Join us this Jackie Robinson Day as we celebrate one of baseball’s most enduring legacies. Featuring Roy Wood Jr. and Howard Bryant, the evening will offer engaging conversation and a thoughtful tribute to a remarkable life in and beyond the game.

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Free for Jackie Robinson Museum Members. Verify with your membership number, then reserve free tickets.

General Admission
$142

Event Details

6pm – Reception
7pm – Program

About the Speakers

ROY WOOD JR. is a comedian, an Emmy-nominated documentary producer for the PBS documentary The Neutral Ground, a correspondent on Comedy Central’s Emmy-nominated The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and host of Comedy Central’s award-winning podcast, The Daily Show: Beyond the Scenes. Spring of 2023, Wood guest hosted The Daily Show and headlined the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to its highest ratings since 2017.

Wood co-starred alongside Jon Hamm in Paramount Pictures’ long-awaited Fletch remake, Confess, Fletch (2022), and has guest appearances in ‘Only Murders in the Building’, ‘Better Call Saul’, ‘The Last O.G.’ & ‘Space Force.’ As a writer and executive producer, his development deals have included a first-look deal with Comedy Central for ‘Jefferson County: Probation,’ an HBO Max project, ‘1% Happy,’ an untitled medical field comedy for NBC, and an untitled single-camera comedy about the National Guard for FOX.

Wood’s first Comedy Central one-hour stand-up special, Roy Wood Jr.: Father Figure, debuted in 2017, the same year he was named the new host of Comedy Central’s storytelling series, This is Not Happening. Debuting in 2019, his second Comedy Central special, Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You, remains the network’s highest-rated original stand-up premiere. In 2021, his third Comedy Central special, Roy Wood Jr.: Imperfect Messenger, aired hyper-recent material just two weeks after taping.

Forbes declared he is “One of comedy’s best journalists,” Entertainment Weekly has described his thought-provoking comedy as “. . . charismatic crankiness. . .” and Variety Magazine named him “One of 10 Comics to Watch in 2016.”

Wood began his comedy career in 1998 at 19 while attending Florida A&M University. In 2006, he debuted on network television on The Late Show with David Letterman. In 2008, he appeared on HBO’s historic Def Comedy Jam and was selected by America as one of the top three finalists on Last Comic Standing on NBC. He has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyer, Conan, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also performed on numerous USO Tours for our Troops stationed everywhere from Guam to Iraq to the Philippines.

At the height of the pandemic, Roy raised money for the displaced staff of comedy clubs through tipyourwaitstaff.com and Laugh Aid. In his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, his philanthropic endeavors include supporting Workshops, Inc., which enriches lives by helping people with disabilities and other employment barriers achieve their vocational potential. The DUBS Baseball Academy is an investment in sports to change lives. STAIR of Birmingham, where tutoring empowers students to read better and dream bigger. Also, I See Me, Inc., where the mission is to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline by increasing the literacy rates in children of color by engaging them in literature that reflects their culture and image.

 

HOWARD BRYANT is the author of eleven books, including the forthcoming Kings and Pawns (2026), Rickey (2022), Full Dissidence (2020), The Heritage (2018), and The Last Hero (2010). He has written the Legends series for young readers, Sisters and Champions, and contributed to more than 20 anthologies. In 2017, he guest-edited The Best American Sports Writing.

Bryant began his journalism career at the Oakland Tribune and later worked for the San Jose Mercury News, Washington Post, Boston Herald, and ESPN (2007–2025). He has been the sports correspondent for NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday since 2006.

A three-time National Magazine Award nominee, he has received numerous honors, including two Casey Awards, the ALA Black Caucus Nonfiction Award, and NABJ’s Salute to Excellence Awards.

Bryant is also an award-winning producer, with credits including HBO’s Back on the Record with Bob Costas and Netflix’s Emmy-winning The Comeback. He has collaborated on several Ken Burns projects and appeared in a wide range of documentary films. In 2025, he founded his production company, Hawley Road LLC.