BHM: Effa Manley

Today, Effa Manley was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame--the first woman ever (news story here). My Negro League history is lacking, but I was pleased to see that a woman was included in the efforts to recognize Negro League Baseball. I was going to leave it at that and get back to writing when I noticed I had read over a piece of the story too quickly--

"She was very knowledgeable, a very handsome woman," said Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played for the Eagles while the Manleys owned the team, as did Don Newcombe and Larry Doby.

"She did a lot for the Newark community. She was just a well-rounded influential person," Irvin said. "She tried to organize the owners to build their own parks and have a balanced schedule and to really improve the lot of the Negro League players."

Manley was white, but married a black man and passed as a black woman, said Larry Lester, a baseball author and member of the voting committee.

Interesting. 1) I find it fascinating that, of course, as always, this extremely influential woman was described as being "very handsome"--was that really necessary? Did her looks influence her work to hold an anti-lynching rally at her ballpark? I'm not tooo mad at the person who said it--he knew her and was struck by her beauty. But I am a little annoyed by the placement of that piece of information in the story. The more I've read about Effa Manley, the more intrigued I am and when I get some time, I'm definitely going to read: Queen of the Negro Leagues.

2) Of course, I also find this mention of her passing as a black woman fascinating--how it is relevant to the news of her induction, I'm not sure. But I'm intrigued to read some more about her. A number of sources online note that: "Within the Black community, Manley, from Philadelphia, rarely discussed her heritage, and most people assumed she was a light-skinned Black. Young Effa was raised in a household with a Black stepfather and Black half-siblings." (from African American registry)

I'm a little burnout from writing today to have anything too insightful to say about the subject of passing. In general, it is discussed in terms of Blacks passing for White, and we generally hear more stories about women "passin" then men--Nella Larson's work, for example is often referenced. One could argue that passin is not limited to skin color of course, and that it could describe how much or how little you embrace particular cultural practices (for example, when an eloquent African American is told they are talkin "too white"--what is that?) Passin' does seem to involve at least some conscious effort to shift your identity and I'm wondering if that is really the case with Effa Manley--wondering why it is now important to claim her as White since she is being inducted into the Hall of Fame....Doesn't change her accomplishments or importance for me, but there seems to be some interest in placing her within one category over another and I'm curious to read more about her to see if there is any indication as to how she saw herself. But that's just me being nosy.

Good move for baseball history any way you slice it.