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Wednesday, March 02, 2005

JACKIE ROBINSON FINALLY GETS THE GOLD! CONGRATULATIONS!!

It just does my heart good to see that the late Jackie Robinson, a shining star in the firmanent of baseball finally received the golden Congressional Medal this month from Congress, in a ceremony attended by his wife Rachel Robinson, President and Mrs. Bush and other Robinson family members.

Since the American Revolution, the U.S. Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.

This country has always been fairly generous when it comes to sports, because the art of the game is a reflection of the American ideal of freedom, challenge, independence...and coming out on top.


Back in the day, it didn't take long for the sports race barrier to crumble under our nationalistic desire to compete and win, and Jackie Robinson, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was the man with the plan...AND the talent. A veritable genius when it came to the game of baseball, Robinson possessed a grand slam that wouldn't quit and was amazing to witness in person.

"Robinson could hit and bunt and steal and run. He had intimidation skills, and he burned with a dark fire. He wanted passionately to win. He bore the burden of a pioneer and the weight made him stronger. If one can be certain of anything in baseball, it is that we shall not look upon his like again." ---- Roger Kahn in The Boys of Summer.

After a season with the Negro League in 1947, UCLA graduate Robinson tore up the turf (in 1941, Jackie Robinson became the first athlete in the history of UCLA to letter in four sports; track, basketball, baseball, and football) and became the first black player to play for the big leagues. He not only changed the face of sports, but of society as well. When Jackie finally played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, we black folks KNEW that times, they WAS a changin'!

He had a natural reserve and grace about him, and family members said it was often hard for him to bite his tongue when confronted with racial slurs on the ball field.

Robinson not only did his folks proud, he did everyone ELSE proud too, by approaching the game with an attitude of fair play and honesty while, at the same time, fighting against racial discrimination throughout his lifetime.

"Jackie's is an amazing story, this kind of recognition
outside of baseball is long overdue."
--- Bud Selig, Baseball Commissioner

The Robinson Congressional Medal, co-sponsored by Arizona Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and the highest citizen award in America, was long in coming and well-deserved.

In remembering Jackie Robinson and his contributions; there's a video tribute to Jackie Robinson at this link, and an audio tribute here.


ROSA PARKS, ANOTHER NATIONALTREASURE

Consider Rosa Parks, our contemporary Harriet Tubman who single-handledly forced this country to look closely at its poor treatment of blacks.

As a child in Tuskegee, Alabama, Parks spent many nights listening to the activities of the local Ku Klux Klan, while they ran down, beat and lynched black citizens.



As an adult, she refused to give up her seat and move to the back of a Montgomery, Alabama bus, while, at the same time, withstanding the threats, insults and abuse from her fellow passengers, Parks took up the banner long held by Jackie Robinson, and refused to further tolerate discrimination and Jim Crow, as a private citizen and individual. She was absolutely fearless in her actions on that day, December 1, 1955. Parks was immediately arrested and by December 5th, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began, with Dr. Martin Luther King as its leader.

"Sparking the modern civil rights movement in the United States by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Rosa Parks's arrest for breaking Montgomery segregation laws started a boycott of the city bus line that lasted 381 days. This eventually led to the 1956 Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation illegal on public buses."

Parks is still with us today, residing in the state of Michigan and facilitating the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, which was created to foster positive achievement for youth.

For youthful readers, she wrote the book, Rosa Parks: How I Fought For Civil Rights and also a autobiography entitled Quiet Strength.

"The only thing that bothered me,
was that we waited so long to make
this protest." --- Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks IS a National Treasure and deserves to be honored as such. In 1996, President Clinton awarded Rosa Parks with the Medal of Freedom Award. In my opinion, for her bravery and foresight, she deserves the Congressional Medal as well.

Known as the Mother of the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement, Parks' strength and sheer determination to fight for the rights of black Americans was righteous and fierce, then and now.

WRITE FOR WHAT IS RIGHT
Write or email your Senator and request a Medal for our National Treasure Rosa Parks before it's too late. You can research your state representatives at this link.

RESOURCES FOR YOU TO CHECK OUT:

NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL MUSEUM

JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION

NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME: JACKIE ROBINSON

ACADEMY OF ACHIEVEMENT: ROSA PARKS

JIM CROW MUSEUM OF RACIST MEMORABILIA

CORRESPONDENCE FOR MRS. PARKS:
Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development
65 Cadillac Square, Suite 2200 Detroit, MI 48226

SPACIOUS SITES

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space, between the notes, and curl my back to loneliness. --Maya Angelou, author

Read and Discover Your Beautiful and Creative Self!