being here on this stage. But when we specifically were able to hear the stories of Bill White, Kurt Flood, and Bob Gibson, three players that really had a big impact, not just on baseball, but as sports as a whole, through their

athleticism, but as well as through a lot of good trouble. And when you think about the things that they were able to accomplish, why was it so important to also be able to tell their stories? Well, you know, Jamal will kind of attest to this, working with Uninterrupted, working with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, with Jamal, with Phil Byron, Jackson Newsmith, with all of the team from Spring Hill where the motto is really more than an athlete. And really with Jackie Robinson we see an athlete first and then someone in retirement who became an activist.

But during this time with Bill White, Bob Gibson, Kurt Flood, in the early 60s up through the end of the 60s, this is the first time in our nation's history we're really seeing the combined player-activist, somebody who is on the field playing at the highest level possible but then off of the field fighting for freedom, equality, and liberty and justice. That's the birth of that era. Probably the most prominent one is Muhammad Ali.

You have Bill Russell. You have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You have Bill White, Bob Gibson. You have Kurt Flood. You have these guys who are standing up, Jim Brown. You have them standing up for their rights while playing at the highest level possible. Without them, we don't have a LeBron James. We don't have a Colin Kaepernick.

We don't have so many of our modern athletes. And we have them as a direct line to thank for that. I think the three of them are the proof that if you give black talent the opportunity to shine, we will blind you with our light, the ability to go out on the field and prove that you have to pay attention, be so good you cannot ignore. And I think in this film, when we talked about Jackie Robinson, he got to the point where he could not ignore anymore the mistreatment. He couldn't ignore the inequality that he was facing.

He started mouthing off. And to your point, talking about being more than an athlete, he knew that that was what he was, and he didn't want to be the symbol anymore to just shut up and play. And, Jamal, I want to talk to you because when it comes to Uninterrupted... Ladies and gentlemen, we invite you to join us at the front of the room for our panel. Please lower your volume of your conversation in the back of the room so that we all may enjoy this very insightful and brilliant conversation. Thank you. All right. Well, Jamal, back to the question where we talked about Jackie refusing to just shut up and play. And when you think about Uninterrupted, the

trademark that now has been put out there with shut up and dribble, those four words can no longer be used to reduce athletes to just entertainers. And uninterrupted, being more involved with baseball, why was it so important to have this partnership with the Jackie Robinson Foundation and be involved in this film? Well, I think you said it. I think it's about, you know, Jackie being the role model and being, you know, the beginning of this movement. And I think, obviously, it opens the door for folks like LeBron to do that but we're just so excited to be here and be partners with the foundation you know this is the second collaboration we've had with the with the foundation and it's just a beautiful beautiful place so for us I think the whole shut up and dribble shut up and play I mean it's the ethos

of what we're building obviously it's about being more than just an athlete. You know, athletes like yourself that are also journalists and here running this panel. And I think, you know, it speaks to the brilliant film that Andre made because he was able to weave that through. And I think the thing that I'm excited about and what I always take from it is how much Jackie did after he left the game. We all know he was the first, but really he was an advocate, and he was getting in people's ass, you know. I mean, he was on people. And so a lot of people don't know that about Jackie, and I think that's what the archive does,

and Andre just did such a great job pulling that story through. And it goes all the way to folks like CeCe today, who's, you know, carrying that torch. And we saw Young Brothers last week get drafted into the game, but they still have the same issues that this film highlights. You feel me? So I think that's what, you know, the work is not done, but I think we're just really excited and uninterrupted,

an athlete empowerment brand to be able to tell these stories. And it's really kudos to the team that we're able to bring forth this story and get this done and our partners at Chevrolet to make such a beautiful night happen. I think being an athlete and the power that holds in those words more than an athlete, to understand that you are not solely what you do on the field or court, is so important for athletes to move forward in whatever it is and also feel empowered in their voices. And Jackie did that when he invited Bill and Kurt to the rally in Mississippi, as we saw in the film, where he told them, you are able to use your platform as an athlete to embark change.

And for athletes, being more than an athlete, I want to ask Jamal, you and CeCe, why it is so important to continue to remind, especially young black baseball players today, that there is power in their words and that they are more than athletes. I think it's super important because, I mean, if you look at the film, I feel like we're back at the beginning, you know, where we were. I think we're at 6.8% in the league in baseball right now.

