MacArthur aims to help people with disabilities find work
Although philanthropy has taken steps to increase the flow of grant dollars to people with disabilities in recent years, disability advocates say the broad push among foundations to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work has largely left people with disabilities out, both in terms of grants and representation on foundation boards and staff.
LEADING OFF: Jackie Robinson Day, Red Sox go for 10th in row
All players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear No. 42 on Thursday to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, marking the anniversary of the date the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Famer made his Major League Baseball debut and broke the sport’s color barrier in 1947.
Curry, WNBA players receive Jackie Robinson award from NAACP
The NAACP has given him its Jackie Robinson Sports Award. And, for the first time, the nation's oldest civil rights organization is recognizing more than one person by honoring the WNBA Players Association. Ad“I am so proud of the WNBA players for this well-deserved recognition of their continued activism and advocacy for social justice and equality," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement provided to the AP. Warriors coach Steve Kerr, outspoken on many issues himself, admires the WNBA players for their activism. “I love what the WNBA players have done.
Major League Baseball to hold first Lou Gehrig Day on June 2
FILE - New York Yankees' Lou Gehrig poses at a spring training game in St. Petersburg, Fla., in this March 16, 1935, file photo. Major League Baseball will hold its first Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, 2021, adding Gehrig to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente on the short list of players honored throughout the big leagues. (AP Photo/Tom Sande, File)NEW YORK – Major League Baseball will hold its first Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, adding Gehrig to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente on the short list of players honored throughout the big leagues. 4, and all players, managers and coaches will wear a Lou Gehrig Day patch on uniforms and may use red “4-ALS” wristbands. Teams that are off on June 2 will observe Lou Gehrig Day on June 3.
Bruins postpone O'Ree honors until '22 so fans can be there
FILE - Former Boston Bruins' Willie O'Ree tips his hat as he is honored prior to the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens in Boston, in this Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, file photo. The Boston Bruins say they will retire the jersey of Willie ORee, who broke the NHLs color barrier. 22 jersey honored prior to the Bruins Feb. 18 game against the New Jersey Devils. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)BOSTON – The Boston Bruins will wait to retire the number of pioneering Black hockey player Willie O’Ree until next year so that they can raise his No. The NHL said Thursday it asked the Bruins and O’Ree to postpone the ceremony until Jan. 18 -- 64 years to the day that he became the league’s first Black player.
MLB season slated to start with Yankees-Jays, Tigers-Indians
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)NEW YORK – The major league season is scheduled to start April 1 with the New York Yankees hosting Toronto and Detroit hosting Cleveland, part of an opening-day schedule of 15 games. The schedule envisions every team playing its first game on the same day for the first time since 1968. AdThe regular season is scheduled to end Oct. 3, with all games scheduled to start close to simultaneously shortly after 3 p.m. EDT. The Yankees host Boston in the only game scheduled for July 15, the final day of the All-Star break for most teams. Players rejected a proposal by teams to delay opening day to April 28 and cut each team's schedule from 162 games to 154.
PBS chief defends filmmaker Ken Burns, touts diversity
FILE - Ken Burns, director of the PBS documentary series "Country Music," takes part in a panel discussion during the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on July 29, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Speaking Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, to the Television Critics Association in a virtual Q&A, PBS chief executive Paula Kerger rejected a filmmakers claim that public TVs long relationship with Burns has come at the expense of diversity. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)LOS ANGELES – The chief executive of PBS rejected a filmmaker’s argument that public TV's 40-year relationship with documentarian Ken Burns has come at the expense of diversity. “We create lots of opportunities for many filmmakers,” Kerger said. "The stuff that’s coming up is incredibly diverse in every sense of the meaning of that word,” Burns said.
Aaron lauded for grace amid racism during home run pursuit
Joe Carter met his childhood idol when he won the first Hank Aaron Award in 1986 after leading the majors in RBIs. Hank Aaron. Aaron broke Ruth's record with his 715th home run for the Atlanta Braves in 1974 in former President Jimmy Carter's native Georgia. “He grew up poor and faced racism as he worked to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. It’s going to be at the Hall of Fame, it was Hank Aaron, Joe Morgan, and Frank Robinson.
Indians manager Francona says team's name change "correct"
FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2019, file photo, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona talks before a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Cleveland. Francona, on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, praised the Cleveland Indians for trying to do the right thing with a name change that was inevitable, and necessary (AP Photo/Phil Long, File)CLEVELAND – Manager Terry Francona praised the Cleveland Indians for trying to “do the right thing” with a name change that was inevitable — and necessary. “I am proud of the fact that we are going to do something that is correct,” Francona said on a Zoom call from his home in Arizona. He's confident Chris Antonetti, the team's president of baseball operations, and general manager Mike Chernoff will do whatever's necessary to keep the Indians competitive. Schilling pitched for Francona in Philadelphia and Boston, where he helped the Red Sox end their long World Series drought.
MLB reclassifies Negro Leagues as major league
Major League Baseball has reclassified the Negro Leagues as a major league and will count the statistics and records of its 3,400 players as part of its history. Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major league record, too. The statistics and records of greats like Gibson, Paige and roughly 3,400 other players are set to join Major League Baseball's books after MLB announced Wednesday it is reclassifying the Negro Leagues as a major league. “We couldn’t be more thrilled by this recognition of the significance of the Negro Leagues in Major League Baseball history,” said Edward Schauder, legal representative for Gibson’s estate and co-founder of the Negro Leagues Players Association. “Granting MLB status to the Negro Leagues a century after their founding is profoundly gratifying.”___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.
Braves' Freeman wins NL MVP, White Sox slugger Abreu gets AL
Freeman easily won the NL MVP award Thursday, Nov. 12, topping off a trying year that saw him become so ill with COVID-19 he prayed please dont take me. Betts was bidding to join Frank Robinson as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues. Cleveland third baseman José Ramírez finished second in the AL MVP voting and Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu was third. He became the fourth different White Sox player to win the AL MVP, joining Frank Thomas (1993-94), Dick Allen (1972) and Nellie Fox (1959). A three-time AL MVP, Trout had finished in the top four every season since he was AL Rookie of the Year in 2012.
Art exhibit in Chadwick Boseman's hometown honors legacy
A boy stands in front of two paintings of Chadwick Boseman during the opening of an art exhibit honoring the actor in his hometown of Anderson, S.C. on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Nearly 20 local artists took part in the city sponsored project. (Charles McBryde, Via AP)
Art exhibit in Chadwick Boseman's hometown honors legacy
A boy stands in front of two paintings of Chadwick Boseman during the opening of an art exhibit honoring the actor in his hometown of Anderson, S.C. on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Local artist Joey Withinarts started painting his take on Boseman’s image just hours after the news broke of his passing. The exhibit, which opened to the public Thursday, features nearly twenty local South Carolina artists. Local artist Troleum Dawson, who is a colon cancer survivor himself, says the project has brought the community closer. Exhibit organizer Herman Keith Jr. sees Boseman's life as a message to young kids living in small towns like Anderson and beyond.
Landis' name pulled off baseball MVP plaques after 75 years
FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2006, file photo, a Joe DiMaggio 1947 MVP Award plaque is displayed at a news conference in New York. The name of Landis, the former baseball commissioner who never had a Black player in the majors during his long reign, is being pulled off all future MVP plaques after more than 75 years. Landis won't be depicted on the annual awards presented by the Baseball Writers Association of the America, the group said Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. Kenesaw Mountain Landis won't be depicted on the annual awards presented by the Baseball Writers’ Association of the America, the group said Friday. “To me, the MVP award should be something that’s all positive,” Larkin told the AP on Friday.