Jackie Robinson

Robinson was strong, brave, nice and kind-hearted. Back in 1946 “only whites” were allowed to play on major-league baseball teams in the USA. Jackie changed that with the power, not from his swing but from his heart.

Jackie as a kid (http://www.congressionalgoldmedal.com/images/JakieRobinson)

Jackie was poor and was a newspaper boy. He worked very hard to get the little money that he could. Jackie had “white” friends but he was different. He was “black.” Even though he was faster and stronger than any of his friends, they still considered him different because of his skin color, but he did not mind. He was nice to everybody, even if they were mean to him. He liked himself for who he was. He was nice.

One day Jackie sat down with his family to talk about baseball. The day Jackie found out “only whites” were allowed to play major-league baseball he was mad. He wanted to do something about it. He developed into a sensational athlete. He played basketball, football, baseball, and track in high school. He won awards in all sports. He was strong.

Jackie in the Negro Leagues (http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/jackie-robison-hof.jpg)

Later Jackie joined the army. He was on his way to military camp in a bus. He sat in the back of the bus with the other “blacks”, while the “whites” sat in the front! This made Jackie mad. He walked to the front of the bus and sat down! The bus driver told him to sit in the back but he would not move! When Jackie got out of the army he started to try out for the negro leagues. He made it! After a while people (even “whites”) were talking about him. Branch Rickey thought that it was time for blacks to play in the major leagues so he let Jackie play. Some people hated Jackie playing in the major leagues so they would boo him and call him bad names. But he stood up to them and did not let them get to his feelings. He was brave.

I think that Jackie Robinson is a hero. He was strong, brave, nice and kind-hearted. He did change baseball with his heart not his swing.