Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Caira, Georgia. His father was a sharecropper and Jackie was a grandson of former slaves.
Although born in Georgia, he and his three brothers and one sister were raised in Pasadena, California by their single working mother. After Jackie graduated from Pasadena junior college he attended the University of California Los Angeles where he was the University’s first four-sport letter winner. He excelled in football, basketball, track, and baseball. After college, Jackie served in the U.S Army during World War ll, though he was discharged for refusing to move to the back of a segregated military bus.
Shortly after returning home from the Army he joined the Negro Leagues and played shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945. Later on that year Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers invited Robinson to become the first African American to play with the all-white Dodger’s farm team, the Montreal Royals.
He knew Jackie Robinson would face an abundant amount of discrimination, but he needed a player who could bear the torment. He famously told Robinson he was,” looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back.” Jackie Robinson’s first game on Ebbets field with the Brooklyn Dodgers was on April 15, 1947. This was the beginning of a career that no one could match.
Want to know how special a player he was? He is the only player to have his number retired by Major League Baseball.
For ten whole years he was unparalleled on the field. From 1947 to 1956 was the Jackie Robinson Era, and he was untouchable. At the end of his professional career his record included a .311 batting average, 137 home runs, 734 runs batted in, and 197 stolen bases.
In my opinion he was the only reason the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win their first World Series Championship. Jackie’s rewards were just as extraordinary as his record. In 1947 he took home the Rookie of the year award, in 1949 he got the Most Valuable Player award, and in 1962 Jackie Robinson became the first African American inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.
But his story doesn’t stop there. After integrating baseball Jackie Robinson became a full-fledged leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He used his status as a celebrity to further human rights and worked tirelessly to change the layout of race relations in the United States.
Jackie Robinson was also hired to serve as the Vice President for personnel at Chock Full o’ Nuts, making him the first African American to be named a vice president of a major company. He used his working position at Chock o’ Nuts to improve working conditions for employees.
In 1964 Jackie Robinson co-funded Freedom National Bank of Harlem, which was a black owned and operated bank for the express purpose of financially aiding African American Communities. In 1970 He founded the Jackie Robinson construction company, which sought to improve housing for low-income people.
Jackie Robinson was an extraordinary man with the will power, dedication, and perseverance to become a successful man in a time where it was impossible for an African American to do so. He was always giving back to the community and even today is looked at as an extraordinary figure of civil rights. Happy birthday Jackie Robinson.