So the black voices are super important. Mookie Betts is super important. You know, when we started the Players Alliance in 2020 and we were going through everything in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it was a big deal who was going to take a knee on the baseball field. That had never happened before. And we were having all these discussions and group chats and all these different things. And Mookie just stepped up.

He was like, I'm the biggest player. I got the biggest contract. I'm the biggest voice. I'm taking a knee. And that allowed everybody else in the league to go out and be able to take a knee. And it's kind of the same thing that Jackie did is kind of nurturing, you know, ourselves to be able to go out and be activists and stand up with each other and stand up for each other.

Same thing, you know, Jackie inviting those guys down to Jackson, Mississippi. It's the same thing. So all of those things are still relevant today. So it's super important for us to be up here talking about these things, for the players and lines to be active, and for us as me as a retired player and the current players to make sure that we're super active in our communities and make sure that kids are getting the opportunity to play baseball.

Jamal, why is it important to continue to empower those voices, as Uninterrupted always does, to know that they are more than athletes? I can't say any better than CeCe just did. But, you know, we'll continue to do that and continue to all those new voices, both current players, you know, both new players. You know, we just had a brother, Tamar Johnson, who just came, just got drafted. We're following his story right now. So I think his journey to the bigs is going to be exciting

and how he's able to do that, how he's able to bring some swag back to the game and do the things that these guys did so many years ago and kind of capture that magic again. Charles, I want to ask you, Chevy has deep ties with MLB, and you see all the changes being made and going into the diversity in Major League Baseball. Why did Chevrolet want to partner with Uninterrupted, especially to be a part of this event? Yes, well, you know what? Absolutely.

Chevrolet decided to partner. Like you said, the deep ties with the MLB goals. We were the official vehicle of MLB back in 2005, so those ties run deep. We have existing relationships with the Uninterrupted team, with other projects that we've worked on. We were brought with this opportunity. My role is working in diversity marketing is to gain cultural capital for GM and its brands. So what better way to do that than partnering with this foundation, partnering with Uninterrupted, and being able to showcase our product and build that?

As an athlete, I'm playing softball. I know what it's like to be one of, if not the only, black athlete on my team. And I've dealt with the microaggressions. I've dealt with the prejudice. I've dealt with assuming that I'm supposed to be a certain position because I'm black or assuming that I'm fast because I'm black. I do want to know that I am fast, but you shouldn't assume that, right? So, but what Mookie so eloquently put in this film was that these guys were just built different. I don't know if I could have withstood the things that

they withstood and, you know, going, stepping onto the field, realizing that I had teammates when I stepped between those lines, but that I had teammates when I stepped between those lines, but that I didn't when I stepped off was something that hurt me. But I want to ask you guys, from this film, was there anything that really stood out for you or stuck with you or really surprised you? And, Andre, because you had the countless of research and hours looking film, I want you to go first. Well, the thing that surprised me the most was probably the thing that surprised most people the most is what was Jackie as the agitator. You know, we don't see that. I made a movie last year called The One and Only Dick Gregory about the late great comedian

who was a self-described agitator. That's what his own moniker was. But when you think of Jackie Robinson, it's like the way that it's described, Jackie breaking the color barrier, it's like a good bowl of oatmeal. There's no deviation from something that's very American traditional and it's like that's sort of it. But the truth of the matter is that you touched upon something earlier that he ruffled a lot of feathers. By the time that he left the game, he was one of the most hated men in baseball that we talked about. That was a surprise to me.

And it was because he was designed at the outset to be the guy that could hold his tongue, you know, stand his ground and just sort of stay away from trouble, not respond. But, you know, by the time he got in the third or fourth season, it's like, I got to say something. These guys are beating me up. They're yelling at me. They're doing this sort of stuff. And we'd never see that side of him. And so it was an eye-opener for me, and it was an eye-opener for my whole team, but it was also like there can be a whole movie just about this, just about that version of Jackie Robinson. And he spent more of his life being that activist than he did being that player.

