A history of the Negro Leagues
Speaker Byron Motley visited campus to showcase the history of baseball's most overlooked era.
JIM O'NEILL
Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Campus News
After speaker Byron Motley
walked around the Fireside
Lounge making small talk
before his speech on the
Negro Leagues, he introduced
himself to the small crowd. As
he walked down the aisle to
begin his presentation, he
made it clear to the audience
who he thought to be the original
"Jumpman."
"Before people called
Michael Jordan 'Air Jordan',
they should have called my
father Air Motley!" Motley
exclaimed, eliciting laughs
from the audience before diving
into his presentation, "The
Negro Baseball Leagues: An
American Legacy."
Motley, a professional
author and filmmaker (as well
as photographer, singer, and
lecturer) was at Bucks on
Thursday, capping off Bucks'
Black History month speech
circuit.
Motley spent an hour
describing the history of the
Negro Leagues, giving a thorough
overview of some it's
most renowned and powerful
teams, players, events and
interesting facts. He also centered
his presentation on the
only Negro League umpire
still alive- Bob Motley, his
father.
Wearing the jersey of
Kansas City Monarchs great
Satchel Paige, Motley walked
around the room, describing
some of the great teams to
play in the Negro Leagues the
Philadelphia Stars, the House
of David (an all-white team
composed of members of the
religious sect of the same
name) and the Kansas City
Monarchs, whom he dubbed
the "Yankees of the Negro
League."
Contrary to popular belief,
Motley explained how the
Negro Leagues were not composed
simply of black baseball
players. It was a multicultural
league composing of blacks,
whites, Latinos and Asians. It
was also the third biggest
minority owned business in
the United States from 1920 to
1960, behind insurance companies
and Madame CJ
Walker's hair care line.
He also enlightened his
audience on how the Negro
Leagues were responsible for
playing baseball's first night
walked around the Fireside
Lounge making small talk
before his speech on the
Negro Leagues, he introduced
himself to the small crowd. As
he walked down the aisle to
begin his presentation, he
made it clear to the audience
who he thought to be the original
"Jumpman."
"Before people called
Michael Jordan 'Air Jordan',
they should have called my
father Air Motley!" Motley
exclaimed, eliciting laughs
from the audience before diving
into his presentation, "The
Negro Baseball Leagues: An
American Legacy."
Motley, a professional
author and filmmaker (as well
as photographer, singer, and
lecturer) was at Bucks on
Thursday, capping off Bucks'
Black History month speech
circuit.
Motley spent an hour
describing the history of the
Negro Leagues, giving a thorough
overview of some it's
most renowned and powerful
teams, players, events and
interesting facts. He also centered
his presentation on the
only Negro League umpire
still alive- Bob Motley, his
father.
Wearing the jersey of
Kansas City Monarchs great
Satchel Paige, Motley walked
around the room, describing
some of the great teams to
play in the Negro Leagues the
Philadelphia Stars, the House
of David (an all-white team
composed of members of the
religious sect of the same
name) and the Kansas City
Monarchs, whom he dubbed
the "Yankees of the Negro
League."
Contrary to popular belief,
Motley explained how the
Negro Leagues were not composed
simply of black baseball
players. It was a multicultural
league composing of blacks,
whites, Latinos and Asians. It
was also the third biggest
minority owned business in
the United States from 1920 to
1960, behind insurance companies
and Madame CJ
Walker's hair care line.
He also enlightened his
audience on how the Negro
Leagues were responsible for
playing baseball's first night