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As the Jackie Robinson statue returns to Wichita, so do the lessons learned

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WICHITA, Kansas — Six months ago, the city had an issue. Under cover of darkness, someone drove a van into McAdams Park, cut a figure off at the feet and towed him away. The security footage is downright difficult to watch. A bunch of shadowy figures loitering in the plaza on seventeenth Street, after which suddenly the majestic figure drops onto the platform, bouncing barely from the impact.

It’s one thing to know in your mind that tons of of children who play baseball and admire the statue will not have an icon to look up to. It’s quite one other to see the actual footage of the theft and the gruesome footage of Robinson’s severed head burning on the ground.

“When I got there, there were already multiple officers on the scene,” Wichita Police Department Lt. Drew Seiler said of the theft. “We had officers in the League 42 constructing reviewing video footage from the last 24 hours. The area was cordoned off. We began a forensic investigation to collect any physical evidence and document the scene because it was found.

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“This is the first time I’ve seen a physical statue removed like this. And it’s scary because we have a lot of thefts in cemeteries. People go to the cemetery and cut off the brass candlesticks or flower pots that are glued to either side of the headstone.”

He was placed on trial for the case, which he claims to have treated as a murder, spending an important deal of time and energy trying to find the perpetrators. When I first heard about the case, it appeared like a transparent case of somebody deliberately trying to desecrate a monument related to Robinson, which happens so often that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, has a complete exhibit devoted to these perpetrators.

But after spending time there, the reality of the situation is way sadder than what we initially believed on the surface. The sheer desperation it takes to try to scrap a complete statue for metal, irrespective of who it’s, is such a grim reminder of the circumstances many face in 2024. A shortsighted, mean decision ultimately driven by substance abuse affected many individuals and effectively ended the lifetime of one when Ricky Alderete was sentenced to 15 years for theftand various other previous accusations.

Not that this was anything latest for Seiler — absolutely nothing.

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“You and I probably have a different lifestyle than the person we identified as the person who did this,” Seiler explained as calmly as possible. “So what you and I consider normal behavior is different than the behavior of the people who were involved in this. And going through this investigation, the sentimental value of what Jackie Robinson represents — not just to this youth program, to our city, but to our state and our nation, what he does for sports and the doors that were opened — the sentimental value that he brings was never felt. It wasn’t even considered, from what I understood from talking to the detectives and the officer who followed up on all of our leads. It was never considered. It was the value of the physical object.”

Jackie Robinson’s brown cleats, left after the theft of the MLB player’s statue from a Kansas park, are displayed at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on May 17 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Nicholas Ingram/AP Photo

As much as I feel offended and upset as a black person and a baseball fan, there may be also an element of me as a human being that’s just ashamed that a gaggle of persons are trying to pull off a Scooby-Doo level scam, all for drugs.

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“Wichita is not the yellow brick road that everyone thinks it is, with the wind blowing around the weeds,” explained councilman and native Brandon Johnson. “You know, we’re an enormous city, the largest city in Kansas. An amazing city. Our strength is our people. When you walk around, you don’t see people just ignoring you. Everyone smiles at you. You might get a number of waves.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here. And growing up here was fun. You know, we made the best of it, even though I was poor. And that’s kind of my focus now, is making sure that our lower-income communities have those same opportunities.”

In an election 12 months, especially one which takes place during the Olympics, Wichita is a stark reminder of the real drug problem in America. It’s not only the fictional Walter White from a TV show running around New Mexico, a gaggle of wealthy kids at a highschool party in Los Angeles, or the drug lord Ghost trying to run his business legally.

This is a grown man, a profession criminal — a nasty one at that — trying to feed his fentanyl addiction with a vile, brazen stunt. He wasn’t alone, but he was the one who got caught. Even after the statue returned to McAdams Park on Monday to much fanfare, there’s something about the final result that feels so sad.

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Maybe it’s because Alderete is around my age. Maybe it’s because my friends have lost their lives to accidental drug overdoses. Or possibly it’s because his life as he knows it’s effectively over.

“I let fentanyl get to me and I made a lot of bad decisions. I’m not going to deny that. I never meant to hurt anyone. I’m ashamed, I’m embarrassed. Whatever you do today, I accept it,” he said. “I’m ready for it. I believe I’m where I need to be right now because at the rate I’m going, I could be dead.”