And thank God to the museum, thank to to della uh britain and the whole team and jackie robinson foundation of being able to highlight what jackie's life was like after uh his time in baseball because the world really needs to know absolutely jesus was there anything that surprised you well i think a lot of times when you watch major league baseball when they recognize jackie robinson it's kind of like yo yo, racism's done. Right. Like he fixed it. And we didn't realize all this happened after Jackie Robinson. People were still dealing with these issues. And these are still issues we're still kind of dealing with today. Like, you know, my guy, CeCe, like Boston, you know, when you go there, you know what it's like, my guy. These are issues

that have not been resolved. And they're also not brought up that often in major league baseball and also as a black person watching baseball it resonates differently because i'm watching that i'm like yo we're still dealing with that like he was like one of the top players in his field and he still had to deal with racism outside the stadium like we also have to deal with that in this day and age and then also the fact that you don't know that many black people that watch baseball it's like my my guy Clinton Leakes over there. I met him, you know, and that's my guy. We're talking,

and he introduced me to this friend, and I'm like, okay, now I know nine black people that watch baseball. Like, we're very rare. Now the exact number. Exactly. But it just,

it brings light to something people have not been shown in the past. We just kind of got this image of Jackie Robinson as like this soft, lovable character, and he fixed racism

like you said he's an agitator he had to fight for more he moved the bar a little bit but then he saw there was more ground he had to cover so exposing that to a generation that doesn't know about that and that even my generation I didn't know I learned so much in this movie just a while ago and it's just like we constantly have to keep doing that because if we don't tell our stories who's going to tell them we don't tell our stories who will Jamal want to ask you was there anything that surprised you were stuck with you from this film? I Mean so many things and you know been fortunate enough to see a lot of this tape for a long time but I think

You know look I think I think the stories the allyship are cool in this too with the Cardinals and what happened in spring training I think you know seeing that story and how that team came together and changed it when you literally had brothers that couldn't stay in the same hotel with their teammates, you know what I mean? And I think that's really where it comes together because, and C could probably speak to this better than anyone, it's like that clubhouse is a lot of different people, you know, from all different countries and different communities. And so, you know, I think that was cool to see that come together,

and obviously that being just a hell of a team. So that all made sense to me. But I think everybody hit on the beauty of the archive and what we were able to get, and just the interviews from some of these brothers that are no longer with us. Kurt Flood said in this film something that really stuck out to me the most and it's that a lot of

the times you think I wish someone would do something about that and a lot of the times it's you that must and Cece that brings me to you because through your storied career and everything that you've been able to accomplish to now being the vice president for the Players Alliance whose mission is to address baseball systemic barriers to equity and inclusion by creating pathways to opportunities and opportunities on and off the field for black talent. What was the moment when you realized it was you that must create the change? Wow. I think pretty early, to be honest, because, you know, I got a chance to meet Dave Stewart when I was nine years old, and that kind of changed my life.

And I always wanted to be that presence in the community or be that person for a young kid to see on the mound with my hat crooked or the Jordans and the big uniform. Like, I always wanted to stay true to myself to make sure that I'm representing who I am so that somebody in the hood where I grew up can look at me and be like, oh, I can do that. Oh, like, because I had to have that vision, you know. And before it was Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart guy was Bob Gibson. And the line just keeps going back all the way to black aces, you know what I mean? So the history and how close we all are as black baseball players

is just one degree of separation. It's incredible how close we all are. So for me, it's just super important to make sure that I continue to keep that legacy alive and make sure that I continue to make that legacy for the younger players, the Dom Smith, the J.P. Crawford, what they're doing in L.A. with Baseball Generations. These guys are light years ahead of what I was doing in my career. So it's great to see it, but I think I always knew, you know, it was my responsibility to make sure that kids that look like me had something to look up to.

I can remember the very first time that I realized how important representation was. And it was after coming off the field from a game where I did not perform well. And a young black mother and her child come up to me and said, you're my daughter's favorite player. And I'm thinking, nah, you must have got the wrong person. I did not have a good game. And she said, no, my daughter has never seen someone playing at this level and you will now forever be her first and favorite professional softball player. And, but I, I think to that point was it, all it mattered was that we showed up. It didn't necessarily matter how we performed. It mattered that we were there.

And I want to ask you one more time, CeCe, what was it like to be able to watch Bob Gibson, an ace, someone who has the power, the strikeouts, very much like you? How did that impact your career? It was a huge impact on my career. My grandfather was a huge Bob Gibson fan. And for me to sit here now end up with the same amount of wins as him. You know, he had 251 wins. I ended up with 251 wins. Like, it's just crazy for me to sit here and be in the same light as Bob Gibson.

