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Miami Herald
2 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
Jackie Robinson mural defaced at Overtown park where Negro League once played
The rain drizzled down as Terrence Cribbs-Lorrant peeled back the plastic bags unveiling a swastika and racist slurs that cover a mural of Jackie Robinson at the historic Dorsey Park in Overtown, hallowed grounds where Negro League players once played ball. The racist epithets — including a swastika and N***** spray-painted onto the concrete walls surrounding the park — were reported to the Miami Police on Monday afternoon in what the community and police are calling a hate crime. The park is located at Northwest 17th Street and Northwest First Avenue. 'We need the community to uncover the hurt and the hatred that is existing,' Cribbs Lorrant, director of Miami's Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum, told reporters at a Tuesday morning press conference. The mural's defacing galvanized the Overtown community, with members of the Overtown Business Association, the museum and others calling for more of a police presence around the park, once home to the Negro Leagues' Ethiopian Clowns. 'We're going to increase police patrols,' Miami Police Commander A. Cooper told the small crowd inside Dorsey Memorial Library. 'We're going to make sure we also partner with some of our specialized units to bring more presence, more enforcement in the key hot spots in Overtown.' The murals have been up since 2011 and were spearheaded by URGENT Inc., a youth development organization based in Overtown, along with funding from the Knight Arts Challenge. This is the first time they have been defaced, said Saliha Nelson, the founder and CEO of URGENT. Nelson's brother Kadir Nelson painted some of the murals that adorn the park, including that of Satchel Page, James 'Biz' Mackey and Josh Gibson — all stars of the Negro Leagues, which began in 1920 to counter Major League Baseball excluding Blacks from playing professional ball. Jackie Robinson played for the Negro Leagues' Kansas City Monarchs in 1945, before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the winter of 1945, becoming Major League Baseball's first Black ballplayer. 'I was really floored and appalled that someone would have the audacity to come and deface in such a derogatory, mean-spirited way,' Saliha Nelson told the Miami Herald.
CBS News
2 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Hate-fueled vandalism shocks Overtown as community rallies to restore historic murals
Less than two weeks before Juneteenth, a cherished symbol of Black history and resilience in Miami has been marred by hate. Murals at Dorsey Park, where Negro League players once took the field before packed segregated crowds during the Jim Crow era, were defaced with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti, igniting outrage across the Overtown community. The vandalism occurred sometime Sunday on murals honoring legendary Black baseball players Jackie Robinson and Minnie Miñoso. Swastikas were spray-painted over their faces, with added profanity and the n-word scrawled repeatedly across the wall. "This is not paint - it's pain" "This really needs to be addressed," said Nicole Crooks, a local community leader, speaking during an emotional news conference. "We need to honor the people who have done a beautiful job at trying to really honor and hold on to the history." Anthony Robinson, of the Overtown Children's & Youth Coalition, stood near the murals and described the scene in stark terms. "What you see behind me is not paint on the walls - it's pain," he said. "It's hate, it's disgrace. It's an attempt to break down the pride of a proud community." Miami Police told CBS News off-camera that it's rare to see two minority communities targeted at once in a single act of vandalism. Though they declined to speak on record, the department confirmed its specialized investigations section is now handling the case. Community members say police also increased their presence in the area following an impromptu meeting about the incident. "We need the community to uncover the hurt" On Monday afternoon, a blue tarp was placed over the defaced murals by a team from the Dorsey Park Community Center - a move that some residents felt was premature. Community activist Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant explained why many wanted the graffiti to remain visible for now. "I know you may not be able to show it on the television," he said, "but we need the community to uncover the hurt and the hatred that is existing." Cribbs-Lorrant added, "The individual who did this feels that they have been embodied with an ability to spew their hate back onto a community that has not served them hate." Restoration underway before Juneteenth Despite the hurt, residents are moving quickly toward healing. Local artist teams have been organized to do immediate touch-ups, with hopes of restoring the murals fully before Juneteenth. "In the short term, a local artist will do touch-ups," community members said. "They hope to have that done at least by this weekend before Juneteenth." Long-term plans are already in place to completely redo the murals - and the community isn't starting from scratch. Funding has been secured, and artists are ready to begin the larger restoration effort. "Within 24 hours of this being notified, an action plan has been put together, a prevention plan has been planned," said community activist Metris Betts. "It's an honor to say that this community has been doing the work to maintain the Historic Overtown neighborhood." Robinson said they are now working with both local and federal authorities. "We will pursue hate crimes," he stated. As Overtown prepares to celebrate Juneteenth, the community is making it clear that while the scars of hate are fresh, the spirit of resistance and remembrance is stronger than ever.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- General
- Miami Herald
A can of spray paint and a hateful act can't erase Miami's shared Black history
They won't succeed. Whoever recently spray-painted sickening racist and antisemitic graffiti on a Miami mural celebrating African-American history tried to blot out our shared history with one act of hate and a can of paint. This community won't let them. Already, local leaders are calling for unity and strength and planning to make the mural in Miami's historic Overtown neighborhood more visually powerful. That's important: Standing up to hatred is the fitting and necessary response, and we hope to see more leaders with influence in South Florida join in publicly. We will be much stronger if we fight with a united front. 'This mural was born from a community's pride, history, and power,' said Kyle Holbrook, the founder of the MLK Mural Project, as reported by NBC 6. 'We will restore it — stronger, bolder and with even more purpose. Black history is American history.' The artwork features local and national figures of Black excellence such as baseball great Jackie Robinson, whose image was among those defaced. Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color line in 1947, becoming a symbol of the civil rights movement in the process. Painted on the fences surrounding Dorsey Park in 2012, the public art project — led by the MLK Mural Project, Urgent Inc. and Touching Miami with Love — was also created to honor the cultural legacy of the park, which was once home to the Negro Leagues' Ethiopian Clowns. The park was named after D.A. Dorsey, considered to be the first African-American millionaire in Miami. The vandalism apparently occurred Sunday or Monday. By Tuesday, the slurs were covered by tarps, which seems like a good idea. Why give the perpetrators any more air time for their foul work? Daniella Pierre, president of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP, told NBC 6 she is asking for more police presence in the neighborhood and, potentially, for cameras to be posted. 'We will not tolerate hatred, bigotry or any defacing to any of the murals in our community. We're here today to call for change. We're here today to call for unity. But we're also here today to call for greater protection,' she said at a news conference about the vandalism, which was on a section of the mural at NW 17th St. and NW 1st Ave. South Florida knows far too well about hatred. Since two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington, D.C. were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21, police in our community have been on high alert. And that was before the attack in Colorado where a suspect threw Molotov cocktails at people rallying for Israeli hostages. South Florida has one of the largest Jewish communities in the nation. As the Miami Herald Editorial Board pointed out after the shooting in D.C., we have almost become accustomed to hate crimes in this country, an awful thing to contemplate. This is not something we should get used to, even though the language of hate — name-calling and anger and vilifying the 'other' — runs rampant through our politics. The defacement of the Overtown mural isn't just vandalism. It's an attack on who we are and who we want to be. The perpetrators must be caught, but our efforts can't stop there. This is a symptom of a problem we have in this community Miami needs to fight hate with everything we have. Click here to send the letter.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Pittsburgh artist speaks out after murals were found with racist, antisemitic graffiti
Hateful messages were recently found covering renowned Pittsburgh artist Kyle Holbrook's work. Holbrook now plans to take a stand against hate. Holbrook is known for his community murals. So far, he's completed over 800 murals and community art projects across 43 countries and 49 states. His murals are not just works of art, they're a piece of each community's heart. "Over 2,000 people from Oakland, students, teachers, faculty, we're able to help paint it, which was great," said Holbrook. He's currently a Pittsburgh resident, but Holbrook just finished a three-mural series in Oakland, California, about inclusion. He left Oakland to continue painting in other West Coast states, only to find out someone had painted racial and antisemetic graffiti on top of the mural. "(I was) really surprised. It hurts to see," said Holbrook. It wasn't the only one defaced in the past two weeks, though. Hateful images were seen covering a different mural of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson. "That just happened in Miami. It's a mural that I painted in 2012 about the Negro League," Holbrook said. "The 'n word' right over his whole image. And a swastika as well. And for that same messaging to be on two different murals on two different sides of the country was alarming." It's coast-to-coast damage. "These are cowards who are doing it." Holbrook is recognized for his public art projects, promoting social justice; his work was even displayed in Paris during the 2024 Olympics. He told KDKA-TV that he won't be silenced, and his work won't stop after people vandalized it. "You can't erase history, you can't erase culture, you can't erase me," Holbrook said. Each piece displays vibrant colors, character, and inspiring words. It's a painted space for love, not hate, that he plans on bringing back. "Because good always wins, and hate can't win, and God is on the good side," said Holbrook. Holbrook said his next stop is Seattle, but he hopes to repaint the Miami mural eventually. In the meantime, the hate messages on the mural in Oakland, California, have already been painted over, and it'll be unveiled again in September.
CNA
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Tom Brady, Jim Gray opening sports, entertainment museum
Tom Brady's seven Super Bowl rings will be among the memorabilia on display in the Hall of Excellence, a museum set to open June 20 under the direction of Brady and his partners. The legendary quarterback, joined by sportscaster Jim Gray and his wife, Frann Vettor-Gray, have spearheaded the creation of the museum, located at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel. It will include items from the Tom Brady Family Collection, as well as treasures from athletes and entertainers of the 20th and 21st centuries. "The Hall of Excellence is about more than preserving history - it is about celebrating the relentless pursuit of greatness," Brady said in a news release. "These moments, these legends, they remind us of what is possible when passion and hard work come together, and they inspire us to chase our own legacies. So much of this memorabilia represents the incredible journey that I, like so many others, have been fortunate enough to experience. Artifacts like these do not belong hidden away, they should be shared with the fans who were along for the journey with us. I'm proud to share these moments, and grateful this collection now has the perfect home at Fontainebleau Las Vegas." The items in the collection spread far beyond Brady's. Visitors to the museum will see items that include the bat used by Jackie Robinson to break baseball's color barrier (1947); Michael Jordan's first pair of Air Jordans (1984); Clint Eastwood's Academy Award for "Unforgiven" (1993); a golf ball used by Tiger Woods during his first Masters victory (1997); Oprah Winfrey's Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013); and golf balls and baseballs signed by U.S. Presidents dating back to Woodrow Wilson. Additional memorabilia comes from events involving icons such as Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Roger Federer, Simone Biles and Michael Phelps. "The Hall of Excellence is the most extraordinary collection of historic sports and entertainment artifacts ever assembled. It's a tribute to iconic legends whose achievements exceeded even their boldest dreams. This museum takes you back to the unforgettable moments that shaped generations," Jim Gray said. "By sharing these remarkable treasures, we hope to inspire future generations to strive for excellence. We are deeply grateful to all the superstars who generously contributed their most prized possessions." Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman narrates the self-guided tour of the museum, but numerous big names - including Winfrey, Marv Albert, Bob Costas and Snoop Dogg - offer stories about specific items. Admission to the Hall of Excellence is $35, with discounts available for seniors, youths, Nevada residents and military memebers.
