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‘Let’s Go’ Beyond the Mound Joe Black’s Legacy of Brotherhood and Resistance

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — As the Trump administration and its disciples try to strip the nation of its memory, legendary comedian Bill Cosby said Black media cannot bend, cannot be silent, but must remind Black America that every inch of the nation’s 249 years was built with our sweat, our brilliance, our survival.

Published

7 months ago

September 14, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

As the Trump administration and its disciples try to strip the nation of its memory, legendary comedian Bill Cosby said Black media cannot bend, cannot be silent, but must remind Black America that every inch of the nation’s 249 years was built with our sweat, our brilliance, our survival. Joe Black’s story is only one, yet if we allow it to vanish, we risk losing the truth of who we are.

There are men whose names ring louder than the game they played, men who carried history on their backs as if it were stitched into the uniform. Joe Black was one such man. He was a boy from Plainfield who became the first Black pitcher to win a World Series game, who walked onto the mound in Dodger blue with the eyes of the country fixed upon him, and who later carried himself into classrooms, corporate suites, and pulpits with the same quiet force.

Bill Cosby remembers him not as a figure in the record books, but as the brother he never had. “Joe Black pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the time Jackie Robinson was on the team, and so was Roy Campanella,” Cosby recalled. “His daughter asked me to write a preface about him; I wrote it, and then all these accusers came up and, I was told, they no longer wanted to use my preface in the story.” That daughter is Martha Jo Black, who wrote “Joe Black: More Than a Dodger.”

Cosby told how their bond began. “He came on the Dodgers and became known as a relief pitcher, but my entertaining the Black baseball players in Las Vegas during a convention, and he made himself known to me,” Cosby stated. “I found him to be a strong guy with a great sense of humor. I took him on as a big brother. When Rachel Robinson asked me to be the emcee for the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Joe was then working for Greyhound, and he made sure that he had a table.” Cosby spoke of their brotherhood in the language of fraternity and blood. “Joe also is a Q. In terms of fraternity, he’s my brother, but in my soul also; nobody else but nobody else had the humor and my feeling is that if I ever had a big brother, Joe Black was.”

The bond deepened near the end of Joe’s life, when his daughter called Cosby. “We talked on the phone. He had a house, and his daughter was taking care of him because he had problems with his prostate,” the comedian recalled. “She called me one day and she said, ‘Daddy was on the ladder, and he fell. He’s in the hospital. He’s on, I believe, morphine, a drug they give you that can cause the patient to hallucinate, and sometimes drug addicts get hooked on it. She said, ‘I’m in the hospital with Daddy, and it doesn’t look good for him. You want to talk to him?’ My heart dropped. I knew he was going, but when you get the notification, certain things happen.”

Cosby remembered that even then, Joe carried humor like a shield. “Joe had a great sense of humor and had control of it. Meaning he didn’t throw things out just to see if he was funny,” Cosby reminisced. “So she says, ‘Daddy, it’s Bill on the phone, he wants to say something to you.’ He said (in a very faint voice), ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘how you doing. I know it’s a stupid question, but how you doing?’ he said, ‘they’re trying to make it easier for me to go wherever I’m going.’ I said, ok, I said, your daughter told me you wanted to talk to me. He said, ‘Yeah. How are you doing?’ I said, this is getting stupid. He said, ‘really?’ I said, yeah, because she said you fell down on the ladder and you’ve been ripping the IVs out of your arm and misbehaving. He said it’s just the sign that I’m going. I said nothing, just let the silence sit. And he said, ‘I want you to do me a favor.’”

Cosby tried to answer the call with laughter. “I said before I do you a favor I’m out at your house and I got the map you gave me – something I was making up to humor him – I said I got the map you gave me and I walked it in the backyard and I found the tree you’re talking about and I started to dig, and I dig and I dig and I dig and my back hurts. The money is not there! And he said, ‘wrong house!’” The faint laughter in that hospital room turned into a covenant between two men.

“He said, ‘I want you to do me a favor.’ I said OK,” Cosby recalled. “He said, ‘I’m on the mound, I want you on the hot corner.’ And I said now before you put me on the hot corner, I’m going to go, but I want you to know I played sandlot baseball and I played second base and I want you to know that I was always afraid of a hot ground ball coming to me and as I bend over to catch it, it hits something and jumped up and hit me in the face. I never wanted that, I always turned my head; I understand from coaches you are supposed to look it into the glove, but I’m not about to put my face down there and look it in. I said but Joe, for you I’m on the hot base, and if anything comes to me, I don’t care who hits it, I’m going to look it in. he said, ‘Let’s go!’ that was the last words from him.” Cosby carried those words into his own storm. “Sitting through the trial, the hatred, sitting through all of that, and when that judge read all of Dante’s Inferno, and I’m listening, and he says you have any regrets? I shook my head because Joe’s voice said, ‘Let’s go!’ Joe passed that same day,” Cosby sadly recounted.