He got 15 years.

“For someone who thinks they can drop all this and make a few dollars and see it as meaningless and fueling this idea of, ‘Let’s just make a few dollars,’ it’s more disappointing and hurtful,” Johnson lamented.

In short, a few of this doesn’t look like a very comfortable ending. Despite all the possibilities in Kansas, the desperation is apparent. When you see people walking down the street after a certain time of day, they probably don’t have anywhere to stay. The margins through which individuals slip are the ones from which individuals should have the option to return.

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“I would not only invite him to the unveiling, but I would ask him if you have a baseball background. How can we make this a success story for you so you don’t have to spend the rest of your life as a villain?” So that will be really cool,” Lutz said. “But if he’s sitting in a jail cell right now, regretting what he did, and he wants to tell us about it, he should be able to do that. And if he wants to go further and be a part of League 42, we wouldn’t be following the Jackie Robinson model if we denied that.”

David Hobbs, of Art Castings of Colorado, touches up a wax solid of the head of MLB legend Jackie Robinson in Loveland, Colorado, May 8. The original figure was cut off at the ankles and stolen from a park in Wichita, Kansas, in January.

Thomas Peipert/AP Photo

While the symbolism and uplifting are great, it’s still only a statue. It might be rebuilt. And since the form still exists, although John Parsons, the sculptor and friend of Lutz’s, has died, that’s exactly what they did — 560 miles away in Loveland, Colorado.

Tony Workman stands in his foundry, Art Castings of Colorado, watching certainly one of his crew members polish a bronze head of Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Right next to him is a breastplate bearing the iconic Brooklyn Dodgers name and the number 42, for the second baseman whose metal likeness is getting a second likelihood at life.

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“We use 100,000 pounds of metal a year,” Workman said.

He explains the intricate technique of making a statue. The smell of metalworking is unforgettable. To them, it’s just one other statue. They make plenty of them. Tom Osborne in front of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Willie Mays in front of Oracle Park in San Francisco. Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh. The list goes on.

“The first step in the process is pouring all the rubber into the molds. That gives you all the detail,” Workman said as we toured the facility amidst fields. “And if you’ve ever built a candle, you’ll pour in wax that’s three-sixteenths of an inch thick. That’s the thickness of the wax and ultimately the metal. For larger pieces like Jackie Robinson, I think the castings are eight pieces. We’re not just casting full-size figures.”

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The whole thing could be very rough, noisy and, frankly, physically dangerous, a reminder of what people undergo to each earn an honest living and feed their addictions. Even in the event that they weren’t pumping out motion figures of all types, it could take a month to construct a statue of Robinson, he said.

On Monday at McAdams Park, the community and League 42 celebrated the return of their premier facility.

“There’s not much you can do if someone gets the idea to steal something, and copper prices are what they are,” Workman said. “The only problem with stealing a sculpture is you can’t break it down into a small enough piece that people don’t realize it’s a sculpture, right? And every scrap dealer in America knows not to take that. You know, if you’re going to commit a crime, it’s usually not the best or brightest, but they tried.”

Hopefully, the lessons learned from this complete ordeal will help greater than only one Little League, one city, or one foundry. Hopefully, we’ll keep in mind that there are methods to help one another so this never happens again—to anyone.

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Clinton Yates is a trendsetter at Andscape. He likes rap, rock, reggae, R&B, and remixes—in that order.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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WNBA testing racial insults by fans performed in Angel Reese while playing Indiana, AP Source

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WNBA examines racial comments addressed to Angel Reese by fans during Chicago Sky’s Loss from Caitlin Clark and fever In Indiana on Saturday, based on a one who knows the situation.

The person talked to the Associated Press on Sunday, provided that the league didn’t publicly discover the subject of mockery or allegations.

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“WNBA definitely condemns racism, hatred and discrimination in all forms – they do not take place in our league or in society,” said the league in an announcement. “We are aware of the allegations and we look at this case.”

Reese, which is black, and Clark, which is white, met for the seventh time in his time Ongoing competition-and very reproduced. Clark was appointed Rookie of the Year last season, and Reese took second place in voting.

The union of WNBA players published an announcement shortly after the League comment on this matter.

