Article from August 1998

As featured in August 1998

Playing for the Ages

Businessman Finds Success in Response to Call From Destiny

By Carolyn S. Blount

Destiny calls those who will listen.

As Jesse James Boykin used to tell it, on hot summer days in Forest, Mississippi, a small town not far from Jackson, the state capital, he and Leroy "Satchel" Paige played ball. For those who don't remember, Paige is the sport's winningest pitcher. He's a baseball hall-of-famer who soared to stardom with the all-black Kansas City Monarchs more than a half-century ago when African Americans were barred from the all-white major leagues.

Teams "barnstormed" back then, through little bitty towns and side roads in ragged cars and rickety buses. Baseball was more entertainment than big business. In the days before television or even radio was widespread in some black communities, there was baseball for fun. Crowds gathered. The smell of barbecue or fried fish filled the air. Cheers and shouts peppered the warm breezes.

"Satchel Paige brought five or six professional players with him when he came into the South, and filled out the team with local players," recalls Latif Majied. His grandfather Jesse James Boykin pitched for the Forest Black Cats.

Boykin heard Paige say, "I feel my help coming." The old Negro League player, as they were called in those days, seemed to brighten whenever he said that. Majied's grandfather was fascinated. "Satchel was a little older than my grandfather, so it took time to build up enough courage to ask, 'Mr. Paige, what do you mean, you feel your help coming?'" says Majied.

"Satchel Paige answered him, 'Fess (They called my grandfather Fess, short for professor. He eventually taught at Jackson Teacher's Training College), I look at the catcher, and in the stands I see my ancestors. I see my mother, my father, my aunts and uncles, and people who have gone on before me, and they're clapping, come on, Satchel.' So this great pitcher told my grandfather he would get to a certain point in a game where he could actually see this happening."

Fueled by his grandfather's stories, many years later Majied had his own vision. "I got into a discussion with a friend from Missouri, about the different teams that used to play in St. Louis," he recalls. "I was challenged to find information about a particular team, the St. Louis Stars. When I went to the library to do the research, I felt like I could hear a voice saying, 'Yeah, go on, go on,' and I grabbed a book on the Negro Leagues. As I looked at the expressions on these guys faces and read information about them, I felt so connected to their stories." That moment launched his mission in life.

Majied owns America's Best Classics, which produces events to celebrate the era of the old Negro baseball teams. In 1997, his company helped create events at 30 ballparks, from teams in Durham, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro in North Carolina, to the Richmond (VA) Braves, Nashville (TN) Sounds, Phoenix (AZ) Firebirds, Erie (PA) Seawolves and others.

The 40-year-old entrepreneur carries within him a treasure trove of old tales about black southern life. Jesse James Boykin stole more than his grandson's heart. "He told me how baseball was a part of a whole cultural tradition along with barbeques and Friday night fish frys. Baseball was just a big thing in the community."

The stories had a great impact on the young child. He thought about his grandfather who had passed away a few years earlier, and realized he was hearing the same calling from his ancestors that Satchel Paige talked about. That was the beginning of his new focus on baseball history. "The next thing happened when I went to see the movie, Field of Dreams, about a guy who followed his heart," he tells. "When I walked out of that movie theater in Pasadena, California, I went down the street and saw some office space for rent," he relates. "I had never been in this building in my life, but I inquired about some space and ended up starting this business full time."

Once while sharing stories about his grandfather, the movie experience and his childhood interest in and love of baseball, a friend told him about a former player from the Negro Leagues who lived in Los Angeles.

"I went to visit this gentleman. He came to the door, shook my hand, and said 'Oh, I was expecting you.' He walked me back to his office and we started talking. I must have talked to him for at least two hours before I realized this man who wore dark glasses was blind."

The gentleman who took Majied under his wing was Sammie Haynes. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs from 1942 to 1944. "At that point, I had finally connected with someone who was actually part of the history. He caught for Satchel Paige when he played with the Kansas City Monarchs," Majied says, still beaming with the smile of fresh discovery.

"He reminded me so much of my grandfather, especially when he turned around. They were the same complexion. One time I was riding in the car and he was sitting with his hat on. Just looking at him from behind, I had to pinch myself and say wait a minute, this is not granddad, he's gone."

Sammie Haynes worked with Majied to develop the Legends: Old Negro Baseball exhibit. "I started taking him to the schools to talk with students about baseball. Then we worked the collector memorabilia showcases around southern California, and found a huge interest in the logos and team names and what the Negro League uniforms looked like," he says. The involvement with baseball also has given him some new stories.

Something else happened when they displayed at a Sports Trade Card Show in Pomona, California. Many famous major and national league players were brought in to autograph the sports cards, including baseball greats such as Willie Davis who was Majied's childhood hero.

"While we had a major crowd around our table buying merchandise and getting autographs of the lesser known Negro League players, my hero had no crowd seeking his autograph," Majied recalls. "That experience really hurt my heart because as a kid growing up, I was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan and Willie Davis was among those major league players who set new baseball records following in the legacy of Jackie Robinson."

He reflected on why Negro League players whose names were not well known, got so much attention at that sports showcase. "I looked at that event and realized there was something much deeper in this whole thing than just baseball." He began to understand the depth of the calling from his ancestors. "I realized the history of the Negro teams was a story that must be told," he states.

After that experience, they developed special promotions with the Oakland A's in the Bay area, and expanded its reach to the All Star game held in Baltimore in 1993, which included big exhibits in Camden Yards and the Fan Fest collector's showcase.

