Major League Baseball’s 2010 Gillette Civil Rights Game Weekend is back in Cincinnati for a second consecutive year.  And, just as in 2009, the Freedom Center is hosting the Baseball and the Civil Rights Movement roundtable discussion whose panelists display a decidedly local flair:  former Cincinnati Reds greats Joe Morgan and Barry Larkin and current Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis.

The Cincinnati pro sports celebrities will join comedian Mark Curry and tennis legend Zina Garrison on the panel discussion, which will once again by moderated by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree.  The roundtable will be held in the Freedom Center’s Harriet Tubman Theater on Friday, May 14, from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. and it is free and open to the public. and will also be streamed live on MLB.com.

The roundtable is one of a series of events surrounding the actual playing of the Civil Rights game between the host Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals on May 15.  Prior to the 7:10 first pitch, Major League Baseball’s annual Beacon Awards luncheon, at the Duke Energy Center, will honor tennis great Billie Jean King, baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays, and entertainer Harry Belafonte.  Former Atlanta Mayor, Congressman and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young will deliver the keynote speech at the luncheon.  Proceeds from the lunch will benefit the MLB Urban Youth Foundation, the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund and the Freedom Center.

Donald Murphy, President and CEO of the Freedom Center, said the Civil Rights game and weekend offers the region and the nation a unique opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of those in the sports and entertainment fields who used their prominence to raise awareness of the need for strong civil rights enforcement.  “We’re genuinely pleased to host the Civil Rights Movement roundtable discussion once again,” Murphy stated.  “Last year’s discussion was entertaining, robust, and illuminating, and we can’t help but feel that this year’s roundtable will be equally as compelling.”

For more information or to purchase tickets to the MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon or the Civil Rights game, log on to www.MLB.com/civilrightsgame.