I don't see myself in that light. But to be able to have the same type of numbers that he had, I mean, it's incredible. I'm just – hopefully I can have the type of impact that he has on the game, you know, long-lasting legacy that he's had on the game. So that's, you know, that's my job now in the second career is to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can to impact the game positively the way he did in his career. Love that. Charles, Chevy is on a mission to be the most diverse and socially inclusive brand on the market.

What is Chevy doing right now to impact communities that are diverse? Well, my sole job is to make sure that happens and to ensure that there's a consistency when we focus on the community. There are a number of programs that Chevrolet is responsible for that runs through our team. One in particular that's near and dear to my heart is the Chevrolet Discover the Unexpected program where we focus on HBCU students and providing internships. Just yesterday, one of our interns just bumped into him here at the event yesterday. That was phenomenal. This program has been around for six years. We've raised, donated, and I don't want to say donated, we awarded more than $600,000 to these students for scholarships, for stipends.

And, you know, they create content. We ensure that their experiences are meaningful. And we look to create a ourselves to the community and understanding the sustainability part of it. It's not just showing up. You know, you can't sell a car and truck without, you know, building that equity. And we feel that Chevrolet overall is doing that. And I think it's my job to ensure that they continue to do that and that I'm bringing opportunities like this in front of the people that matter. We continue to move the needle forward. Jesus, I got to ask you, I've seen you, and I hear you're a Yankees fan. You know, twice I ever rings live and die, I literally went across the street from the original Yankee Stadium. I know nothing about

baseball, I just go with my heart. Oh, I love that. Oh, I've seen you wear the 5950 New Era hat, which is actually the official baseball cap for Major League Baseball. And when we think to hip-hop and black culture, baseball has been at the center of it for a very long time. And people forget that. We can't look at a hip-hop video without seeing the 5950 New Era hat. So talk to me about how it is that we can continue to move the needle forward with representation, getting baseball back into black culture the way NFL and the needle forward with representation, getting baseball back into the black culture, back into black culture the way NFL and the NBA is.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, like even growing up in New York, I remember I would see people with Yankee caps, or I'd see people with Boston caps. I'm like, you have on a Boston cap in New York? And they're like, yeah, I'm a blood. And I was like, oh, that has nothing to do with baseball. I'm sorry.

But so it's just kind of like it's part of our culture, but we're not part of baseball. And then you'd have young players. They get in trouble for tilting their cap or wearing a chain or, you know, dropping the bat. And you're like, yo, this makes the game fun. This makes me want to watch the game. I don't want to be old and stodgy. And for a long time, we tried to work with the MLB and they kind of pushed back. They were like, you're a little too urban, a little too hip hop. And now you go to a Yankee game, and before the Yankee game starts, for two minutes, they're just playing that Mob Deep

Shook Ones instrumental. And everyone, every white person, hey, GC, I see you. Everybody knows that song. That song is no longer a black song. That is a generational song. I got my white homies, they're bobbing their heads, they know all the words. And it's just, it's so ingrained into baseball now. You see

Mookie Beck, you got all these players and they just got that swag in them. And when they come up to the plate and they got that swag, you're tuned in, you're watching it. So we have to expose this more to the community because we don't even realize we're doing big things in baseball. You have people who are just like, black people don't play baseball. It's like, no, dog, we're out here.

Well, not me, but you know, CeCe. But we're out here, we're representing, and we just need, because it's a hard game to play. You have to have enough people to play a full game. If you're playing in the street, the car is coming, you don't have bases and everything. But if you really want it, we can make it happen. So it's important for people like CeCe, Curtis Granderson, even myself

just to talk to the next generation and just tell them why we love baseball and make them see it the same way we see it and so they can they're like oh if you liked it maybe there's something there for me it's like we can do more than basketball we can do more than football and listen those baseball contracts is pretty sweet you might want to get your kids one of them that's guaranteed money right it is so i mean listen but no we love baseball and we really need to as african-americans just get

back to it also we're really good at it. We're really good at it. I was about to say, that's a good point. We are really good at it. I don't think we've ever made up more than 27% of the league. We make up 38% of the Hall of Fame. So that means when we play, we're the best every time. So two best players in the league right now, Mookie Betts and Aaron Judge.

So, I mean, when we show up and play on the baseball field, we're normally the best players on the field. Like baseball players changed baseball in Major League Baseball. That's why it is the game we love to watch today. And then you talk about the contracts. I mean, Curt Flood is responsible for what we know today as free agency so that baseball players can say no to $440 million contracts if they want to. Yeah, I don't know about that.

