The Forgotten League, Ep. 1: A Gentlemen's Agreement

Vanessa Ivy Rose is on a quest to learn more about the legacy of her grandfather, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes. That means going back all the way to the beginning of baseball, when a covert agreement shuts Black players out of the nation's pastime — until they boldly create their own league.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Today, the Navajo Nation has no guaranteed right to use the water that flows in and around their reservation. In this season of "Reclaimed: The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation," journalist Charly Edsitty follows the history of oppression and exclusion that kept the Navajo from their water -- and traces the fight to reclaim their sovereignty. Now, the Navajo people are demanding their water back, and they’re closer than ever to securing this basic human right. Last season, “Reclaimed: The Forgotten League” told the stories of professional baseball’s often-overlooked greats and how newly acknowledged Negro Leagues statistics could rewrite history books. Earlier seasons included “The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley,” recognized with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Podcast, and “Tulsa’s Buried Truth,” on the search for mass graves beneath Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the fight for justice for the descendants of the Black Americans killed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.