Martin Luther King Jr

Tracing the path to what ‘MLK Day’ means to me—and my career

January 18, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

When I was around 15 or 16, I met Patrick Miller. I still cannot remember how we met because the reason we connected was because of baseball. He was white and lived in Cobb County; I was black living in Bankhead.

I remember he had a house with cars in the garage. He had fruit on the table to grab and go, and a dog. All of this was new to me. I considered it to be a white way of living.

Fast-forward many years later, I am 46, married to my beautiful wife, Kelli, and we have two beautiful daughters, Mackenzi and Mackenna. We lived in Cobb. We always have fruit to grab and go, and our dog, Bose, lives in the house with us.

That experience with Patrick helped shape my future.

This past Monday, Jan. 16, we celebrated another “MLK Day” in America. Although legislation for a federal holiday was introduced in Congress as early as 1968, there was sufficient opposition, on racial and political grounds, to block its passage. In 1983, legislation making the third Monday in January a federal holiday finally was passed, and the first observance nationwide was in 1986. (Britannica.com)

“MLK Day” was a day on, not a day off experience for me. I was able to serve families in the Dallas, Texas community with the Players Alliance.

I am grateful for all that Martin Luther King, Jr., did for mankind. I am also grateful to Hosea Williams for being one of the first to introduce legislation for the “MLK Day.”

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C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.

Doing the good you do

January 11, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Martin Luther King Day for 2023 will be celebrated on Monday, Jan. 16. Like me, he was born and raised in Atlanta, and educated in Atlanta Public Schools.

Did you know that Jackie Robinson was also born in Georgia? He played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. According to Wikipedia, the Civil Rights Movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the US to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout the United States.

As a child, I often was told that in order to be successful in life, I would have to excel at academia like Martin Luther King. When I was taught about the life of Jackie Robinson, I learned you can excel in academics and athletics.

Baseball is a powerful tool—one that can teach social emotional learning capacities such as:

Contribution
Goal orientation
Positive identity
Self-confidence
Self-efficacy
Self-management
Social capital
Social connections
Social skills

With another Major League Baseball season right around the corner, it is important to understand that baseball doesn’t just build character; it exposes it.

Being an elite baseball player can come along with fame and fortune, so be sure to use that fame and fortune to do good in the world. Success is based on what you get and significance is what you give.

Remember, skills pay the bills.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

Why you shouldn’t fear fear

March 9, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Courage is a noun. A noun is a word used to describe a person, place or thing. Courage is a thing. So is fear. When I feel fear, I remind myself to respond with courage. Oftentimes, the fear I feel is rooted in my not wanting to fail. That’s why I have begun to look at failure as learning rather than losing.

Brittany Carr wrote a book titled, “F.E.A.R.” The acronym stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. On my first high school, collegiate and professional at-bats, I remember feeling fear. For a brief moment in the dugout before each of the monumental at-bats for me, I had to remind myself that I have earned the right to be here.

I had to quickly respond with courage in spite of my fear in order to get through the at-bat.

When each of them were over, I had a sigh of relief realizing it was not as bad as I thought it would be. In my future at-bats in high school, college and the pros, while I felt fear, I reminded myself of how I overcame that first at-bat to get me through future at-bats.

Our confidence in our courage grows as a result of us using it.

Fear is a real thing. So is courage. Choose courage when you feel fear so that you can experience success.

This reminds of Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Martin Luther King, Jr., three men who were faced with fear and built up courage muscles so they could keep stepping up to the plate.

How do you handle fear?
Do you experience fear when it is your time to step up to the plate during a close game?
Do you fear rejection from college coaches and professional scouts?

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

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