June 14, 2010 – LA Weekly – Sometimes in life, everything goes just perfectly and the stars align to create a truly magical moment. Well, such alignment and magic certainly occurred last Wednesday for 130 very fortunate participants who experienced a day of sports, civil rights and royalty.Our national pastime of baseball has historically played an integral role in the Civil Rights Movement. Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not deliver any famous speeches from the pitcher’s mound, 130 New Orleans youth (from all parts of the city, including New Orleans East, Central City, Lower Algiers and elsewhere) had the opportunity to venture to Birmingham, AL to experience first-hand the history of baseball and, even more importantly, the history of our country. This once-in-a-lifetime trip was sponsored by New Orleans City Council President, Arnie Fielkow, who himself came into public office with a vast background in sports.
Those participants on the 20-hour, day trip walked away with a lifetime of memories and learned first-hand about a very important chapter in U.S. history, the struggles encountered by so many and the importance of equality, both on and off the playing field. Many notable civil rights leaders, including New Orleans own Reverend ‘Skip’ Alexander, a peer of Dr. King, shared their experiences with the youth and brought history to the table in a very personal way, which clearly resonated with the New Orleans contingent.
The history lesson began in Alabama at Rickwood Field, America’s oldest ballpark, which still resembles a park of yore, complete with vintage signs and décor. A community ballpark, Rickwood is host to one Minor League game a year, the Rickwood Classic, which this year celebrated the field’s 100th anniversary. Rickwood was home to both the Birmingham White Barons and also the Birmingham Black Barons. The latter was Willie May’s team before he went on the play for the San Francisco Giants. Reverend Alexander, Council President Fielkow and Ro Brown, former sports anchor at WDSU, all spoke to the students about how the game of baseball, specifically Willie Mays and before him, Jackie Robinson, pioneered equality among the races. It was in 1947 when Robinson donned a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform making him the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. It was more than a decade later before the era of the Civil Rights Movement would take hold of this country.
The group then visited the historic 16th Street Baptist Church. The site of a horrendous hate crime that galvanized Alabama’s Civil Rights Movement, the church was an integral landmark in the country’s Civil Rights Movement. There they were challenged by Reverend Bill Greason, a ballplayer in the Negro Baseball League and a member of the Civil Rights Movement, to learn the first names of all four girls that were murdered in that church’s basement, for learning someone’s name, he said, brings you closer to them.
Just across the street from the church, at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a comprehensive facility that chronicles civil rights, from “separate but equal” to today’s horrors in Darfur. A replica of the white tank that Birmingham’s Public Safety Officer, Eugene “Bull” Connor, drove through the streets to intimidate the African-American population of the city was even on display, Reverend Alexander told the youngsters that he was there in 1963 to witness the Children’s March, a peaceful protest in which more than 1,000 children gathered at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Most were jailed, and many were attacked by police dogs and fire hoses. He said adults did not join the march, for they thought the kids would be safe; they thought children would not be jailed or hurt.
“Birmingham, once referred to as ‘Bombingham,’ is the natural place to learn about the Civil Rights Movement,” said Council President Fielkow. “I hope that these kids come away from this trip wiser about the history of the South and motivated to continue breaking down barriers,” he continued.
Fast forwarding to present day, the day ended at the football complex at the University of Alabama where they were greeted by Assistant Head Coach Burton Burns, a native New Orleanian. “I am from the 504!” was how he introduced himself before engaging the kids accepting “personal responsibility.”
“Don’t blame anyone else if you don’t reach your goals,” he said.
He then introduced two of his players, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, Mark Ingram, and his fellow running back Trent Richardson. Both spoke about how they overcame their own rough neighborhoods as well as the importance of education.
“I saw kids in my hometown of Flint, Michigan selling drugs, but I made the decision to go a different way. I had a plan,” said Ingram. “I set my goals high and did not let anyone tell me what I could not do,” he said.
Richardson added: “Football is only here for a little while, which is why we have to get an education.”
“We picked up 130 kids at New Orleans City Hall early this morning, but we are not returning with the same children,” said Reverend Alexander. “They will be new kids after what they saw today,” he said.
The second annual Birmingham trip represented an incredible and memorable day for the youth of New Orleans. Indeed, a magical day for all concerned!
This article was originally published in the June 14, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