"That's when I also understood the appeal of the Negro Leagues was very diversified. It had nothing to do with color. It had everything to do with baseball and history!"

At that point of discovery Majied moved in another direction and formed America's Best Classics in 1994, to provide exposure for those less well-known names in the Negro League. He developed a special promotional package with Jerry Roebuck's Black Expo USA shows, to include the appearance of the Negro League ball players as a drawing card in all advertising pieces developed for the Expo. Tens of thousands of people in 34 states attended the Expos and received free autographs and historical information about the ballplayers.

By 1995, the players' stories had an appeal for corporate America and General Motors Corp. became a major sponsor for these events across the country. General Motors continues to support the company's presentations at the NAACP, National Urban League and Congressional Black Caucus conventions.

"Our company prides itself on preserving the rich history of Negro League baseball, by providing information that people might not necessarily know about, as well as showcasing and promoting outstanding men who played the game and giving them the opportunity to tell their story," he says.

"The ball players themselves are out in front of anything we do," he explains. "They are in front of the merchandise, in front of promotions, in front of anything connected with the Negro League because they were the ones who were there. They went through the struggle and they know what it's all about."

The premise is very basic. "As a people, African Americans must put a value on our culture and history for ourselves. We don't need someone else to endorse, consent, or otherwise make it okay for us to put a value on who we are, where we come from or how we fit into this global marketplace," he adds.

The movement started by America's Best Classics goes way beyond the baseball field. The shows, which included autograph sessions with players from the original Negro Leagues, became popular and grew in success.

During the past five years, America's Best Classics has shared that history with new audiences in minor league stadiums across the country. "Minor league stadiums really capture the hometown feeling of what baseball was like at that time," Majied explains. "Many former Negro League players remember coming back to some of the same cities where they played 50 years ago. So the events become a kind of reunion, if you will," he adds.

"We outfit the home and visiting teams in the Negro League uniforms and exhibit the memorabilia through photographic presentations as well as other merchandise. We also create autograph opportunities within the ballpark with players from the Negro Leagues."

This event has grown tremendously. "The Durham Bulls gave us our first opportunity to produce this event in a minor league stadium. They have a reputation of being a leader in minor league baseball. That helped us. They do a real good job and they're a top-notch organization," Majied acknowledges.

The greatest success comes from within the Carolina league in the Southeast. The success was so good that Majied relocated his family and business to Charlotte, North Carolina. "Geographically, it made a lot more sense for us to be here as opposed to California." It's been a real journey for Majied, president of America's Best Classics. Now he says the events are moving well in the North and South.

During his trip to Frontier Field, home of the Redwings Triple-A team in Rochester, New York, Majied reminisced about the way his company barnstorms throughout the country, traveling by train to bring the Negro League baseball experience from town to town and city to city, just like in the old days.

This time he traveled by train from Charlotte, North Carolina, to present a show in Trenton, New Jersey, then moved on to Western New York. The first visit to the Rochester Redwings last year celebrated baseball by honoring two gentlemen from the Philadelphia Stars -second baseman Mahlon Dockett, now 75, and catcher Stanley Glenn, now 71. This year the Negro League salute featured John "Buck" O'Neil, chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and former first baseman and highly successful manager of the Kansas City Monarchs. Mobil Oil sponsors many of the players' appearances at the stadiums.

During the first three innings of the ball game, fans line up to get autographs and hear stories from the gentlemen, who shared a very important part of American history in a visual way. "Once our event begins, everybody becomes a part of the educational experience as the former players interact with the fans. The activity also benefits young players currently on the field, who learn about and connect with the segregated part of baseball history when they put on uniforms representing the great Negro League teams," Majied explains.

"Essentially, we take something that's somewhat fashionable from a visual point of view, historical from an educational point of view, and focus on a rich culture and tradition created by some men whose names we may not know, but whose sacrifice and struggle can be understood by many people."

America's Best Classics benefits from Latif Majid's background in sportswear design and marketing. His original training in corporate America began in 1978 at the age of 18 when he became the youngest sales representative at Kraft Foods. He called on grocery stores and set up displays and promotions for Kraft in the San Diego market for over five years. After attending a sales meeting at the Epcott Center in Orlando, Florida, where the company announced a freeze on hiring and promotions, he saw the trend towards downsizing at Kraft and moved on. Then Majied spent 12 years working for Harry Rosenblatt & Sons in Los Angeles, a company that controlled the distribution of jersey t-shirts and sweatshirts west of Chicago. His customers were major jean manufacturers such as Guess.

"My timing was good. I started with them when they were gearing up for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The background of sales and marketing in the sportswear business is where I learned how to take popular design and convey an idea in a simplistic way." At first he worked part time in his own business and took this know-how straight to the marketplace where he developed vending experience at African-American expos from 1989 to 1992. Then America's Best Classics became a full-time job, completely devoted to telling the Negro League baseball story.

He credits his wife, Talibah, as the organizer and administrator of the business, while he creates the concepts and goes out to promote, market and sell the products. The company still presents exhibits at colleges and universities and you will see them displaying at the National Urban League, NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conferences. Some events are sponsored by corporations, such as General Motors and Mobil Oil Corp.

"Since baseball is as American as apple pie and Chevrolet, this focus hits a marketplace that everyone is trying to figure out how to get next to, so it's a win-win situation from a corporate point of view," he emphasizes. For Majied, Negro League history is more than a booming business. It's a response to a call from destiny.

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