New York City is honoring the 75th anniversary of the late Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier of Major League Baseball in a big way. The iconic intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan was temporarily renamed “Jackie Robinson Road” on Friday.
70 years ago, before it was known that a Black man could be the President of the United States and the first female VP would be a Black woman, before interracial couples could marry. legally married and every citizen has the right to vote, there is a Black man named Jackie Robinson who wants to play in Major League Baseball.
On this day – April 15 – 1947, at Ebbets Stadium in Brooklyn, Robinson made his debut with the Dodgers, breaking the color barrier and becoming the first black player of the National League, Bridge The first player was then considered the Major League Baseball. . And on Friday morning, the 75th anniversary of his groundbreaking achievement, another landmark was bestowed upon Robinson about 10 miles northwest of that historic site.
42nd & Broadway in NYC has temporarily become Jackie Robinson Way 💙
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/zj7B9qcHtX
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 15, 2022
“Naming it after Jackie Robinson made us feel a little more special than the average Boys & Girls Club,” Francis said. “But it’s also a huge responsibility for what he stands for. We have to uphold that and pass it on to the kids in our daily programs and the life skills we teach. . We wanted to make sure we were fueling the character Jackie Robinson represents.”
Away from the beaten path, down southwest Georgia near the Florida state line, a remarkable life began under the most humble of circumstances.
Jackie Robinson was born just outside the small town of Cairo (pronounced “KAY-ro”), to sharers struggling to make ends meet in the poverty of the Jim Crow South.
As Major League Baseball celebrates the 75th anniversary of historic Robinson breaking the color barrier, let’s not forget where he came from.
Robinson spent the first year of his life near Cairo. For decades, there was nothing to mark that he was ever there – the forgotten first chapter of one of America’s most important stories.
That has changed in the last quarter of a century.
There are now a pair of historic signs honoring Robinson – one downtown in front of the library, another in the ruins of the country house where he was attended by his grandmother, a midwife. , delivered on January 31, 1919, less than three months later. end World War I.
More notably, Jackie Robinson Boys & Girls Club was founded about a decade ago, in an effort to create a better life for young people in Cairo, many of whom still face a number of challenges. just like Robinson did a century ago.
Stephen Francis, the club’s director, proudly notes that this is the only Men’s & Women’s Club worldwide bearing the name Robinson.
Its mission will certainly be approved by him.
“I [had] the honor of meeting Jackie about a year and a half before he passed away. He had a presence. He will light up a room. Apparently he’s stood more than baseball. And our society right now should embrace that and follow the example Jackie set for us to follow.”
