So far, the 2025 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference being held in Louisville has knocked it out of the park, as it were, and I’m planning on writing/posting more over the next week or so, but I wanted to highlight one special happening in particular right now …

Yesterday (Saturday, Aug. 8), the slate of presentations and panels concluded with a visit from a surprise guest — former MLB star outfielder (and oughta-be Hall of Famer) Kenny Lofton, who helped put together and produce a fantastic documentary, “I Forgot to Tell You: The Story of the Cleveland Buckeyes,” which was screened for us attendees in the afternoon, followed by a four-person discussion panel.

The quartet of panelists included Lofton; Evelyn Pollard-Gregory, the director of the documentary; and Cleveland baseball historians Vince Guerrieri and Wayne Pearsall, whose lively and quite informative presentation on the history of the Buckeyes, who were members of the Negro American League during the 1940s and won the 1945 Negro World Series, preceded the screening and panel.

While all four panelists offered excellent thoughts and comments — and I hope to eventually post a detailed follow-up interview with Pollard-Gregory about the film — Lofton was the star of the session, not just because he was a former baseball All-Star, but also because his input and insights were captivating and quite colorful.

One of the main thrusts of his comments during the panel was his, Pollard-Gregory’s and other filmmakers’ primary goal with the documentary — at a time when the notions of diversity, equality and justice are being attacked by reactionary politicians, educators and governmental operatives across the country, it has become more important than ever to keep history, and African-American history specially, explored and alive.

“For me, knowing what’s going on in society right now, I didn’t want this history to be forgotten,” he said. “I didn’t want the younger generations to forget it.”

That’s why he wanted to help Pollard-Gregory and the rest of the filmmakers assemble “The Story of the Cleveland Buckeyes.” Once he learned of the documentary and saw the outstanding work of Pollard-Gregory and others, he jumped right in through his own film production company, FilmPool, Inc.

“I told them, ‘You really have something here, but it could be a lot better,’” Lofton said.

Lofton said the process of editing down all the phenomenal and selecting the best content for the film was a long, exhausting but ultimately rewarding experience.

“I sat there for hours trying to figure out what stuff I could use in this project,” he said. “I ended up putting together this great product.”

Lofton, who himself played for the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) for about 11 and a half years total, added that the documentary “has to flow. There was a little bit of extra stuff we had to do to get it to flow.”

Lofton said it’s especially important to do all we can to preserve and honor the fight for diversity, justice and equality that got us to this point. He said that must happen even with current threats – both governmental and corporate – to that process occurring now.

Passing the flame to youth, he said, is a top priority.

“We’re trying to find ways to get that process to the kids,” Lofton said.

He added: “Once we do something, it has to be successful. We can’t do it just to do it.”