In episode 20 of the podcast, we talk with author and poet TONI ASANTE LIGHTFOOT about the Amazon series A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN.  In this bonus podcast, Toni talks about and reads her baseball-inspired poem “Bat Her Up: Mom’s Mabley watches Negro women play ball for their supper."

JACKIE “MOMS” MABLEY (1897-1975) African American comedienne Loretta Mary Aiken created the elderly lady persona Jackie “Moms” Mabley. Mabley started out in the all-Black Theater Owners Booking Association or T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit in the 1920s. She was the first female comedian to perform solo at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and headline Carnegie Hall. Moms Mabley emerged to become a mainstream stage and television star, pushing the boundaries of comedy by tackling topics such as gender, sex and racism.