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Truist Park Hosts the 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects HBCU All-Star Game

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Former MLB Players, college and university coaches, instructors, and fans were all in attendance to support the HBCU players. Before the game everyone was open to answering some questions regarding the MBP organization and minorities in baseball.
The post Truist Park Hosts the 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects HBCU All-Star Game first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 years ago

June 19, 2022

Oakland Post

By Menra Mapfumo

On June 3, Truist Park hosted the 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects HBCU All-Star Game, headed by the Minority Baseball Prospects organization (MBP).

MBP invited 60 players from 57 different HBCUs to compete against one another, but to also have fun.

Former MLB Players, college and university coaches, instructors, and fans were all in attendance to support the HBCU players. Before the game everyone was open to answering some questions regarding the MBP organization and minorities in baseball.

Baseball coach Roberto Alonso Jr. was in attendance to support one of his own players, Jose Santiago, a pitcher from Savannah State.

Coach Alonso Jr. commented on his experience coaching minority players and his relationships with them.

Coach Alonso Jr. said, “I was at Florida Memorial for five years, it’s a privilege.”

HBCU All Star Players Joseph Smith (Savannah State) and Casey Coates (Morehouse College) spoke on what it means to be a minority baseball prospect and the opportunities the organization has created for them both.

Smith said, “I love this opportunity. A lot of African American people don’t really get the exposure and experience to do stuff like this so it’s a once in a lifetime dream.”

Coates said, “It’s a dream at first, but also proves that we, just like other people who aren’t minorities, can do what they do as well. We’re just as talented as they are.”

HBCU All Star Players Malik Bell (Albany State University) and Lavoisier Fisher (Albany State) expressed how it felt to represent their HBCU and minorities in the game of baseball.

Bell said, “It’s awesome because at Albany State it feels like we put our school on the map. Albany State is in a small town in South Georgia. Not a lot of people there, not a lot to do. For somebody else outside of Albany State to notice our efforts and hard work we put in during the season… I like that.”

Fisher said, “To piggyback off that, Albany State is a smaller school, we get to come out, perform, show exactly what our coach has been teaching us and it’s going to be lit. It’s going to be a fun experience out there.”

Assistant baseball coach of Stillman College, Rashad Webster spoke on whether there is pressure on African Americans to make it to the MLB.

Coach Webster said, “I wouldn’t say pressure, but I think there is more fire inside of these gentlemen to make it to the next level because everybody wants to be the next pioneer when it comes to the game of baseball. Especially being an African American in this game, it takes a pioneer to be able to make a change within the game and open those flood gates so our African American youth can flow into the game of baseball.”

Hitting coordinator AP and coach Webster described what it was like coming up as minority baseball players.

AP said, “I’m not going to pretend like there weren’t any issues as far as when I was off the field… I can say for not myself personally, but certain things I have seen, it’s a longer road sometimes.”

Coach Webster “A lot of trials and tribulations come with being a minority baseball player. Whether that be on the field or off the field there’s a lot of things that you have to handle mentally before you get out on this baseball field. A ton of struggle comes with being a minority baseball player…”

Coach Alonso Jr., former MLB players Lenny Webster and Marvin Freeman, AP, and Coach Rashad Webster expressed what they think the future holds for minorities in the MLB and the roles HBCUs can play.

Coach Alonso Jr. said, “If we continue to build the HBCU schools and help them with the funding that is needed to promote baseball, get these kids more acclimated, more educated on a baseball diamond instead of on a street corner we’re going to have a lot more success stories…”

Marvin Freeman said, “I went to an HBCU and I have always said it is not where you’re at it’s how you play. Baseball is going to be baseball… If your athletic ability matches up with your skillset and you’re able to excel at whatever venue you’re in, scouts are out there to notice you. HBCUs are not as funded as some of the other larger schools, but we still have some of the best talent in the country and hopefully these guys will get an opportunity to show that they compete on whatever level they are on.”

AP said, “I think we are in a beautiful spot… It’s not like we’re having to force minorities to play baseball at a young age. It’s becoming as cool as basketball and it’s becoming as cool as football. The goal from what I see is everybody just pass down the knowledge, so, as far as minorities… we’re at a state now where we understand that it takes a village and it takes the rest of everybody for adapting the idea of it but I think these next three or four years we’re going to have a run.”

