Baseball and racism have coexisted in our country for decades, but most people prefer to view these topics separately. Many people have made dramatic impacts upon one or the other of these seemingly different subjects, but few have ever had a powerful impact upon both. Though there were leagues specifically for Negroes to play in, it was not until 1947 that a black man was allowed to play in the baseball leagues that we know of today. Jackie Robinson battled past the bigotry of the 1940's and became the first African American ever to play modern, major league baseball.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31st, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He was the youngest of five children to his parents, Mallie and Jerry. His father was a sharecropper, and at the end of each month he would have to turn in all of his profits in exchange for a...