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World Changers
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Jackie Robinson
At an early age, Jackie was influenced by his brother Mack who was the silver medalist at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. In 1938, Jackie made local history by playing two different sports on the same day. In the morning, he had made a new record in the running broad jump. Then in the afternoon, he played baseball and his team won the champinonship. Another great moment in his athletic career occurred when he was a student at the University of California at Los Angeles. He became the first student to succeed in four different sports(track, football, basketball, and baseball). He acquired four letters in one season. In 1941, Jackie decided to leave college and join the military. In the Army, Jim Crow policies limited a colored man's freedom. Although Jackie became a second lieutenant, his military career was cut short by racial prejudice. By the end of 1944, after leaving
the army, Jackie moved to Texas to play baseball in the Negro Leagues.
The Negro Leagues were started in 1898, as a separate league for African
American baseball players.
1946 - 1956 Jackie was scouted by Branch Ricky, the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. After playing on the farm team, the Montreal Royals, he finally became a major league player. His batting average was .297, and he hit twelve home runs in his first season. In 1949, he was selected Most Valuable Player. Depite such wonderful accomplishments, Jackie had a lot of difficulties as well. When he signed his contract for the Dodgers, he promised Ricky not to fight back under any circumstances. When he started playing with his team, many other players ignored him. The newspaper writers wrote scornful and racist reports about him. Many baseball fans hated him just because he was black. Jackie received many hate letters, some of them even threatened him and his family. But Jackie kept his promise and never fought back against anyone. He just tried harder and played better. Many people were impressed and attracted by his dynamic play. Jackie always remembered what Mr. Ricky said to him: "Color didn't matter to fans if the black man was a winner." Jackie hung up his uniform after about ten years of playing baseball with the Dodgers. 1956 - 1972 Following his baseball career, Jackie became a businessman, a civil rights activist, and a father of three children. He worked for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), and had contact with many leaders in government and the civil rights movement, such as MartinLutherKing, Jr., Malcolm X, Nelson Rockefeller, and John F.Kennedy. Jackie also cared deeply about and tried to work with children in his community. On October 24, 1972, at the age of fifty three, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack. However, his spirit lives on and provides an example to us all of real strength and courage in the face of adversity. Jackie gives us a heroic image that will never fade. 
Written by Mutsuko Otake |
