MIAMI, Fla. – (August 8, 2016) – As part of the Collectors Café’s Freedom Tour, Jackie Robinson’s original, signed Minor League and Major League contracts, iconic ‘Documents of Freedom’ will be on display during the Miami Marlins vs. San Francisco Giants games on Monday, August 8 and Tuesday, August 9.
This marks the first time the set of these historical national treasures, which in effect broke the color barrier, will be on display at a Major League Baseball stadium. Authenticated and valued at $36 million, Jackie Robinson’s original contracts are considered to be the founding documents of the Civil Rights movement and are revered in the same vein at the Declaration of Independence; the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation.
One of the most important events in the fight for Civil Rights was not a protest march or sit in, not a public act of defiance or a soaring speech. Instead, it was a private event that took place in a Brooklyn office on April 11, 1947, when Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson signed his contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, thereby integrating Major League Baseball. It was a momentous event in our nation’s history. One that transcended the bounds of sports.
Robinson’s courage and achievement in the face of virulent and unrepressed racism by both players and fans, at a time when Jim Crow laws still deprived black citizens of basic human rights, marked an indelible turning point in black history. Television personality Larry King, who is a partner in Collectors Café, once interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for what was then his radio show in Miami and described him as the “founder of the civil rights movement.”
“I am not the founder of the civil rights movement,” the freedom fighter replied, according to King. “The founder of the civil rights movement is Jackie Robinson.”
The owner of the Jackie Robinson contracts is Mykalai Kontilai, founder and CEO of the Collectors Café, the world’s first integrated social network and auction house which serves the entire collectibles industry. https://www.collectorscafe.com/
The Collectibles and Memorabilia industry is a $250+ billion dollar per year global market that is substantially fragmented with no one entity owning more than one half of one percent of market share. Mr. Kontilai is the inventor of Authenticity Insurance, the first and only insurance policy protecting collectors against fraud backed by many of the top insurance companies in the world. These companies include Lloyds of London, AIG, Liberty Mutual and Chubb.
Prior to Collectors Café, Kontilai served as the former Owner, Chairman, & CEO of NBR Worldwide Inc. The parent company of the iconic business program, The Nightly Business Report, America’s Most Watched Daily Business News Program for over 40 years. He successfully sold the Company in 2011 to a New York based Private Equity Firm. He is the first individual ever to solely own a public broadcasting news and affairs brand (NBR) in PBS history. Mr. Kontilai has successfully exited a number of media and entrepreneurial ventures through his 25 year career as an entrepreneur.