35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Super Hero JACKIE ROBINSON

Jackie Robinson 

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1919, when many cities were erupting in race riots. World War I Black soldiers were returning from segregated quarters in the military to increased discrimination at home. 

Two decades later, Robinson, a top UCLA athlete, became the school's first four-letter man. He excelled in basketball, football, track, and baseball. 

When World War II was starting, Robinson, swept up in the fervor, entered the army as a draftee applying for Officer Candidate School (OCS). He was turned down because he was Black. Robinson, not one to take no for an answer, consulted with his friend and fellow draftee World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis. Louis used his clout to get Robinson accepted into OCS. Robinson became a second lieutenant and spent the rest of the war fighting segregation at bases in Kansas and Texas instead of fighting enemies in Germany and Japan. 

It was during this tumultuous time that Robinson became friends with Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey encouraged the young athlete to use his talents and energies to integrate major-league baseball. According to Rickey, Robinson could help him take a losing team to the winner's circle while breaking the "color line." 

Rickey hated segregation as much as Robinson. Rickey had once seen a Black college player turned away from a hotel. He got the player a cot in his room. Rickey never forgot seeing this player crying because he was denied a place to lay his weary head just because of the color of his skin. Rickey wanted to change things, and he saw a way to do just that with the talented, poised Jackie Robinson. 

Robinson played shortstop with the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs, and he never lost sight of his ultimate dream, to play with Rickey's Brooklyn Dodgers. Finally, Rickey's scouts caught up with Robinson and invited him to come to New York. 

Told of the immense difficulties he would face if he played with an all-white team, the ever-confident Robinson agreed anyway. He gave his word he would never be part of a racial incident, and he kept his promise despite a lifetime of standing up to bigotry. Robinson had to endure fans calling him ugly names. Players, even sportswriters, defamed him with catcalls and verbal abuse. But Robinson didn't fight back. He knew his actions could ruin the chances of other African-American players. Besides, he had given Branch Rickey his word. 

After a year with the Dodgers' top farm team, the Montreal Royals, Robinson displayed amazing skill, winning the hearts of many who saw this Black wizard play ball. In his very first game, he hit a three-run homer. That year, the team won the Little World Series. After Robinson's last game in Montreal, the crowd stormed the field, recited Robinson's name repeatedly, hoisted him on their shoulders, and paraded him around the field. 

In 1947, after officially joining the Dodgers, Robinson was named Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News magazine. He helped the Dodgers win a National League pennant. Robinson also led the league in stolen bases and hit .297. This was the beginning of a series of accolades he would garner in his brilliant 10-year career with the team. Ford Frick, who was president of the National League, gave Robinson a Silver Bat award for winning the National League batting title in 1949. 

In 1949, the same year he captured the National League Most Valuable Player Award, two former teammates from the Negro leagues joined him on the All-Star Team—Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe. Robinson was still receiving threats on his life for playing a "white man's game," despite his great success. Robinson responded to a hate letter by hitting a home run in the next game he played. 

In 1955, the Dodgers won the World Series— a feat that Robinson called "one of the greatest thrills in my life." In 1957, at age 39, he retired with a lifetime batting average of .311. And in 1962, Robinson became the first African American elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. 

Robinson went on to become both a civil rights activist and businessman. On the business end, he became vice president of a company called Chock Full O'Nuts. Now that other Blacks had joined him in integrating baseball, he was free to actively fight discrimination. His activism caught the attention of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse Jackson, both of whom consulted with him on a variety of social justice issues. Additionally, Robinson continued to be a staunch supporter of the NAACP. Robinson's quest for economic justice for African-American entrepreneurs inspired him to reestablish the Freedom National Bank in Harlem in 1964, which was owned and operated by Blacks. 

Early in 1972, the Dodgers retired Robinson's number 42. Robinson died of a heart attack on October 24, 1972, in his Stamford, Connecticut home just a few days after he threw out the first pitch at the 1972 World Series. The Reverend Jesse Jackson eulogized the trailblazing athlete at the funeral. Robinson's ideals and values are kept alive today through the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit organization launched in 1973 by Rachel Robinson, his widow. The organization provides leadership development and education for underprivileged youths.

From Great African Americans.  Copyright, Publications International, Ltd.