Civil Rights Weekend

As you know, the Reds are hosting a “Civil Rights Game” this weekend. I’m not really sure, frankly, what it’s all about (okay, it’s supposed to “honor the efforts and struggles for equality among the races”); it’s pretty much just PR for Major League Baseball. As PR goes, however, this is an interesting event, and it’s nice to have Cincinnati noticed for something like this rather than some of the other things we’ve seen in the recent past.

Anyway, there have been a lot of coverage of the weekend festivities, so I thought I’d round them up for you.

–Three to be honored this weekend:

It doesn’t get much bigger than Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby and Hank Aaron — all three will be honored at the Major League Baseball Beacon Awards Luncheon on Saturday at the Duke Energy Center as part of the festivities surrounding the Civil Rights Game.

“I think it’s awesome. That’s a tremendous lineup,” said Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, a 2008 Beacon of Life winner. “It’s too bad they couldn’t get somebody to hit fourth. That’s a great group.”

All these guys are going to be on the field before Saturday’s game, too.

–I’m really glad to see that Chuck Harmon is going to be on hand for the weekend. Harmon, of course, is the first African-American player in Reds history. His story has kinda been forgotten, and that’s a shame.

–FSN Ohio will carry most of the pre-game festivities on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast with limited commercial interruption.

–It’s a star-filled lineup.

–Mark Sheldon has a good piece about the Freedom Center, which is located next to Great American Ballpark.

–Need more info?

As part of this weekend’s Gillette Civil Rights Game festivities, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard will give a motivational speech following Friday night’s game, just prior to the fireworks show…30 lucky fans will watch the fireworks with Leonard in the visitors’ dugout…on Sunday, Leonard will answer questions from fans from 12:30 to 12:50 p.m. in the Fan Zone..

On Saturday, the Reds and White Sox will wear uniform jerseys circa 1964, the year the Civil Rights Act was passed to outlaw racial segregation in schools, public places and employment…that piece of legislature (sic) also created the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

I’m definitely excited to check out the throwback uniforms. The Reds have been behind the curve about things like that.