Jackie+Robinson

Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919. He was born into a family of share croppers. He grew up with a hard working mentality and a can do attitude. Jackie Robinson was the first baseball player to break the color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. When he first joined the team, he was segregated harshly. He did not stay in the same hotel as his teammates or even eat in the same restaurants. Even though all of this was working against Jackie, he had an amazing rookie season and won the first ever rookie of the year award. He was instrumental in bringing a swift end to racial segregation in the baseball community. Jackie inspired players like Willie Mays. Before Jackie Robinson, there was 60 years of African American players playing in the racially segregated Negro Leagues. When Jackie debuted, he showed the world that you did not have to be white to be good at baseball. His remarkable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation and he opened a floodgate of unbelievable African American baseball players to play in the MLB. Going beyond baseball, Jackie Robinson contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement that all but eliminated racial segregation in the United States. Jackie Robinson broke many other barriers. He was the first African American T.V analyst and was the first Black vice president of a major corporation. In the 1960's, Jackie created the Freedom National Bank which was an African American owned financial institution based in Harlem.