President of Negro Leagues Baseball Museum reminds visitors it’s about far more than the sport

By Dennis Evans

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — The Negro leagues Baseball Museum’s director Bob Kendrick has stories, lots of stories.

On this Martin Luther King Jr Day, both KU and Mizzou’s baseball teams stopped by for tours.

The players looked and listened to Kendrick, hoping to promote conversations on diversity.

Baseball was only a part of this lesson, however.

“It’s a social justice museum, just seen through the lens of baseball,” Kendrick said.

From the baseball to the bleachers, there is something at the museum for everyone. One picture held a special significance to visitors while touring during Monday’s holiday.

Jackie Robinson and Dr. King together – a groundbreaking athlete and a leader of the United States civil rights movement, both working to change the world.

More than a half a century has passed since Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial calling for freedom and equalityHere are the Martin Luther King Jr. words that inspire today’s social justice leaders “We make the assertion here that Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier of the six-decade-long self-imposed color barrier wasn’t just that, It was the beginning of the social movement in this country,” Kendrick said.

On Monday, the intersection of baseball and social change was crystal clear to visitors.

“My family and I knew of Jackie Robinson, but we were shocked to learn so much more than that. It was so much more,” Visitor Sadie Pederson said.

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