Jackie Joyner-Kersee Biography

In 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia. His family being sharecroppers, Jackie's mother, Mallie, raised Jackie and his four other siblings.(JackieRobinson.com) Being the only black family on the block, his family faced discrimination and racism from neighbors all around. From a humble beginning, Jackie was an outstanding athlete.(larrylester42.com) Jackie was promoted from Washington Junior High. Later, he entered John Muir High School after his junior high career. Recognizing his athletic ability, Robinson's older brothers inspired Jackie to pursue sports.(Jackierobinson.com)

The grandson of a slave, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia; he was the youngest of five children. Jackie grew up very poor, but little did he know that his athletic ability would open the doors for his future. After his father deserted the family when Jackie was six months old, his mother, Mallie Robinson, moved the family to California in search of work. California also subjected blacks to segregation at that time, but to less of a degree than in the Deep South. The young Jackie defused his anger over this prejudice by immersing himself in sports. He displayed extraordinary athletic skills in high school, excelling at football, basketball, baseball, and track. After helping Pasadena Junior College

Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. However, at an early age of one year old, his single mother moved Jackie and four other siblings to Pasadena, California. In Pasadena, Jackie and his family grew up in poverty. Even though his family was impoverished, they lived in a predominately white neighborhood where they faced lots of discrimination for the simple fact that they were black. As Jackie was growing up, he excelled in baseball, basketball, football, and track. He went to John Muir High School where he was a letterman in all the sports that he excelled at. His early life fueled him to greater accomplishments as he got older.

Jackie was a modern day hero, he went through all the 12 steps. Mainly, he was heavily doubted but he surpassed all the expectations. Jackie destroyed all the test put in front of him and broke the racial barrier. Jackie open up the international league to all races. Baseball wouldn't be baseball without Jackie

Born on January 31, 1919 Jack Roosevelt Robinson was the youngest of five children. His father left the family before Jackie turned one and shortly after his mom moved the family from Georgia to California in search of work (Contemporary Black Biography). Segregation was still present in California, but was less harsh than in the south. To get away from the problems and racial prejudice, Jackie turned to sports. He was an exceptional athlete excelling in football, baseball, basketball, and track in both high school and college. He played four sports for the University of California Los Angeles (commonly known as UCLA). He was mostly a football and basketball star and had no intentions of playing Major League baseball due to the fact that it was all white. Jackie had always wanted to become a social worker to help underprivileged boys and hoped that travelling the nation for sports would expose him to a job in that field

Florence Griffith Joyner had a tremendous impact in Track/Field. She set world records that are now, still not broken. At the 1988 Olympic trials, Florence

    Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Caigo, Georgia. Growing up he was a very different and bright character, anyone could tell you that one. People always said he would have a smile on his face and when he wanted to do something he was determined until he did it. He had had gone to John Muir High School where he was an excellent athlete and his grades were also very good.

Jackie Robinson’s background and childhood environment had a major impact on the ways he went about changing African American lives. He is famous for saying that “a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives” (Jackie 1). Jack (Jackie) Roosevelt Robinson is famously well-known for becoming the first black player in the major leagues and playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He also was the youngest of five children and he was raised by a single mother. His older brother, Matthew, actually inspired him to pursue his dream in sports. Surprisingly, Matthew won a silver medal in the 200-meter-dash, just behind Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin. Jackie went to John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College, which are the places where he played a various amount of sports growing up. His reputation as a household name began to gain traction during this time. He was awarded the Region’s Most Valuable

The legacy of Jackie Robinson goes beyond the April 15, 1947 afternoon at Ebbets Field, when the Brooklyn Dodger infielder became the first black in the 20th century to play baseball in the major leagues. He changed the sport, and he changed the attitude of a lot of people in this country, Jackie Robinson fought for all the people that were fortunate, a lot of them are, especially the minority guys, to be able to play in the major leagues and the impact on the people of color today.

Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927- September 28, 2003), also known as the tennis Jackie Robinson, was the first African-American woman to not only play amateur tennis but also join the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Althea Gibson was one of the most influential and significant figures in African-American women’s sports history (Douglas). Althea was the figurehead that established that blacks were equal competitors in sports (Gould). On the streets of Harlem, New York City is where Althea got her start; Traveling the globe breaking racial barriers in different countries and winning their tennis tournaments is what Althea did. Although she did not receive any monetary gain from her winnings she did receive many awards and trophies, as well as the meeting of many important individuals.

     Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, January 31 1919. He went to college at the University of UCLA. Where he was a star in four sports basketball, baseball, football, and track. He is the only bruin to letter in four sports. After college he went to pursue a career in the Army. He

“Jackie Robinson was born on the thirty first day of January in 1919”. (biography.com) He was born to a family of sharecroppers in the town of Cairo Georgia, but Jackie grew up in Pasadena California. (Jackie Robinson official website) Jackie grew up being raised by only his mother and his older siblings helped out as well. He had four siblings, three older brothers and one sister. (Britannica encyclopedia) Jackie was the youngest of five kids and they all helped out each other in school, sports, and chores. The Robinson family was the only African American family on their block, but the bias acts of the white people surrounding them didn’t hurt them, but prepared them for their future. (Jackie Robinson official website) Jackie’s older brother Matthew gave him his inspiration to take on sports just as he did. He has always had a huge love for sports in his childhood years. (Jackie Robinson book pg: 4)

First of all, Jackie Robinson showed and proved his heroism for how he went against the social norms to be the first African-American to play in a previously all-white sport;the courage required to break this barrier is an example of social heroism. In “What is Heroism?” it states, “Yet social heroism is costly in its own way, often involving loss of credibility or financial stability, lower social status, arrest, torture, risks to family, and, in some cases, death.” This statement rings true to Jackie Robinson because, when Jackie went against the strict views of racist baseball players and fans, he risked everything that the evidence stated! In the text,” How Jackie Robinson Changed Baseball,” the hero broke the “color barrier” by joining Major League Baseball, a professional sport. This hero defied discrimination at a time when people of color were not allowed to play baseball. He did not accept the racist idea of what a professional baseball player should look like cause he just wanted to be a part of baseball.

Jackie Robinson will forever be remembered for changing the face of baseball and ending segregation in professional sports; however, he was more than a baseball player. He played an intricate role in the advancement of racial equality in America. In April of 1997, Ken Burns told LIFE magazine, “Heroes are people who struggle and do more than what is asked of them and their particular set of skill. You are really looking for that which will make a deposit in the sum of human progress, and Jackie Robinson certainly does,” (Stephens). Not only did Jackie Robinson conquer the expectations of his critics, he overcame a multitude of obstacles as a professional African-American baseball player and rose as an inspiration both on the field and through

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28th, 1929 in East Hampton, Long Island. Jacqueline’s mother was Janet Lee Bouvier, a highly ambitious horseback rider. Jacqueline was nicknamed "Jackie" after her father, Jack Bouvier. Young Jackie’s parents were a very well off coupled. Her father had an estimated fortune of 7 million dollars and Janet came from a wealthy family also, her father had been chairman of the board of Chase National Bank.