Jackie Robinson

Jackie sliding into home (Google Images)

The "Martin Luther King of baseball" can be described in many ways. Jackie Robinson was born January 31, 1919. He enrolled in UCLA in 1939 and became a graduate. After college it was either low-paying jobs or have a chance to play in the Negro Leagues. When Jackie Robinson was out of college he had to deal with racial discrimination. It was standard practice that African Americans could not play in the MLB. So Jackie Robinson went on to play for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues, then in 1945 became the first African-American to play in major league baseball in the modern era.

Jackie Robinson might have been in the MLB, but fans still treated him horribly. Not only fans used profanity towards him and called him names, even teammates chewed him out. Even though he was not getting the respect he deserved, he still played like he was a free bird in the open sky. After a couple of years playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers people started to see him as one of the team and to accept him as a player instead of an enemy. Teammates started to praise him on the things he did and Jackie lifted the team from underdogs to National Champions. He won the World Series with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.

Jackie into the Hall of Fame (Google Images)

After seventeen years in the major leagues, in 1962 Jackie was inducted into the National Hall of Fame. When his years as a Major League Baseball player were over, people looked back at the social impact of Jackie Robinson's inclusion into Major League Baseball in 1947 as one of the civil rights movement's most significant triumphs. Just after being inducted into the Hall of Fame Jackie became a vocal supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. He was also an activist of the Martin Luther King Foundation.

In his years after baseball he also helped in his community. He had an active role in the YMCA in his community but helped in others. He did some volunteer time raising money for churches in Georgia destroyed by arsonists. In 1970 he established the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build houses for families with low incomes. He served numerous campaigns for the NAACP and Shortly after became the director of community activities with WNBC and WNBT.

Jackie helping in his community (http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/88/80388-004-CCF3B28A.jpg)

So now you know Jackie Robinson just wasn't the first African-American to play Major League Baseball but was an activist for many associations. Jackie Robinson became a role model and a hero to many kids. He showed kids not to give up no matter what people call you or say to you. Jackie Robinson had a quote he would say that affected everyone, "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." This is why Jackie R. Robinson is a hero to many kids and players.