But when you think about Bob Gibson, one thing that Jack Flaherty mentioned that I thought was so dope was how Bob said, I never hit nobody. They just did not get out of the way. And when you think of the confidence you have to have, especially in the time that he was playing, I think that that was something that really pushed him forward. And I want to ask you guys, if you guys have just like a saying or an affirmation that continues to propel you forward and keeps you confident throughout your career.

CeCe, I'll start with you. Mine is just keep going. You know, I've been through so many ups and downs in my life that it's just always get to the next day. Just one day at a time and just keep going. Oh, that's good. through so many ups and downs in my life that it's just always get to the next day just one day at a time and just keep going oh that's good uh for me i it's a coach a coach uh gave me this saying error is a co-mission not omission so you know try to hit somebody you know you don't want

to be the person looking at the tape be like man you didn't hit nobody you might hit the wrong person but hit somebody so you know uh just trying to make errors a commission, not omission. Yeah, my father, I remember, said to me as a kid, just as simple as answers always know if you don't ask. So it's a given. You need to ask for what it is that you want, need to ask for what it is you want to, your desire, try to achieve, and you'll be surprised. And frankly, I've used that in my career in a way that I never thought would excel or advance it in the way that it has. It's like, just open your mouth and ask somebody a question and you'll be surprised at what the answer you get. So it's been always an affirmation for me. Yeah. And for me, it's just really, you know,

giving the best at anything that I attempt to do and just, you know, with my whole heart and ensure it's like, I think about, I have a 12 year old son and like how I kind of instruct him, you know, with him in soccer playing. It's like, you know, if you're going to show up, make sure you show up. If you're in a room, you deserve to be in that room. And I have to live by the same thing I'm trying to instill in him. Mine is just like, you only have but some time in life, and so you have to make the most of it every day. So every day you've got to show up,

and whether that means being your own solo player or being a good team player, you have to give 100% every day, even if you don't feel like it. There's been times, I'm sure, you went on the field, you felt like crap, you don't want to be out there, but your teammates need you, this is what you do. So it's just like, you've got to believe in yourself, show up every day, and put your best foot forward, and as long as you do that, you're going to be the best person you

can be not only for yourself, but for the people you work with. I love it. And mine would be always be too determined to be defeated and too focused to be doubtful, too focused on my goals to ever even allow doubt to creep into my mind. And I really want to talk to Jackie Robinson, where we talked about his quote, where he says, the life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives. And I want to ask you all what you hope this film, After Jackie, the impact that it has on everyone that watches it, specifically black baseball players. I just hope that people understand that we're still in the crisis, you know,

and we still have these problems and all these stuff that's in this film that these guys are talking about in the 50s and 60s still going on today. So, you know, we need to pay attention and do a better job as a society in baseball and just making sure that we, you know, give more opportunities to black and brown kids and MLB top to bottom. Yeah, I just hope it educates and inspires you know, so many things in the film

just people don't know. And, you know, kudos to Andre and the team that made, you know, did such a good job, but I hope it inspires the next generation. Yeah, no director can ever take all the credit, although most directors like to take all the credit. But, yeah, it was kudos to the team. We put this together in a faster fashion than a typical film that you would do.

It sort of takes a little bit longer. But because of the team that we had and everybody's putting their best foot forward and us really getting along, I mean, like a lot of people don't realize that that's kind of the most important thing. You're spending 12, 14 hours a day with people. You better get along with them. And part of that camaraderie is what made it possible for us to get to the film that we're all quite proud of.

And I think the thing that I want and have always wanted people to take away from not only this film but my work is that you can do more, that just if you do your part in sort of the big equation, you don't have to be Jackie Robinson. You don't have to be the first or the biggest or the loudest voice in the room, but you can do a little part in any section, any organization, any job, any business, any sport, wherever you are, and that will add to part of the whole

and make change in this world that we ultimately need. So we have Jackie to thank as our leader, but at the end of the day, Bill White, Bob Gibson, Kurt Floyd, they all did their part. They all did their part of the whole to turn this into something that we can all be proud of at the end of the day. And from my end, what really resonated and stood out to me was just the management aspect of it, like how long it still took to have black managers