“WNBPA is aware of reports of hateful comments on yesterday’s game in Indianapolis and supports the current investigation of WNBA in this matter. Such behavior is unacceptable in our sport”, statement. “According to WNBA’s policy,” No Space for Hate “, we trust the league that they will examine and have taken quick, appropriate actions to ensure a safe and friendly environment for everyone.”

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The president and general director of Sky, Adam Fox, later said on Sunday in an announcement that the organization accepts the investigation of the league.

“We will do everything in our power to protect Chicago Sky players and we encourage the league to continue taking sensible steps to create a safe environment for all WNBA players,” he said.

Heaven and fever will play 4 times in the regular season.

“We are aware of the accusations of fans inappropriate behavior during yesterday’s game and we work closely with WNBA to end their investigation,” said the fever in an announcement. “We stand in our commitment to ensure a safe environment to all WNBA players.”

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Reese had 12 points and 17 rebounds in 93-58 losses with fever. Heaven and Clark took the incident on the pitch, and 4:38 remained in the third quarter. It began with Reese organizing the offensive reflection, and Clark hit Reese’s shoulder hard enough to calm down the ball and lightweight Reese to the ground.

When Reese got up She tried to confront Clark In front of the Indiana Center, Aliyah Boston entered between the players. Clark’s third personal foul was improved to the gross 1, while Boston and Reese drew technical fouls after reviewing the repetition of the referees.

Both players left the sport after the match.

This season, the league has launched a “No Space for Hate”, a multidimensional platform designed to combat hatred and promote respect in all WNBA spaces each online and in arenas.

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The league focuses on 4 areas: improved technological functions to detect hateful online comments; Increased pressure on the safety measures of the team, arena and the league; strengthening mental health resources; and adaptation to hate.

This shall be the primary league test.

“It’s nice words, but we have to see actions,” said Aces A’ja Wilson on Friday after training. “I hope that people can take actions and understand that it is bigger than basketball. We are real people for this. Every shoe we wear, every T -shirt we have, we are people. People must respect it. I hope that they pay attention and listen to words.”

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(Tagstotranslate) Angel Reese

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Antonio Brown detained by the police in Miami after the arrows fired before the boxing event of Adina Rossa

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Antonio Brown, Bankruptcy


The police in Miami stopped Antonio Brown to shots fired before the boxing event displayed via the Internet Streamer Adin Ross.

The incident took place at the starting of May 17, when Miami officers reacted to a notification from the shot detection system. Film material published on social media also showed that Brown is fighting many individuals outside the event. Observers recording the incident showed that Brown is supposedly falling and later digging a security officer during the test.

According to the former NFL star allegedly kept Black pistol while racing one other person. The shots diverged outside the camera, which led to the arrival of the police.

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After the police questioned Brown and several other other individuals with potential commitment to the shooting, Brown divided the details of the social media sample. Brown appeared in Ross “Kick Livestream to blame his involvement in the fight for” cte “like Reported by . CTE, regressive brain disease formally often known as a chronic traumatic encephalopathy, stays related to contact sport akin to football.

“I got a cte, I pulled out the blackout,” he said on the stream. “I ended, Adin … I don’t know what happened.”

However, in the next post Brown claimed that many individuals jumped him, attempting to steal his jewelry.

“As for the boxing event that happened last night,” he began in his position that “many people who tried to steal my jewelry and do physical damage to me.”

He also shared how he plans to take legal actions, and video virus on social media is a false narrative about what happened.

He added: “Contrary to some of the films, the police temporarily stopped me until they received my story, and then I did not release me. I returned home tonight and was arrested. I will talk to my legal advisor and lawyers about those who jumped on people who jumped in.”

A spokesman for the Police Department in Miami, officer Kiara Delva, confirmed that law enforcement agencies had not arrested at the scene. They also didn’t report injuries in their statement. Despite the reports about the lack of arrest, other circulating movies allegedly showed Brown in handcuffs.

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Although his skilled sports profession suddenly ended in 2019, Brown remained a controversial figure from the field because of insolence and legal issues.

The investigation of shots stays. The police didn’t call every other suspects involved in the fight.

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Andcape Round Table: question Pete Rose and The Hall of Fame

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Andcape columnists Willam C. Rhoden and Clinton Yates discuss the removal of Pete Rose with a permanently non -eligible list of Major League baseball, which suggests for other legendary players and a choice in regards to the baseball gallery.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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