In the 1950s to the early 1960s many talented black basketball players never made it to the NBA or the ABA, where did they end up?
A. They played in independent leagues such as Rucker’s
B. They played in Independent Leagues such as Sonny Hill
C. They played in Independent Leagues such as Baker’s League
D. They played in Independent Leagues such as Future Leagues in Philly
E. All of the above
F. I do not know enough about that history to make a decision
Today, we continue the Podcast series sharing the sit down we had with Donald Ducky Birts, The Risk Taker, among first African American Businessman in Camden NJ and Semi Sports Professional who was active in the civil rights movement, friend of Dr. MLK Jr. and Rev. Jesse Jackson and ran the local civil rights movements here in Philly and Camden NJ. We learned a lot about his life and a part of history that we never considered as it relates to civil rights, professional sports and those who we never hear about but who have worked tirelessly to help reposition the black and brown position and improve relations between races, people we can look to for inspiration such as Ducky. We continue his story and a reading of his book in Part 2 of the series on Ducky.
We will read from chapters two and three and skip chapters 4 and four and wrap up this part with chapter five, looking at Ducky’s involvement and contribution in and to Sports, Politics and the Civil Rights. We will break up the episode in segments sharing some moments of the interview we had with Ducky, which also features Co-host Donte Nelson and others.
Here’s an excerpt of the reading for today which is worth sharing here:
“The Baker League consistently ran out enough star quality players to win a National Basketball Association (NBA) championship. You have to understand that at the time, the NBA teams were bringing in a limited number of blacks into the league. If you weren’t Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor or Guy Rodgers, the nations’ highest profile players, you had to hope that a General Manager or a Head Coach would demand to bring in such players as Sam Jones from North Carolina, a Willis Reid from Grambling, or an Earl Monroe from Winston-Salem State Teachers College…. But many talented black players never made it to the NBA. Instead, they played in …,” Listen to the podcast for the answer as we interview the stalwart and cardinal black Hall-of-Famer Ducky and read from his book “Ducky, The Risk Taker,” by Donald Ducky Birts as told to Kendall Wilson, Narrated by Renaldo McKenzie, only on The Neoliberal Round Podcast, Season 5, episode 11 Part 2 of a four-part series.
Rev. Renaldo McKenzie is the Creator and Host of The Neoliberal Round Podcast, author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance available worldwide in all platforms, and his second book, Neoliberal Globalization Reconsidered will be out February 28, 2023. Renaldo will be teaching Caribbean Though at The Jamaica Theological Seminary in January 2023 and is currently a doctoral Candidate at Georgetown University. Renaldo graduated from University of Pennsylvania and the Exed Coomunity College and Bridgeport High School and attended the University of the west Indies. Renaldo is President of The Neoliberal Corporation a think tank, digital media company that is serving the world today to solve tomorrow’s challenges through our communication which is to make popular what was the monopoly. Support our efforts as a grassroots company on the cutting edge of something big, with big ideas and projects requiring big investments. Support our podcast by donating at https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal/supportand subscribe for free on any stream.