Long Time Coming: A 1955 Baseball Story

In 1955, when racial segregation defined America, two groups of 12-year-old boys stepped onto a baseball field in an act of cultural defiance that would change the course of history. Eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the all-Black Pensacola Jaycees and all-White Orlando Kiwanis moved beyond threats and fears to integrate youth sports in the South. Florida’s 1955 Little League State Championship represents a shining moment in our nation’s history when children showed us what was possible. Sixty years later, the players embark on a personal journey to find that the forgotten ballgame becomes a model for embracing the turbulence of today’s social landscape. Long Time Coming features interviews with surviving team members and conversations with baseball and civil rights icons Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken, Jr. , Gary Sheffield, Davey Johnson and Andrew Young who offer insight linking past and present, baseball and human dignity.