Opening Day: ‘Change the name’ protest in Cleveland
For 28 consecutive years, the Committee of 500 Years has been protesting the use of the racist name and image of the Cleveland baseball team.
In 2019, the team dropped the hated “mascot,” after removing it from team apparel the same year. Credit: Susan Schnur
Over 100 people rallied outside the Progressive Field stadium on opening day, July 24. Speaker Phil Yenko, executive director of the American Indian Movement of Ohio, credited the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to increasing the pace of changing racist imagery of sports teams at all levels. In 2019, the team dropped the hated “mascot,” after removing it from team apparel the same year.
— Report and photo by Susan Schnur