Lenny Webster said, “I think it has been tough. The numbers have declined in Major League Baseball as far as Black players are concerned, but I think the initiative that Major League Baseball started about five or six years ago, you’re starting to see a dent in that and you’re starting to see an influx of young Black talent coming back into the Major Leagues. I think that the Major League Baseball Dream Series, the Breakthrough Series, the Hank Aaron Invitationals, we get a chance to put our hands on our kids at a young age and it’s obviously begging to show as they get older…”

Coach Rashad Webster said, “I think HBCUs can play a huge role… just simply with activities and events like [the HBCU Allstar game] being done and the job a lot of African American coaches at these colleges and institutions has been superb when it comes to raising these young men properly on and off the field. I think in the next ten years you’ll probably see a huge influx of African American baseball players flowing through the minors and making their way into the MLB.”

The post Truist Park Hosts the 2022 Minority Baseball Prospects HBCU All-Star Game first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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Poll Shows Support for Policies That Help Families Afford Child Care

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

Published

1 week ago

March 2, 2026

Oakland Post

By First Five Years Fund

New national polling shows persistent voter concern about the affordability and availability of child care for working parents, alongside broad support across key demographic groups for federal child care policies that help families afford care.

The national survey was conducted by UpOne Insight on behalf of the First Five Years Fund from January 13–18, 2026.

Key findings include:

• Parents need help: 80% of voters say the ability of working parents to find and afford child care is either in a state of crisis or a major problem.

• This is an affordability issue: 82% believe federal child care funding will help lower costs for working families — including 69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 94% of Democrats.

• And there continues to be strong support (62%) for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal program that makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to afford safe, quality care for their children while parents work or go to school, including a majority of Republicans, 63% of Independents and 72% of Democrats.

• Support for funding child care programs remains strong: 75% believe child care funding should be increased or kept at current levels — including 75% of Republicans, 85% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.

• 74% say funding for child care is an important and good use of tax dollars, including a majority of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and nine in ten Democrats.

FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling said, “Voters across the country are sending a clear message: federal child care and early learning programs work. These investments help parents stay in the workforce, strengthen families, and support healthy child development. They have also long had strong bipartisan support in Congress. At a time when affordability is top of mind for families, continued federal funding is essential to ensure child care remains accessible and within reach.”

First Five Years Fund works to protect, prioritize, and build bipartisan support for quality child care and early learning programs at the federal level. Reliable, affordable, and high-quality early learning and child care can be transformative, not only enhancing a child’s prospects for a brighter future but also bolstering working parents and fostering economic stability nationwide.

We work with Congress and the Administration to identify federal solutions that work for families with young children, as well as states and communities. We work with policymakers to identify ways to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning programs for children. And we collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies. http://www.ffyf.org

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Trump’s MAGA Allies are Creating Executive Order Plan to Steal the 2026 Midterms

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 27, 2026

Oakland Post

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A group of MAGA pro-Trump activists, who say they are working in coordination with the White House, are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that would claim without evidence that China interfered with the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential to President Joe Biden by over 7 million votes. Since Trump lost to Biden in 2020, he has repeatedly claimed that the election was “stolen” without evidence. The report of a group of “Trump allies” preparing an executive order to give Trump power over elections was first reported by The Washington Post.

The lies around the right-wing campaign that pushed falsehoods that the 2020 election was stolen was trafficked through right-wing media, particularly Fox News. Fox News was then sued for defamation for the claims by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox lost the case and had to settle for the largest defamation amount on record of $787.5 million in April 2023.

The document that could lead to an executive order proposes using the claim that China interfered with the 2020 elections as grounds to “declare a national emergency.” The move would be an unprecedented step that would grant Trump new authority over the voting systems in the U.S.

The story in The Washington Post arrives as Trump increasingly signals that he may take actions that would alter the result of the 2026 midterms. The Republicans are widely expected to lose as their approval ratings plummet as a result of a failing economy under Trump. Over 50 members of Congress have announced they will retire this year and not return in 2027.

The Trump Department of Justice, which now has a large image of Trump on the side of it, “sued five new states Thursday [Feb. 26, 2026] demanding access to their unredacted voter rolls — escalating a campaign that has been rejected by multiple federal courts and faces resistance from Republican-led states as well,” according to Democracy Docket, a group that works to protect voting rights.

Trump claimed back in late 2020, the last year of his first term, that he had the authority to issue an executive order related to mail-in voting for the 2020 elections — which he would then lose. But the Constitution states that control of elections lies with the states. As the GOP works to place hurdles in front of voting, Democrats worked to make voting easier.

