Major League Baseball honored three giants of sports and entertainment Saturday with Beacon Awards for their civil rights work.
The honors were presented during a luncheon at the Duke Energy Center, Downtown, which was attended by more than 1,400 people. Former President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker.
The event was part of baseball’s Civil Rights Weekend to commemorate in the integration of the sport by Jackie Robinson in 1947.
Baseball legend Hank Aaron received the Beacon of Life Award from Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig,
Boxing champion Muhammad Ali was given the Beacon of Change Award by Sugar Ray Leonard.
Comedian Bill Cosby accepted the Beacon of Hope Award from former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson.
Aaron noted his ties to Cincinnati go back 50 years. He played his first professional game and got his 3,000th hit at Crosley Field. He recorded the first home run at Riverfront Stadium and tied Babe Ruth’s record of 714 there was well. He’d hit 755 by the time he retired.
Selig called Aaron "the greatest player of our generation."
"Although I hit 755 home runs, I rode the shoulders of a lot of civil rights people and I want to thank all of you whatever you’ve done for me," he said.
Leonard recalled that as a young boxer he looked up to Ali.
"There was no brighter star," Leonard said. "He brought a charisma and energy that boxing had never seen. Out of the ring he used boxing as a platform to speak out against injustice and speak for those who had no voice."
Because Ali suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, his wife, Lonnie, accepted the award for him.
"He always believed that everyone around him was the same as he was," she said. "That’s why he was able to travel and go so many places in so many different countries and feel at home."
Gibson said he’s known Cosby for 40-years and admires what he’s done to promote kids and families.
When he took the stage, Cosby stole the show.
He thanked every ball player who made it to the big leagues with Jackie Robinson.
He recalled how Negro League games would draw 48,000 fans when they played one another.
"There was no shooting, no cutting, no violence and nobody got pregnant," the comedian quipped.
However, he became deadly serious when he talked about how parents need to talk about Jackie Robinson, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks and other groundbreaking black players.
"You need to tell your children – this is not a done deal," Cosby said, referring to the fact that there’s more work to be done.
"Henry Aaron had to hear people yelling, calling, telling him the same thing they told your great grandparents. You are not, you can’t be and even if you did, it doesn’t mean anything," Cosby continued. "And, it’s still existing today. There are idiots saying these things – fighting – and some of them happen to be our own color."
President Clinton referred to the honorees as three people who built immensely successful lives and never gave up their anger edge to keep making things better.
However, like Cosby, the former President said the best way to honor the trio is to first recognize that the struggle isn’t over.
"In a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-ethnic society we don’t have time for things that held Americans back when we thought racial prejudice was important enough to hold onto," he said.
