PBS - Jackie Robinson (2016) Part 2

Jackie Robinson, a two-part, four-hour film directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon tells the story of an American icon whose life-long battle for first class citizenship for all African Americans transcends even his remarkable athletic achievements. “Jackie Robinson,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.”

Part 2

Jack Roosevelt Robinson rose from humble origins to break the color barrier in baseball, becoming one of the most beloved men in America. Born to tenant farmers in rural Georgia and raised in Pasadena, California, Robinson excelled at athletics from an early age, eventually enrolling at UCLA, where he lettered in four sports and met his future wife, a nursing student named Rachel Isum. Facing racism and discrimination everywhere, Robinson refused to give in, defying Jim Crow segregation in Pasadena and, as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, standing up for his rights when ordered to move to the back of a military bus.

Robinson’s tremendous baseball skill, strength of character and insistence on equality made him the perfect choice for Branch Rickey, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, in his search for a black player with the talent and fortitude to integrate Major League Baseball. On April 15, 1947, Robinson, wearing the number 42, became the first African American player in the Major Leagues in more than half a century. He faced slurs, threats and abuse, as fans and managers taunted him, pitchers threw at his head, and runners tried to spike him, but he suppressed his natural instinct to fight back. Despite the torments and pressure, Robinson performed spectacularly on the field, helping the Dodgers clinch the National League pennant and winning the first ever “Rookie of the Year” award.

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