Fort Worth (1080 KRLD) - It's a month-long initiative aimed at achieving racial unity through baseball.
A multi-racial group of clergy is coming together in Fort Worth this month for an initiative called, "Unity Across The City: A Season of Hope, Help, and Healing."
"Everyone is familiar of the tragedy that happened in Fort Worth on October the 12th of 2019 when Atatiana Jefferson lost her life," says Pastor Kyev Tatum of the New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth. "And since then, our community has been divided in ways that we have never seen."
The initiative is aimed at creating conversations about the difficult topic of race relations without combustible confrontations.
Tatum says, "If we're going to really have true racial reconciliation, we have to first come together and say, 'Hey, there are no clean hands. We've all made mistakes. We've all fallen short. Now, can we come together and begin to work towards a more perfect union, or as Dr. King would say, the beloved community?'"
The group of pastors is working to achieve that through America's pastime: baseball.
"We've lost the zeal to come together, regardless of where we come from, and create this space for diversity, equity, and inclusion," says Tatum. "I mean that's what we have -- baseball created that space."
The series begins Tuesday night with the screening of the film "The Other Boys Of Summer," which tells the story of the players in the Negro Leagues.
Says Tatum, "That movie puts everyone in a spirit of contrition, in a spirit of humility, that says, 'Wow, if they were able to make it through all of that back then, surely we ought to be able to make it through these little differences that we have that are really causing us to crack at the core of our society.'"
The screening takes place Tuesday evening at 6:30 at the Ann Waggoner Fine Arts Building in Martin Hall, 1309 Wesleyan St., Fort Worth.
Admission is free but is limited to 250 people.
To reserve tickets, call The Rev. Karen Calafat at 214-862-7100, or email her at kcalfat@att.net.
There will also be a vaccination drive on Sat., August 14, from 5:00-9:00 p.m. at 1409 Ellis Ave., Suite 105, Fort Worth.
On Sun., August 22, at 4:00 p.m., the Circle of Clergy will hold a Unity Across the City service at Dickies Arena.
The month-long event will culminate on August 30th with Project the Positivity Night -- an outing at Globe Life Field to see the Rangers face the Colorado Rockies.
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