Essential American History: Jackie Robinson

JACKIE ROBINSON

Airs April 11-12, 9 pm and 11 pm ET on PBS

Jack Roosevelt Robinson rose from humble origins to cross baseball’s color line and become one of the most beloved men in America. A fierce integrationist, Robinson used his immense fame to speak out against the discrimination he saw on and off the field, angering fans, the press, and even teammates who had once celebrated him for “turning the other cheek.” After baseball, he was a widely-read newspaper columnist, divisive political activist and tireless advocate for civil rights, who later struggled to remain relevant as diabetes crippled his body and a new generation of leaders set a more militant course for the civil rights movement.

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.”

Film Resources:

•  The Film's Website

Text and photo from PBS's and Film's Websites


Don Shaw, Jr.
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RedTruckStonecatcher.com

"...a small act by a single student...is having a great impact..."

“We're sorry about everything that went down at the game last week,” said Farmington High School  senior Danny Ha to students from Capital Prep whom he coincidently met at Hartford Stage's production of Romeo and Juliet.

Apology Accepted, Hartford Courant reporter Lori Riley's continuing coverage of the derisive "SAT chant" captures the story of a chance meeting between a Farmington High student who seized the opportunity to apologize on behalf of the high school for the hurtful chant directed at Capital Prep's girls basketball team last week.

Of the apology, Lisa Loomis, head of Capital Prep's English department, said, "It was a small act by a single student, but it is having a great impact on our school."

It's a positive step. A step in the right direction. More steps need to be taken. The apology opens a path.

Read Lori Riley's article Apology Accepted to get the full story.

For further background read Turning a Hurt into a Positive, Riley's first article on the "SAT chant." 

Don Shaw, Jr.
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RedTruckStonecatcher.com

"...they had to figure out how to tear us down..."

DESIREE ELMORE of the Capital Prep basketball team talks to fellow students Tuesday about an incident at the game with Farmington Friday night. Visit courant.com/capitalprep for more photos. ( Cloe Poisson | cpoisson@courant.com)

Stones. The words hit like stones. They hurt. They leave scars.

At the end of the Capital Prep win, some Farmington fans chanted "SAT scores, SAT scores, SAT scores.” "I was hurt because I feel that just because we were able to beat Farmington, they had to figure out how to tear us down in some type of way," Desiree Elmore recounted. 

The words "SAT scores" were thrown mockingly at Capital Prep's girls basketball team by "some Farmington [High School] fans in the student section" during a game last Friday. Turning a Hurt into a Positive, the Hartford Courant article by Lori Riley, tells the story.

Capital Prep history teacher Lauren Davern "urged students to sign up for A Call to Action, and said they would discuss ideas on how to tackle this problem." Farmington High students would be smart to follow Capital Prep's lead.

Watch the Courant's video about the Capital Prep student assembly on the "SAT scores" chant.

Don Shaw, Jr.
Write and Editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com

The Connecticut Forum: Wes Moore and Jessica Williams on Different Kinds of Racism

This Connecticut Forum video of Wes Moore and Jessica Williams on different kinds of racism from its Racism Forum is powerful and telling. It is essential viewing! In the words of the Forum, "...Wes Moore and Jessica Williams challenge superficial definitions of racism and encourage deeper awareness and understanding of one another's circumstances."

Watch more clips from the Racism Forum's other panelists Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Antoinio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles.

Don Shaw, Jr.
Writer and editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com