in the league. And it's still a problem to this day, not only in baseball, but across many of the major sports. And each, for that matter, even in corporate America. So that leadership role, really focusing on what that opportunity is and that you can make it happen. But I think that there's still a ways to go,

and I know that the folks on the panel have already mentioned that, but just how far we've come, we still have a long way to go. Absolutely. I think what I want people to take away from this movie is, hopefully when it ends, you pull out your phone, you go on Wikipedia, you Google the people that were in this and you learn more like this movie is not all it's not going to teach you everything about jackie robertson but it should start the spark in your head that makes you want to learn more and if you learn more you're going to do

more and teach more people about these people that led the way for us and leading the way for more black players and hopefully this leads leads to a new generation of black players because right now we got nowhere to go but up. So maybe there's a kid, a little girl somewhere, and she doesn't have that backbone in her that could face the opposition, that could face the racial stuff on the field. And maybe this movie will push her and be like,

yo, you can face that. If he went through this, you could do that. So maybe if that's the takeaway from this, that's all I want right there. Maybe it will help at least one person become a professional athlete. Showing that the power in your voice and being an advocate can truly create the change that we want to see in this world. Jackie Robinson did that until his death, even up to two weeks, as explained in the video prior to him dying. he was advocating for black athletes, black people in the sport of baseball,

wanting to see a black manager on the sidelines. And as a result of Jackie's advocacy, we have now black broadcasters, we have black faces in the office, we have black coaches, black managers. And to me, what I really think I take from this movie, from After Jackie, is a reminder from what the late great James Baldwin said, where we cannot always, nothing that we, everything we face will not always get changed, but we cannot change anything until it is first faced. And so I hope everyone in this room, especially everyone on this panel,

continues to face the challenges we have in baseball and to continue to create change. Thank you so much for being a part of this panel and watching this go. Thank you. So, folks, that is it. The panel here is done. A great panel there talking about this movie after Jackie. I absolutely hope all of you who watch this on the Black Star Network app, on all of our platforms, on Facebook and YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, I certainly hope you enjoy this. This was exactly why we wanted to be here. This is why we wanted to be here, not just to cover the groundbreaking, but for us to be here for all three days, for us to be able to showcase for you all of the different things that were taking place over this three-day celebration of the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum. We kicked this off on Monday, broadcasted our show.

Great interview with the legendary Spike Lee. And so that was amazing. Then, of course, on yesterday, we had the ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted by Robin Roberts of Good Morning America. Then, of course, they cut the ribbon, and then so many people got in to go and see the museum. And then, of course, we interviewed such luminaries as journalist Howard Bryant, Billy G. King, Bill Roden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, talking to Osani Pratt's National Urban League,

and then, of course, hearing from so many others that was just so important. And then, of course, we got a chance to broadcast from inside the museum. The first media outlet allowed to broadcast from inside of the Jackie Robinson Museum. And so we greatly appreciate that. We greatly appreciate that as well. And so, folks, just it has been an extraordinary three days. I really hope all of you got to learn a lot about Jackie Robinson that you did not know, that you were not aware of, where you now have a better understanding of who he is. And in this coverage, y'all, this is why black-owned media matters. This is why we do what we do. You know, if you were watching that documentary,

you heard them talk about Wendell Smith, the legendary sports writer from the Pittsburgh Courier, and how he used the pen to write about the wrongs in white Major League Baseball locking out African Americans. And it was Sam Lacy as well with the Afro-American, Sam Lacy with his reporting and what they were able to accomplish. Folks, that is the history of black-owned media. We didn't get to this place on our own. It was the Pittsburgh Courier. It was the Afro-American.

It was the Chicago Defender. It was the Land, Alien, World. It was all of these black newspapers all across the country. Then evolved into black-owned radio and then black-owned television. And now we're operating now with the black digital spaces. And, you know, again, there are a lot of people. I love when people talk about their new media and they're covering all these different things. But the reality is our story is not just about hair and beauty and entertainment and sports.

It's not just about reparations. It's not just about hair and beauty and entertainment and sports. It's not just about reparations. It's not just about voting suppression. We are a deep, broad, complex people. And so we must ensure that we are on the scene covering these things, telling these sports stories, speaking to these issues, and bringing those voices they ordinarily will not hear. That's why we wanted to be here. That's why we are here.

