Why Kwanza Jones has so many Black people excited about baseball
TheGrio...
The history-making new owner of the San Diego Padres has a fascinating resume and all of the right energy.
Major League Baseball has a new team owner in their midst, and her name is Kwanza Jones.
After news first broke in May that she and her husband, Clearlake Capital co-founder and managing partner José E. Feliciano, were gearing up to purchase the San Diego Padres in a record-breaking $3.9 billion deal, the couple was officially introduced as the team’s new owners on Monday, Aug. 24, during a press conference at Petco Park. The deal is the most expensive sale in MLB history and makes Jones the league’s first Black woman majority owner and Feliciano its first Puerto Rican majority owner.
From the start of the press conference, which began with the new owner, dressed in a dark denim two-piece with an orange scarf wrapped around the top of her billowing sandy blonde waves, dancing up to the table as “We All In,” a song written and performed by her, blasted through the room, Jones made it clear what kind of energy she is bringing to the league.
“When Jose mentioned we are—I’m paraphrasing—‘thrilled and overjoyed and excited,’ maybe those were my words. He said it with a little bit more reserve. I cannot even express it,” she gushed while seated next to her husband.
Jones arrives as the latest owner of the Padres after building a true multi-hyphenate life that has included investing, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and a career as a Billboard-charting dance artist. From the couple’s buzzy press conference and lively quips, to Jones nodding along as her many accolades were rattled off ahead of her introduction, to her name that undeniably celebrates Black American culture, Black America is already championing her.
After just mere minutes of watching her speak, she’s got scores of supporters pledging their loyalty to the Padres. Her fascinating background may explain some of this instant appeal.
A Princeton grad and the daughter of two attorneys, Jones pursued music early on. While still in college, where she met Feliciano, she won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater and later went on to become a Billboard-charting dance artist, with multiple songs reaching the top 10. Along the way, she was also crowned Miss Baltimore and built a career spanning law, business, investing and entrepreneurship.
Her philanthropy has been just as ambitious. Through the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative, the couple has committed more than $250 million across four core pillars: education, entrepreneurship, equity and empowerment. In 2020, they donated $20 million to Princeton, then the largest gift in the university’s history from Black and Latino donors. Two dormitories, Kwanza Jones Hall and José E. Feliciano Hall, now bear their names.
Jones is also the founder and CEO of SUPERCHARGED by Kwanza Jones, a media and personal-development brand built around boosting confidence, connection and community action.
Then, of course, there’s her Blacktastic name, which, we hope, is paying homage to the holiday of the same name celebrating Black culture.
“Kwanza Jones is such a fierce name,” a user on Threads pointed out.
Another user on the same platform added, “Kwanza Jones is a fire a— name.”
But really, it’s her infectious energy and spirit. It’s always inspiring to see a Black woman in a space, perhaps that’s somewhat unlikely, seemingly not compromising on who she is or how she shows up. All those dance-chart stats aren’t exactly hard to imagine after watching her command a room like she did. During her remarks on Monday, Jones moved from playful to heartfelt with ease as she opened up about what community means to her.
“I simply wanted to say thank you. Because what happens, as you all know, and I say this often, no one succeeds alone,” she said.
“We’re not where we are without each other,” she continued. “We’re not where we are without the leadership, without baseball operations, without the players, without the city, without the community, without the fans, without the front office, the back office, without the reporters and the press and the media. We need each other, and that’s what Jose and I, together, have built a life on understanding that it is together.”
She added how the song “We are all in,” that played as they came in was more htan just “lip service.”
“We take it as a baseline that in everything everyone does, you’re all in. And for Padres, we are, and we are absolutely committed to this organization, and we are absolutely overjoyed, and we understand. If you heard it, we’re gonna win,” she said while pumping her fist before cheering,
“We gonna win. We gonna win. Win it all.”
“We hope it’s sooner rather than later,” she teased.
“I had no idea who she is, but her joy made me feel joyful, congratulations BLACK GIRL, YOU ROCK,” a user wrote on Threads.
“I know nothing about Kwanza Jones but I love her energy,” another added.
There are fans of other teams even declaring their loyalty to the Padres.
“My Mets might get a run for their money on who might be my favorite MLB team,” one sports fan admitted in a post celebrating the Padres’ new owners.
“Okay so maybe a new personality unlocked: being a San Diego Padres fan,” another wrote.
When you add Feliciano’s Puerto Rican heritage to the mix, in a sport with deep Black and Latino roots on the field but historically far less diversity in the owners’ boxes, this may be a rare win for the diaspora wars.
“Attention my melanated casual baseball fans,” one user on Threads began in a post. “If you are in need of an MLB team to root for, look no further than the San Diego Padres. The 1st Black and brown majority owned team in MLB’s history. Kwanza Jones and Jose Feliciano. We have arrived in what is arguably considered the most white-owned and dominated sports league in American sports. Let that sink in. This is huge!”