**This class will be taught on Zoom**
With the recent passing of Willie Mays, by any standards one of the most beloved and talented baseball players of all time, much attention has been brought to the legacy of the Negro Leagues where Mays made his professional debut with the Birmingham Black Barons. This storied franchise was one of many in the segregated world that was Black baseball before the color barrier was broken in 1947 by Jackie Robinson and Mays was finally able to break through as a star with the Giants in the early 1950s. To its credit, Major League Baseball has recently elevated the Negro Leagues to equal status including the hallowed realm of official statistics and by finally honoring the legacy of the great players and franchises that toiled for decades in the “shadows.” By the late 1940s and early 1950s, Mays and other black players were finally able to compete with (and oft-times surpass) the white players, thereby changing the fabric of baseball forever, though the indignities of prejudice persisted. Other non-white ballplayers, particularly Hispanics and later Asians finally made their mark in MLB which is now a sport with global reach and profound cultural influence. This class is designed to honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues unto the era of Willie Mays and resurrect its legends while not glossing over the painful exclusion suffered during this pivotal period in American life and culture. We will share many iconic images, video and movie clips, and anecdotes along the way that should appeal to diehard and casual baseball/American history fans alike.
