Jackie Robinson Lecture

The Heroic Journey of Jackie Robinson Program In this lecture about Jackie Robinson we were enlightened about not only Jackie Robinson and his history playing baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers but also about the time period he lived in. When Jackie was first drafted, it was 1945 and the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to take on the first African American ball player. It was Branch Rickey who decided to take on the experiment of drafting an African American to an all white baseball team. During this era, having blacks and whites associated with each other was unheard of. Yet, Jackie was looked at as someone that could play baseball and this was a time changing event that occurred in our history. Jackie Robinson took the game at Ebbets Field on April 15th of 1947. This was his first game to ever play on the Brooklyn Dodgers in Flatbush. This game was played against the Braves, and Jackie started by playing first base. As the first pitch was thrown, the crowd went wild. The stadium was at full capacity of both African American and White fans. As the game continued, Jackie went hitless with three trips to the base. Though he was not at his top performance, seeing him on the field caused the overwhelming excitement to move throughout the crowd. The black fans were extremely tense yet beyond enthusiastic that they reacted towards everything Jackie did. Every step he took, every swing of his bat and ever base he stole caused the uproar of the crowd. The white fans were waiting to see what Jackie had in store for the team. Their hopes were riding on him and what he could make of the Dodgers. By the end of the game, the Dodgers had won five to 3, and the crowd was at an all time excitement level. This was only the beginning for Jackie’s baseball career.
At the closure of this lecture, we get a glimpse into Jackie and Rachel together. We learn that Rachel saw Jackie’s three main goals; context, pushing the envelope and achieving change. Robinson was