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Former MLB manager joins Pacific as part of engaging lineup for Black History Month
Dusty Baker
Baseball legend and Sacramento native Dusty Baker will share his experiences as a former Major League outfielder and manager during a moderated discussion held at University of the Pacific’s Sacramento Campus in February.
The event is part of a rich lineup of film screenings, performances and mixers that will be held at Pacific in celebration of Black History Month. Other special guests include an America’s Got Talent champion from Stockton and Space-X astronaut.
See the full schedule of events.
Baker led the Houston Astros to the World Series title in 2022, becoming the oldest manager, at 73, to ever win baseball’s world championship.
He was recently named special adviser to baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants. He also is the owner of Baker Family Wines in West Sacramento. An evening honoring his life, leadership and legacy will be held Friday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the McGeorge School of Law.
ASuop, Pacific’s student government, will hold a live screening of the discussion in the Lair, located inside the Don and Karen DeRosa University Center on the Stockton Campus.
Other Black History Month events will commemorate remarkable achievements in STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
“We always try to find a way to make an impact and talk about history while educating people at the same time,” said Randall Ogans, a member of the Black History Month planning committee. “We put a series of events together for everybody—students, faculty, alumni, the community—to engage them in conversations.”
"The Space Race" will be available on Hulu and Disney+ beginning Feb. 13.
Guests are invited to explore the stars during an advanced screening of National Geographic’s “The Space Race” Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. The screening will be held in the Janet Leigh Theatre on the Stockton Campus.
The compelling documentary is soon to be released on Hulu and Disney+ and includes inspiring stories of groundbreaking Black astronauts. A panel discussion will follow with SpaceX astronaut Sian Proctor, the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft and Mera Burton, a former education program manager at NASA.
America's Got Talent season 15 champion and Stockton native Brandon Leake
Alumnus Cleve Brown ’18 will show his award-winning film “Complexity,” which explores issues of grief, gun violence, faith and adversity. It will be screened Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. in the Janet Leigh Theatre. The film stars Stockton native and season 15 champion of “America’s Got Talent” Brandon Leake. A discussion and question-and-answer session with Brown and Leake will follow the screening.
Sankofa Theatre, the Central Valley’s only African American theatre company, will perform “Death of a Salesman” at the Long Theatre Sunday Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.
“It’s a Pulitzer prize-winning play, and they are setting it within the context of Black families,” said Macelle Mahala, professor of art, media, performance and design and English. “It’s about a family that is experiencing challenges, and it explores ideas about aging, pursuing the American dream, family conflicts, negotiations and identity.”
The annual Community Health Fair returns Saturday, Feb. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Victory in Praise Church in South Stockton. The event is hosted by the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy with support from the Abbott Fund and will include blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes testing and immunizations. Blood pressure machines and diabetes monitors will be provided while supplies last.
ASuop also will host a month-long film series. The lineup includes “A Thousand and One” Feb. 1, “Big George Freeman” Feb. 6, “Straight Outta Compton” Feb. 15, “If Beale Street Could Talk” Feb. 22, “Good Burger” Feb. 27 and “American Fiction” Feb. 29. All screenings will be in the Janet Leigh Theatre at 7 p.m.
Other events hosted by ASuop include a mixer with alumni, entrepreneurs and community leaders Feb. 28 and a Y2K party Feb. 29.
“It’s going to be a cool opportunity for students to have fun, but at the same time, also educate themselves on how Black culture has shaped our traditions and our styles and other aspects of society,” said Cynia Manning ’24, vice president of ASuop.
