Courageous Act of the Week - 7/23/2025

Saluting Youman Wilder, the founder of the Harlem Baseball Academy

Courage will be highlighting actions by Americans who bravely step forward to take action to stem the tide of authoritarianism.

This week we want to recognize Youman Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy. The Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy helps young men from underprivileged communities earn college scholarships by providing them tools to succeed on and off the playing field.

As reported by WABC, ICE agents approached kids from the academy on a Manhattan ball field near the end of their workout and asked them where their parents were from. Wilder got all the kids into the batting cages and told the agents, “Listen, if you have to jump over these fences, then that’s what you’ll have to do, because you can only get in the batting cages one way. They don’t have any fewer constitutional rights than you. And they walked away.” Sadly, others watching did nothing to intervene, which Wilder found very disturbing in an interview with Nicole Wallace of MSNBC.

We at Saving Democracy, salute you, Mr. Wilder, and will work to highlight others who defend our democracy with heroic actions.