Reflections on struggles of past

By Rebecca Fitzgerald

Growing up in the 21st century, I’m used to the whirlwinds that surround me. Change occurs so quickly and frequently that they become second nature. 

Because of this, sometimes I analyze the present and anticipate the future rather than reflecting on the past.

But not Sunday.

In the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., I learned about the legacies of several African-American baseball players.

I learned about the first Negro league and its formation in Kansas City in 1920, led by Andrew “Rube” Foster – then a player, manager and owner of the Chicago American Giants.  

I was reminded of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to earn a spot on a Major League roster, as well as all of the other players, managers and executives who contributed.  Their legacy and efforts still resonate more than 50 years later, both on and off the field.

As one of this year’s interns of the Sports Journalism Institute, I could relate to the veterans who assisted in developing baseball into America’s national pastime. We, too, are breaking barriers.

In the field of sports media dominated by white males, each of us acts as a number – one more minority reporting sports in the nation. We’re more than a number, though.

Yes, we’re minorities, but more importantly, we’re diverse. Each of us carries a story. We have our own ideas on how we can change the state of sports media. And, like Robinson, we have the opportunity to change America’s ways.

We’re already on the right path, participating in the Sports Journalism Institute. Some of us have also joined the Association for Women in Sports Media, the National Association for Black Journalists and other organizations that embrace a similar mission: to increase diversity in media outlets across the nation.

We’re lucky, because unlike the Negro leagues players in the 20th century, we have support. There are hundreds, even thousands, who are united together and want to increase diversity in newsrooms.

But without civil rights leaders, such as Robinson, we wouldn’t be here today.