Tanisha Velez grew up in the Clark-Fulton community and graduated from Lincoln-West High School on Cleveland’s near west side. Today, she’s a business owner and community advocate working to help revitalize a park she remembers playing in as a child. Velez and a group of volunteers are trying to revitalize Roberto Clemente Park on West 38th Street north of Clark Ave by creating a new farmers market there and by bringing back the Roberto Clemente Baseball League.
Last year, Velez worked with a group of volunteers to improve the park by adding new benches, seating areas, and playground equipment and by painting the ballfield fences. The city allocated $500,000 to fix up the park and pay for new playground equipment and chess tables, and volunteers chipped in with their own efforts such as public art and seating. The improvements, which included a mural of Clemente on the concession building by local artist Angellina Irizarry, were finished just in time for a community celebration of Roberto Clemente Day on September 15 as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Roberto Clemente was a trailblazing Puerto Rican baseball player who in 1972 became the first Latin American baseball player to reach 3,000 hits. He also became the first Caribbean and Latino player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. On December 31, 1972, Clemente was taking donations to Nicaragua when his plane crashed into the ocean. In 1995, Cleveland Mayor Michael White and Council President Jay Westbrook dedicated Roberto Clemente Park in his honor.
“Most of us played in the Roberto Clemente Little League when we were younger,” recalled Velez of the youth baseball league, which was active from 1990-2012. “I remember growing up, that was our whole weekend, that was all we did.”
This summer, Velez hopes to bring back a little of that old school Clemente magic by recreating the league for a younger generation, thereby bringing new life to the park, reinvigorating interest in baseball, and helping young people in her community. The Roberto Clemente League is trying to raise $100,000 through an Ioby crowdfunding campaign and sponsorship opportunities to host the league this summer. Velez said it could feature 240 kids, ages 5-16, playing on 16 teams. The focus of the league would be on Latino youth, but anyone would be welcome to play, and it would be a bilingual league. Adults interested in coaching can register in English or Spanish.
On days when the league is playing, Velez also wants to host a farmers market through a nonprofit she founded, Jardin 4 Life (“Garden for Life”), in the park. Velez said it is especially important to remember Clemente at a time when the book about his life is being banned in some places for its references to discrimination, and at a time of investment in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. She wants the league to be free, because the median household income in the Clark-Fulton area is about $26,000, according to the U.S. Census.
In the long term, Velez would like to see a statue of Clemente placed at the park. She’s joined forces with other groups, including the New Era Young Lords, to launch the project. “We’re all joining forces and bringing something to the community,” she said. “We’re trying to create awareness of the park and who Roberto Clemente is.”
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