Baseball, Civil Rights and Reconciliation: Day 3 (Selma & Montgomery, Alabama)
Converge’s Che’lon McLennan stands in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. In 1965 the bridge was the site of Bloody Sunday in which the Alabama State Police savagely beat peaceful protesters. (Photo Ike Everard)
This cultural exchange was made possible through gracious support from Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, Ezell’s Famous Chicken and Amazon.
Click here to learn more about Bloody Sunday
Seattle’s own Baseball Beyond Borders is currently on a four-day trip through the South, which began with a youth baseball clinic in Jackson, Mississippi. Hosted at Jackson State University in association with the John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, the clinic brought kids aged 9-18 to learn from the Baseball Beyond Borders Senior Division All-Star Team.
Baseball is a very expensive sport to participate in at a high level and more and more Black children are being priced out of the game. In Seattle, Baseball Beyond Borders provides the opportunity for youth from low-income families to compete at a high level. This trip aims to bring that same opportunity to the youth in Jackson. The experience brings together ballplayers from Seattle and Jackson, with the vision to grow the game in Black communities and inspire a generation.
Day 3 of the Baseball Beyond Borders trip through the South took us out of Jackson, Mississippi and moved East to Alabama. After a quick stop in downtown Jackson, we hit the road. A stop in Selma took brought us to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Bloody Sunday as well as other famous marches. We then travelled to Montgomery, where the team watched a Montgomery Biscuits game (the AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays).
This day of the trip began the second half, which focuses on engaging with the culture and reconciling with the past. It was a day of both celebration and reflection, truly an educational and impactful experience.
10:30 AM
The day started in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. We took photos of landmarks and explored some of the history which resides there.
This mural sits in downtown Jackson, near the State Capitol (photo Ike Everard).
12:00 PM
We arrived in Selma, Alabama to see the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge was the site of Bloody Sunday, one of the most tragic battles of the Civil Rights movement. We also stopped at the historic Brown Chapel AME Church, which is currently undergoing repairs. It was the site of meetings with leaders including Martin Luther King Jr and John Lewis and is where the marches from Selma originated.
Converge’s Che’lon McLennan stands in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The bridge was the site of Bloody Sunday, one of the most tragic battle of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. (Photo Ike Everard)
6:00 PM
The Baseball Beyond Borders Kings arrived in Montgomery and attended a Montgomery Biscuits game. The Biscuits are the double-a affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and were playing the Biloxi Shuckers, affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers. The game went to extra innings, but was suspended in the top of the tenth inning due to rain. It will be completed today.
Members of the Kings pose for a photo at the Montgomery Biscuits game. The Biscuits are Montgomery’s only professional baseball team (photo Che’lon McLennan).
Tomorrow brings the final day of the trip, featuring a trip to the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum and a meeting with Mr. Anthony Ray Hinton, who served 28 years on Alabama’s death row after being wrongfully convicted. Stay tuned for those powerful stories in what will surely be an impactful final day of historical engagement and reconciliation.
Converge Crew
Converge is producing a short documentary on the trip, taking a look at the journey of education and reconciliation as well as the impact of the game of baseball. Be on the lookout for the release in the coming months.
