Questions?
-
404.662.2538
Ext. 102 -
680 Murphy Avenue, Suite #4128
Atlanta GA, 30310 - hello@breakingbarriersatl.com
Our story begins with the birth of professional baseball and tracks the history of a storied baseball franchise and the accomplishments of an Atlanta legend. It is a story that bends toward justice, from the inequities of entrenched segregation to the growth, inclusion and togetherness that characterize our shared vision of a still-evolving community.
1871
The Boston Red Stockings are formed and join the first professional baseball league.
Percentage of Black Players In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1876
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which comes to be more commonly known as the National League (NL), is formed. The American League (AL) is later established in 1901. The two would merge to form what we know as Major League Baseball in 1903.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1884
Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker is credited with being one of the first Black men to play professional baseball. A star athlete at Oberlin College as well as the University of Michigan, Walker played for semi-professional and minor league baseball clubs before joining the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association (AA) for the 1884 season.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1912
The Boston Red Stockings change their name to the Boston Braves. 23 years later, on May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth hits home run number 714 for the Braves–the final of his career.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1920
With no professional opportunity for black baseball players due to segregation, the Negro National League is formed, becoming the first of seven successful black baseball leagues.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1947
Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier, becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball. Three months later, Larry Doby joins the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League.
Three years pass before the Boston Braves sign their first black player, Sam Jethroe, in 1950.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1952
The Braves purchase the contract of Henry Louis Aaron from the Indianapolis Clowns, of the Negro American League, for $10,000. He would make his major league debut two years later.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1953
The Boston Braves move to Milwaukee. Hank Aaron leads the franchise to two pennants and a World Series title in 1957, the same year he wins his lone MVP award.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1966
During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the Braves break a once unthinkable barrier, becoming the first major professional sports franchise to make their home in the South – the home of Martin Luther King Jr, – Atlanta, Georgia. In an effort to overcome the slow pace of desegregation, Mayor Ivan Allen dubs Atlanta “The City Too Busy to Hate.”
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1974
Hank Aaron hits home run number 715 on April 8, 1974, passing Babe Ruth to become the all-time career home run leader. An accomplishment that should have been enjoyed as the pinnacle of a Hall of Fame career is clouded by racism and death treats.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1994
Growing up in one of Atlanta’s most dangerous apartment complexes, CJ Stewart takes his love for the game from John A. White Park all the way to Wrigley Field. The Cubs draft him for the first time. He signs two years later in 1996.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
1998
Diamond Directors is founded by CJ Stewart. Achieving unmatched success in the player development industry, he developes some of the game’s top amateur, collegiate and professional players, including Jason Heyward (Chicago Cubs), Dexter Fowler (Los Angeles Angels), Andrew Jones (former Atlanta Brave), Peter Alonso (NY Mets), Kyle Lewis (Seattle Mariners), and Andrew McCutchen (Philadelphia Phillies).
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
2007
Stewart and his wife Kelli found non-profit organization, L.E.A.D. (Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct) with a mission to empower an at-risk generation of black boys to lead and transform their city through baseball.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
2021
The Breaking Barriers program launches.
Inspired by the highly successful Breaking Barriers Camp – a summer instructional baseball clinic launched in 2017 by two white Moms from Buckhead, Shannon Cofield and Annie Everett – the Breaking Barriers program expands upon the Camp’s most important learnings: Our community shares a passion for baseball, its values and its life lessons, and by creating a space around which we can come together, we can begin to break down racial and economic barriers, strengthen our community and create a path for our young men to lead and transform their city.
Percentage of Black Players
In Major League Baseball:
0
%
From 17 to 7%.
Why is this happening?
Not long after CJ Stewart started Diamond Directors, he was called upon to both account for and address one of the greatest inequities in professional sports: The diminishing presence of Black Major League Baseball Players.
Over time – and as a result of the high costs of equipment, facilities, travel and coaching – the high-priced industry of baseball talent development had made it impossible for young Black boys in low income neighborhoods to participate. And CJ had recognized that he was now part of the problem – a cog in the machinery that produced mostly White professional baseball players. He had become a nationally recognized hitting instructor who could demand lucrative professional fees for his high-quality services. The demand was there, but only the most affluent families could afford Diamond Directors for their sons.
As a contributor to the problem, he had an obligation to devise and deliver a solution, and this served as the initial inspiration for L.E.A.D. – a program that will reverse this trend by affirming that access to the sport of baseball – and all of the values it teaches – should not and cannot be available exclusively to those who can afford it.
Breaking Barriers not only provides your children with certified personal instruction, as part of L.E.A.D., it provides our young men with access, and the best chance for the next generation of young Black men to break into the professional ranks of our beloved sport of baseball.
And even if they don’t make the Majors, they will be better prepared to pursue whatever profession they choose.
