Jack Roosevelt Robinson

Jackie on the cover of Time Newsmagazine (google.com)

Jackie Robinson was a very brave, heroic man. He was the first African American to break the Major League Baseball's color barrier some 50 years ago. His life was very interesting, but his feelings toward others were strong.

As you can tell my hero is the famous Jackie Robinson. Jackie was born in 1919 in the town of Cairo, Georgia. His family was very poor, but thrived on. His mom single-handedly cared for Jackie and his four siblings. Being the only African American family on the block, they experienced strong prejudice which only strengthened the bond they had with one another. Jackie excelled at all sports as a kid and young adult. He went to UCLA for college. After that he went into the army.

Jackie! (jackierobinson.com)

While in college Jackie loved sports. He was the first athlete to win varsity letters in FOUR sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. In 1941 he was named to the All-American football team. After that he went to the Negro Baseball League with the Kansas City Monarchs. After that he played his rookie year in the MLB with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In his MLB experience he was "Rookie of the Year", "National League Most Valuable Player", and became a "Hall of Famer" in 1962. While in the MLB he was threatened to be killed by fans because he was African American. During the later years of life, he married Rachel Isum from UCLA. They had three kids together: Jackie Jr., Sharon, and David. After all his accomplishments African Americans were now accepted in the MLB. In 1997 we celebrated his 50th anniversary of breaking the color-barrier in the MLB.

Jackie Robinson has inspired me in many ways. He has taught me to follow my dreams and to not let others discourage me. I will go after my goals with the courage that Jackie had. I will also not put others down and hope that they will follow my example.

Thank you for reading my biography on Jackie Robinson. He is a huge inspiration to me and I hope he will now be one for you. So...FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS AND DON'T LET OTHERS PUT YOU DOWN IN THE ATTEMPT!