2010 Gillette Civil Rights Game Weekend
MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon. Willie Mays, Billie Jean King and Harry Belafonte will receive MLB Beacon Awards, former congressman and U.S. ambassador Andrew Young will deliver the luncheon keynote address, and the Cardinals will visit the Reds on May 15 as Major League Baseball's Gillette Civil Rights Weekend returns to Cincinnati. The Beacon Awards Luncheon will be held at Duke Energy Convention Center.
Singer Lena Horne and Rachel Robinson -- the widow of Jackie Robinson -- will also be honored at the luncheon. There will also be a special tribute to the surviving members from a pivotal 1960 sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where African-Americans were once denied service at a "whites only" establishment.
There will be other events leading up to the Saturday night game, which will be carried live by MLB Network. The Baseball and the Civil Rights Movement roundtable discussion will return on May 14 at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which is adjacent to the ballpark. Led by Harvard law professor and race-relations expert Charles Ogletree, the panel will include Reds great and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, Reds former star Barry Larkin, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, actor Mark Curry and tennis legend Zina Garrison.
There will be a youth summit and the MLB "Wanna Play?" interactive area on Saturday in Fountain Square. It will include an open Q&A forum with Larkin and MLB Network colleague Harold Reynolds, actor Josh Hutcherson and members of the Reds and Cardinals. Last year, more than 2,500 children participated at the summit.
Hall of Famer Ernie Banks will throw out the ceremonial first pitch while Grammy Award winning recording artists Roberta Flack and Jeffrey Osbourne are scheduled to perform prior to the Civil Rights Game.
Complete event details at http://www.mlb.com/civilrightsgame.
Follow this link to purchase tickets online. More information at www.gcul.org/reds.