And so the beauty of owning is you don't have to ask permission. The beauty of owning is you don't have to ask someone, hey, can we please come here and do this? No, the beauty of owning is that we said, yes, we are here bringing our cameras here, bringing our lights and our switchers and our audio board and all those things. And so, yes, this whole thing, y'all, this week is about five thousand dollars. He was letting you know what it costs in terms of travel, what it costs for crew, hotel costs per diem. And so that's why your support absolutely matters. And so what we're trying to do is we're waiting to talk to Della Robinson,

who leads the Dick Robinson Foundation, to close this out. So we want to talk with her. And so she's buzzing around here. She's talking to her sponsors and things along those lines. And so we're looking for her right now and that we can get her. And so that's what we're waiting on as we speak. And so, hey, Deshaun, see if you can go get Della Robinson with the Jack Robinson Foundation. I need for her to close it out.

Go find Della. Della. Robinson Foundation. I need for her to close it out. Go find Della. Della. So we want to talk with her. I'm going to stand up because I'm going to look for her and find her because we definitely want to, like I said, we've been talking to everybody. She's been out and about talking, doing her thing. And so we want to chat with her to close this out. And so I know she's in the room. I know she's in the room, know she's in the room.

But there's been but that's how I want to close this thing out with to talk with her to get her thoughts and perspectives on all of this. And so, again, absolutely fantastic, fantastic last three days uh folks i really hope y'all enjoy it enjoyed it i really hope uh y'all were able uh to to really take in uh all that uh we were talking about uh and i'm so so mark i'm trying to find della trying to find jell-o huh somebody else was just asking me where she was yeah so hopefully she's still here. I want to close this out with her. So we're trying to find her right now as we speak, y'all. And so, again, this is an absolutely fabulous museum. I really hope y'all come here and visit it. I hope you check it out.

I hope you're able to see it. If I can't find her, you want the grandchildren? Sure, that's fine. And so we're looking for her. And what we're trying to do is we're going to pull one of the grandchildren of Jackie Robinson over and chat with them to get their thoughts and perspective on all of this. And so that's what we're working on. Y'all are seeing what happens with live television.

These things happen. These things happen, y'all. And so we're sitting here. We didn't chat with one of them. But like I said, folks, this is why we do what we do, to be able to share these stories, to tell these stories. This is just so important for us to do so. And so that's why we wanted to be here. And so that's the deal.

And so it's so many, so many, and so much about our history that is critically important that we want to, that we are always trying to share and tell with folks. And that's why these things matter. This here is one of the granddaughters of Jackie Robinson. And so we're going to sit here. Hi, yo, Robinson. Huh? Hi, yo, Robinson.

Hi, yo, Robinson. Okay, come on. And so we're going to sit here and just say a couple of words with her. All right, so pop those on. Just let everybody know who you are. Am I talking to you or anything? No, just look at me. Just talk right there in the headset.

All right. All right, just let everybody know your name and who you are. My name is Ayo Robinson, and I am David Robinson's daughter. I am one of the grandchildren of Jack and Rachel. Gotcha. And so just share with the folks who are watching, those who are listening, what it feels like to actually watch this vision of Rachel Robinson come to fruition, and that is the Jack Robinson Museum. It's very humbling.

This has been a time of great self-reflection, honestly, because I am overwhelmed by the life that my grandmother has lived, constantly reminded of the impact that my grandfather has made. But my grandmother being 100 years old and cutting the ribbon on this museum, seeing one of her last visions for her life come to fruition is extremely moving. I think it reminds me of how far there is to step up as an individual, how much impact we can as people and how much, how important it is for us to step up into that and be a part of our society so we can see the world that we actually want to live in.

Obviously, your grandfather passed away before you were here. And for you, is it still a constant learning experience with just all of the things that encompass Jackie Robinson? Yes, yes. I mean, I've grown up with it, so part of it is sort of ingrained, innate. I can almost take it for granted. I am always reminded every year, every month, particularly this year, reminded of how much more there is, what the subtleties are, what the weight of it is, really, honestly, yeah. Well, it was so interesting for me watching that documentary. And, again, I read his book. I've read other books.

I've seen other documentaries, other movies as well. And, yeah, even for me, as somebody who loves history, it feels always that, oh, I didn't know that. Oh, that was cool. Oh, wow. I didn't realize that. That to me also, I think what is also just so fascinating, which I think what the museum is so great, is because, again, it gives you a fuller understanding of him beyond baseball.

