You may recall that on January 23, 2020, the Stansbury Forum published my essay, “The Rippling Manifesto.” As you also may recall, it was based on a letter I sent to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred a week earlier, calling on Major League Baseball to provide financial reparations to Negro League players and their surviving family members (including the players who played in the Negro Leagues after MLB integration).  I would now like to update you on those efforts.

.

Winter/Spring, 2020

After the publication of “The Rippling Manifesto,” a groundswell of nationwide support emerged for the cause of Negro League reparations, which led to numerous on-air radio interviews, including on Etan Thomas’ syndicated ESPN radio show, “The Collision: Sports & Politics,” and Jeff Fannell’s Sports 360 Podcast. 

These events provided the opportunity for me to establish a core group of leaders in the fields of social justice, labor, law, visual media, and professional baseball, who share my passion and commitment to achieving financial reparations for Negro League players and their families. We now comprise the Executive Committee of the Ripple of Hope Project, with the objective of pursuing social justice for oppressed populations, particularly within communities of color. I also established a Facebook Group for the Ripple of Hope Project, which continues to this day and has members nationwide who support the cause of Negro League reparations. 

Summer, 2020

I and the other ROH Project Committee members continued efforts to reach out to Negro League families, and other parties, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent to the murder of George Floyd and resulting widespread protests against racial injustice. Here were the outcomes of those efforts: 

August 9, 2020: I connected with the Grandniece of Negro League pitching great John Donaldson, as well as other members of the Donaldson family. They expressed full support for the ROH Project’s cause for Negro League reparations and offered their assistance. 

August 27, 2020: I sent letters to the ownership groups of the thirty MLB franchises, informing them of my previous letter to Commissioner Manfred, and urging their support and assistance in our efforts to achieve Negro League reparations.

Fall, 2020

November 5, 2020: I received unanimous approval from the Board of Directors of my 501 c-3 non-profit organization, which I founded in 2015, Comeback Athletes & Artists Network, Inc. (CAAN, Inc.), to amend the organization’s Mission Statement to include social justice outreach and to allow the ROH Project to operate as the social justice arm of the organization. 

Winter, 2020/2021

December 16, 2020: Major League Baseball announced that Negro League player statistics from 1920-1948 would now be included in the MLB record books.

December 23, 2020: I sent a letter to Ms. Michele Meyer-Shipp, Esq., MLB’s Chief People & Culture Officer, informing her of the ROH Project’s mission and efforts, and requesting her assistance and support in these efforts.

December 30, 2020: I connected with a representative of a core group of Negro League families and surviving Negro League players. This representative read my manifesto and requested a Zoom meeting to discuss the possibility of forming an alliance between the ROH Project and a core group of Negro League players’ families and surviving Negro League players.

January 5, 2021: Subsequent to MLB’s December 16, 2020 announcement, the ROH Project Committee conducted a Zoom Meeting with the aforementioned core group of Negro League families, several of whom run non-profit organizations serving Negro League players, their families, and the community. The result of that meeting was the establishment of their support for the pursuit of Negro League reparations.

Spring 2021-Present

The ROH Project continues its work toward achieving the mission of Negro League reparations. We are currently working on a written proposal to present to Major League Baseball, describing our plan for achieving Negro League reparations, as a starting point in that process. I am also nearing completion of a book that describes our plan in detail and the Negro League players whom I believe should be eligible for financial reparations. 

As of this writing, we have still not received a response from Commissioner Manfred, the thirty MLB ownership groups, or Ms. Meyer-Shipp. I am therefore asking for your assistance with making our goal of Negro League reparations a reality. You can do so by voicing your support for the cause to Commissioner Manfred at:

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball  
1271 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

212-931-7800. 

You may also contact Commissioner Manfred on his Twitter account (twitter@RobManfred). 

Please also consider voicing your support to the front offices of your hometown MLB teams. The more allies we have in this mission, the greater our chance for achieving victory!

Thank you.

…