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A League of Their Own/”The Natural”

By now, y’all know that I’m a pretty big fan of the Negro Leagues of baseball. I thought to liken the two with one another for several reasons, but the primary reasons are because of the community that the Negro Leagues did create. Once you go down that rabbit hole you just don’t stop! It’s the exact same with coffee! Once you start, it just reels you in! My grandfather also had a great deal to do with me falling in love with the leagues. He played baseball as a young black kid in the 1930s and as he got older in the 1940s. I always heard that he was in a “league of his own” when it can to his athletic abilities playing the game. The league was also a huge part of the economic power for African American communities all over the country. It had many ways of funneling revenue into our communities.

If a team came to town, they very often couldn’t stay at the hotels or eat at the many restaurants unless they were owned by other blacks. Otherwise, it was at someone’s house and that same family did the cooking for the team. Black jazz spots and clubs were the joints they partied at after games. So imagine if Satchel Paige was in town! Those dollars circulated heavy for months, sustaining families of people! Coffee was always a part of that scene as well combined with the hospitality. Lots of Players drank the 1st wave type coffee before hitting the road and after dinner often. But just like that, when the color barrier was broken the leagues dwindled and along with it, our businesses and our communities economic growth. But Jackie Robinson started something after baseball. He started a career in coffee. He was an advocate for equity and equal rights & opportunity within the industry, while working for Chock Full O Nuts. His son took it even further by becoming a coffee farmer/producer in Tanzania, where he & his family are today! This all has helped pave the way for people of color/African Americans, SERIOUS about coffee, to enter and make an impact within the industry and in their communities!