Absolutely, and every little subtlety gives you a greater context. So it really does make it more understandable and more personal, I think. When you learn those details and you learn the nuances, and it's not just the sort of picture fairy tale that we hear. I mean, in this film, they talked about how we can very easily think, well, Jackie Robinson came along and he broke the color barrier and everything was great after that. But when we realize what struggle still remains and we get introduced to these people, historical figures who are still a part of our modern day fabric, and

you get to know what they went through after this supposed change in the world, you realize that, you know, it's not all just roses after a certain thing. There's still a gradual struggle that takes place, and we're all actually a part of that struggle. Now, how many grandchildren are there? I have to do the math on that uh there are 11 12 there are 12 grandchildren all together now so it must be it also must be different because look let's just be honest uh your grandmother's 100 years old yeah and so uh the grandchildren now have to be the caretakers of that legacy. And then the great-grandchildren will be the caretakers of the legacy.

Because at the end of the day, that's who, more than anyone else, who is going to be most responsible for it. So y'all prepared? We're getting there, yes. Yes. Absolutely. I mean, we were raised in this, and we understand the blessing of it. So, y'all prepared? We're getting there, yes. Yes, absolutely. I mean, we were raised in this, and we understand the blessing of it. And whatever extra anything that it gives us, we are ready to take on that torch.

We are ready to carry the mantle, yes. Cool. All right, then. Look, we certainly appreciate it. And we have had a fabulous time being here and glad to see you all. Absolutely. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Again, folks, you're good. Take it off. You're good. So, again, folks, it has been an extraordinary moment to be here for the last several days, since Monday. Five years ago, we were here when they broke ground on this museum. Five years ago, COVID hit in 2020. They thought they would be done with it

before 2020. That wasn't the case. $35 million was raised to complete this museum. And so there's still more work to be done. I was talking to Della last night. They're looking for a communications chief. They're looking for somebody to handle development, to raise money for the foundation. There's more work to be done because it's not just this museum. They have their Jackie Robinson scholars, the educational dollars that they also raise. And so there's so much.

And I said this, and I really do believe this. I really do believe that Major League Baseball should make a donation of $100 million to this foundation, not only in honor of the 100th birthday of Rachel Robinson, but Major League Baseball should make sure that this foundation has the resources it needs in perpetuity. And they've done things so far. They were certainly one of the donors of this museum. They were not the largest donor. They should have been.

But I absolutely believe that Major League Baseball should make a $100 million donation to Jack Robertson Foundation to ensure that his legacy is always remembered. This foundation is going to be the caretaker of that legacy. They have this museum. That needs to happen. And so I would certainly hope Rob Manfred of the Commission of Major League Baseball and these owners will understand that.

It's one thing to recognize him every single year on Jackie Robinson Day, which is April 15th, where all the teams in Major League Baseball wear the number 42 jersey. And last week when they had the celebrations taking place at Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Los Angeles, home of the Dodgers, that's all great as well. But if you are committed to that legacy, then you will commit your resources to that legacy. And so I believe it absolutely should happen. And we hope it would happen. We want to thank all of you for joining us over the last three days as we have covered the opening of the Jack Robinson Museum. We appreciate those of you who have watched, who shared our videos, who've listened to our audio podcast. We appreciate all of that. This is why black-owned media exists.

This is precisely why we are here. This is why we do what we do, because this is all about our culture. This is about being able to tell our story. You have heard me say this multiple times. The nation's first black newspaper was Freedom's Journal, and they wrote in their lead editorial, the third paragraph on March 16th, 1827, we wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. That to me, folks, is what's so important. That to me is what matters the most. We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.

Let's be perfectly clear. They were here yesterday for the ribbon cutting, but ESPN is not here. ABC is not here. NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, they are not here. Other black-owned media, they are not here. We are here. And this is why we do what we do. And so we want you to stand with us, to support us with your dollars, to support us with your resources. Of course, you can check our money orders through PO Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Our cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. Our PayPal is RMartin Unfiltered.

Our Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Our Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Folks, that is it. I'll be back in the studio on tomorrow. Be there on Friday as well. We want to thank you so much for everything, for all that you have done. Folks, that is it. As we close out our coverage of the opening of the Dick Robinson Museum here in New York City.

Thank you so very much. I'll see you guys tomorrow from Washington, D.C. As we always do, we end our show the way I do it. Holla! This is an iHeart Podcast.