There was more to Joe Black than statistics and more than the World Series victory that newspapers still cite. He had been an officer in the Army, a teacher in Plainfield, a Greyhound executive who opened doors for Black workers and students, a columnist who urged young people to value education, and a man who carried his daughter Martha Jo through childhood with devotion when courts seldom granted fathers custody. He was also the man who told Jackie Robinson’s story in ways the white press did not record. He spoke of teammates holding Jackie back from fights, of players forming a wall to keep him from stepping into violence, of the toll carried by those chosen to be symbols.

“Because it’s always about them,” Cosby said. “What does that do to us?”

What it did to Joe Black was give him the conviction that history must be guarded. Cosby spoke passionately of Josh Gibson, of the Negro Leagues, and of Dunbar High School in Washington. The Cosby Show icon insisted that these stories must be kept with a clenched fist, placed in the hands of the next generation, stored in HBCUs where young people could know the truth of who they were.

At 88, Cosby holds fast to Black’s last words. Not a farewell, not resignation, but a command.

“Let’s go.”

Stacy M. Brown

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IN MEMORIAM: Rest in Power — Minnesota Loses a True Warrior in Yusef Mgeni

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — Yusef Mgeni, a brilliant historian, community organizer, former St. Paul educator and fierce advocate for Black people, died on April 7, 2026, leaving behind a legacy that will echo through generations of Black Minnesota history and community building.

Published

2 days ago

April 15, 2026

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By MSR News Online

Minnesota and the world lost a powerful voice and a true warrior on April 7, 2026. Yusef Mgeni is gone, but his legacy will echo for generations.

Yusef was a brilliant historian, a community organizer, a former St. Paul educator, and a fierce advocate for Black people. He carried with him an extraordinary archive of speeches, books, articles, and photographs documenting the work of countless Black scholars and leaders. His knowledge was not just deep. It was generational. Talk to him about any subject concerning Black history, and he would give you a dissertation.

His roots in this community ran deeper than most people knew. Yusef was the grandnephew of Fredrick McGhee, the pioneering 20th-century civil rights activist and attorney who made his mark in St. Paul at the turn of the century. That lineage was not lost on Yusef. He carried it forward with pride and purpose, spending decades making sure the stories of Black Minnesotans were told, preserved, and passed on.

As a journalist, Yusef called NAACP leaders and community figures to identify the issues that mattered most to Black people and wrote about them in local newspapers. He was a contributor to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, a platform he understood and respected deeply. As a former St. Paul NAACP vice president, he remained active and engaged well into his retirement, answering emails and voicemails for residents who were at their wits’ end, helping them navigate evictions, legal challenges, and systemic barriers.

“Generally, they contact us when they are at their wits’ end,” he once said. “They are going to get evicted; their car is getting repossessed. We assist in navigating the system.”

His work was always about access. Under his leadership and alongside other NAACP leaders, the St. Paul chapter helped establish a landmark covenant between the police and the St. Paul community in 2001, a model that contributed to dramatically lower excessive-force costs than in Minneapolis in the decade that followed.

Yusef was also a passionate champion of ethnic studies in Minnesota’s schools, understanding that education rooted in Black and Brown history was not a supplement to American history but central to it.

“Ethnic studies is also American history,” he said. “The fact that the legislature and the MDE have both endorsed ethnic studies requirements in schools is a real plus for giving people the opportunity to explore and learn more about American history, and more importantly, to see themselves reflected in that learning.”

In the 1970s and ’80s, Yusef worked alongside Mrs. Clarissa Walker at the Sabathani Community Center, where they poured their energy into uplifting and empowering the community. Their work helped shape the cultural and political landscape of South Minneapolis during a critical era. They were part of a generation that built institutions, nurtured young people, and fought for justice with unwavering commitment.

Yusef also played a key role in the early development of KMOJ Radio, helping to establish a platform that amplified Black voices long before it was common or convenient. His activism extended through education, the St. Paul NAACP, the Million Man March, and the Urban Coalition, always rooted in a deep and abiding love for his people.

