OAKLAND -- The A’s are rooted in a city with a long history of being at the forefront of the battle against racial injustice. So during a time where systemic racism is dominating the national conversation, the club is utilizing the city’s key figures in this matter for an important discussion.
A’s second baseman Tony Kemp and A’s vice president and Oakland native Taj Tashombe were featured as the A’s hosted "A Conversation About Race: Reflection & Action" Friday on Instagram Live. Friday marks Juneteenth, the annual holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865.
Kemp has already been active in using his platform on social media to bring awareness to the cause, opening himself up to followers looking to discuss Black Lives Matter and the issues going on in the country right now in hopes of creating the “+1 effect,” which he describes as a process in which one person can change another one’s perspective and hope they, in turn, change another to slowly turn the gears of the systemic change needed right now.
Friday’s IG Live was the first in a series of conversations on race that will feature current and former A’s players, prominent community members and celebrities who are from Oakland or call it home.
The organization continues to take action in supporting the cause. Last week, the A’s Community Fund committed to making donations to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Campaign Zero, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative and Oakland-based nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization Color of Change.