In March 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of the Biden Administration’s effort “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”

Trump’s focus is clearly on altering the November 2026 midterm elections. Trump’s polling numbers and the elections and special elections that have taken place around the U.S. over the last year clearly indicate that Republicans are about to be hit by a blue wave of Democratic victories.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent investigative journalist and the founder of Black Virginia News. She is a political analyst who appears on #RolandMartinUnfiltered and hosts the show LAUREN LIVE on YouTube @LaurenVictoriaBurke. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

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PRESS ROOM: NBA Hall of Fame Nominee Terry Cummings Joins 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to Launch Victory & Values Initiative

NNPA NEWSWIRE — NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 27, 2026

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Cummings becomes an honorary member, joining other role model sports stars

NBA Hall of Fame nominee and Basketball Legend Terry Cummings has officially become an honorary member of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, marking a powerful new chapter for the 100 Black Men and youth development across the region.

Cummings was administered the official member’s oath and ceremonially pinned during a special induction ceremony held on Friday, February 20th. The moment signified more than membership — it marked the launch of the organization’s transformative new platform, the Victory & Values Initiative.

The Victory & Values Initiative is a groundbreaking youth development program designed to empower elementary and middle school students through a dynamic blend of sports, mentorship, and STEM exposure. The initiative focuses on building health, discipline, character, leadership, and access to opportunity — creating pathways for long-term academic and personal success.

“This is about more than sports,” said Cummings during the ceremony. “It’s about using the platform of athletics to teach life lessons, create access, and build the next generation of leaders.”

The induction ceremony also featured notable guests including NASCAR’s newest Star Driver, Lavar Scott and NASCAR Director of Athletic Performance, Phil Horton, who joined Cummings for a powerful Victory & Values Town Hall discussion. The Town Hall was moderated by renowned Sports Emcee John Hollins and focused on leadership, resilience, discipline, and the importance of mentorship in shaping young lives.

A “Day at NASCAR” for 75+ Youth

Cummings wasted no time getting to work. On his first full day as an honorary member, he joined his new brothers of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County to host a “Day at NASCAR,” escorting more than 75 youth to a once-in-a-lifetime experience at EchoPark Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).

The youth participants received behind-the-scenes access including: an exclusive tour of Pit Row, access to the Garage Area and exploration of the interactive Fan Zone.

The experience culminated with a surprise meet-and-greet and Q&A session with NASCAR Superstar Bubba Wallace, who shared insights on perseverance, preparation, and breaking barriers in professional sports.

The day served as a living example of the ‘Victory & Values’ Initiative in action — exposing youth to new industries, expanding their vision for the future, and connecting them directly with high- level mentors and role models.

Building Leaders Through Access and Mentorship

The 100 Black Men of DeKalb County – a chapter of the largest, national mentoring organization in the county – continues to expand its footprint with programs focused on academic excellence, economic empowerment, leadership development, and health & wellness.

The launch of ‘Victory & Values’ represents a strategic expansion of the organization’s impact

intentionally integrating athletics and STEM to engage youth at an early age while reinforcing core principles such as integrity, accountability, teamwork, and perseverance.

“Our mission has always been to mentor the next generation,” said Vaughn Irons, President-Elect of the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County. “With Terry Cummings joining the brotherhood, along with partners in NASCAR and professional sports, we are creating unprecedented access and exposure for our youth. Victory & Values is about turning inspiration into structured opportunity.”

By connecting elementary and middle school students to professional athletes, executives, STEM professionals, and community leaders, the initiative aims to:

Increase youth exposure to careers in sports business, engineering, and performance science
Strengthen mentorship pipelines
Promote physical wellness and mental resilience
Build character-driven leadership at an early age

Open Invitation to Youth and Families

All youth are invited to participate in the Victory & Values Initiative, along with the other countless, impactful programs offered by the 100 Black Men of DeKalb County.

Parents and guardians seeking mentorship, leadership development, academic enrichment, and transformative exposure opportunities for their children are encouraged to connect with the organization.

As NBA Legend Terry Cummings’ induction demonstrates, Victory & Values is more than a program — it is a movement designed to build champions in life, not just in sports.

For more information about the Victory & Values Initiative or to enroll a student, contact: 100 Black Men of DeKalb County at Phone at 404.241.1338, info@100bmod.org or Tee Foxx at 404.791.6525,