He was also an interviewee in the Rondo neighborhood oral history project preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society, ensuring that the voices and stories of that community would never be lost.

Not long ago, a colleague was blessed to sit with Yusef at his home, where he reflected on his life and his legacy. He talked about his work in education, his activism, and his years of service to the community. But what stood out just as much was how he spoke about his family and his people, with warmth, with pride, and with purpose.

Today, we honor him not only for what he accomplished but for the spirit with which he did it.

A scholar. A builder. A warrior. A keeper of our stories.

Thank you, Yusef, for everything you gave and everything you sacrificed on behalf of Black people. Your legacy stands tall, and our community is better because of you.

Rest in Power, Yusef Mgeni.

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Revolve Fund to Provide $20,000 to Support Food Access Efforts in Alabama Black Belt

THE AFRO — “Revolve Fund complements its core mission of improving capital access for entrepreneurs by partnering with leading organizations that are addressing critical community needs,” said James Wahls, founder and managing director of Revolve Fund. “Like BBCF, Revolve understands at the most fundamental level, everyone should have access to healthy food.”

Published

2 days ago

April 15, 2026

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By Revolve Fund | The AFRO

SELMA – As over 40 million Americans grappled with the reality of not being able to feed themselves or their families due to SNAP delays, Revolve Fund is seeking to help. Revolve Fund has announced a $20,000 community grant to the Black Belt Community Foundation as part of the duo’s continued partnership. The grant will increase the foundation’s capacity to execute programs and fundraise to support food access efforts in the Alabama Black Belt region.

“Revolve Fund complements its core mission of improving capital access for entrepreneurs by partnering with leading organizations that are addressing critical community needs,” said James Wahls, founder and managing director of Revolve Fund. “Like BBCF, Revolve understands at the most fundamental level, everyone should have access to healthy food.”

“BBCF is deeply grateful for the Revolve Fund’s grant to underwrite direct food support in the Black Belt during the current disruption of SNAP benefits, continuing high food costs and unprecedented strain on our local food banks,” said Christopher Spencer, president and CEO, Black Belt Community Foundation. “As BBCF mobilizes resources and community partners during this time, Revolve is one of the first philanthropic organizations to step forward to support our Food for Families in the Black Belt Campaign. We look ahead to our productive, continued partnership with them to positively impact and transform the Black Belt region of Alabama.”

“While our communities need and deserve so much more, we hope our contribution will support the foundation’s ability to work with other philanthropic partners, individual donors, charities, and public partners,” Wahls added.

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Mamdani Plans City Grocery Store in East Harlem

NEW YORK CARIB NEWS — The store will be located at La Marqueta, a historic marketplace beneath the elevated Park Avenue tracks. The project is expected to cost approximately $30 million and is slated to open next year, utilizing currently vacant space within the city-owned facility. Operating rent-free, officials say the model is intended to lower overhead and pass savings on to consumers.

Published

2 days ago

April 15, 2026

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New York Carib News

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced plans to establish the city’s first municipally owned grocery store in East Harlem, a flagship initiative aimed at addressing rising food costs and improving access to affordable essentials.

The store will be located at La Marqueta, a historic marketplace beneath the elevated Park Avenue tracks. The project is expected to cost approximately $30 million and is slated to open next year, utilizing currently vacant space within the city-owned facility. Operating rent-free, officials say the model is intended to lower overhead and pass savings on to consumers.

Mamdani unveiled the plan during an event marking his first 100 days in office, reaffirming a campaign pledge to build a network of five city-owned grocery stores, one in each borough, by the end of his first term in 2029.

“During our campaign, we promised New Yorkers that we would create a network of five city-owned grocery stores,” Mamdani said. “Today, we make good on that promise.”

The mayor positioned the initiative as a direct response to surging grocery prices, noting that food costs in New York City rose by nearly 66% between 2013 and 2023, significantly outpacing the national average. He argued that the city-run stores would provide fair pricing, improve worker conditions, and ease the financial burden on low-income households.

“We’re going to make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table,” Mamdani said, adding that staples such as eggs and bread would be more affordable.

However, the proposal is already drawing scrutiny. The estimated cost of the East Harlem store would consume nearly half of the $70 million budget initially outlined for the entire five-store program. Despite this, Mamdani remains confident that the initiative will deliver long-term benefits and help reshape access to affordable groceries across the city.

The announcement also drew political attention, with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders making a surprise appearance at the event in support of the mayor’s broader economic agenda.