On June 20, 2009 in Cincinnati, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron and Bill Cosby will be honored with the MLB Beacon of Change, Life and Hope, respectively, at the Beacon Award Luncheon, as part of the Civil Rights Game festivities. Ali, Aaron and Cosby are also all past recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.
President Bill Clinton will be the key note speaker at the Luncheon.
Major League Baseball’s third annual Civil Rights Game will be between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox will take place that evening at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. President Obama has been invited to throw the First Pitch.
The Civil Rights Games incorporate a weekend of events to celebrate the role baseball has played in the historical struggle for equal rights in America.