Who is Jackie Robinson?

This month I wanted to reach every sports fan about a player that most of us grew to love and appreciate and this is Jackie Robinson. Many people know that Robinson was the first Negro player to play in major league baseball. But many don’t know who he really is. So tonight I want to open his life to you on black history month.

Robinson was an African American born in 1919 in Cairo, Georgia to a family of sharecroppers. Nobody felt bad for Robinson because he was black and that his father left him when he was young. Robinson took his obstacles that he faced and made them opportunities for him. This is what so many people lack when they’re facing adversity.

Robinson was a visionary and isn’t just black history but American history. When he was young he played not just one or two different sports but four. He exceled in basketball, football, track and baseball and could of made it to the pros in either one he chose. That’s how Robinson wanted his life to be. In those days when you were black, opportunities were low. So Robinson knew that becoming great was something that he had to do and change the way people looked at African Americans in sports.

This wasn’t a man that made excuses for himself but a man that wanted to open up doors for himself and others. When Robinson attended UCLA in 1941 he was a player that many have never seen before; mainly because he was African American and he was just a great athlete. But that wouldn’t last for long because he had to leave school because of his finances.

However, Robinson would soon become a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947 and break the color barrier that has been in front of colored players since 1889. Robinson proved to not only whites that he belonged but the whole country. As everyone watched and learned about this player they also say the skill and drive that he possessed. Robinson isn’t remembered as the greatest baseball player of all-time but what he’s done for the game and for the country will not be forgotten.