Jackie Robinson and Barack Obama: Two transformational African-Americans

   On this final day of Black History Month, I thought it would be fitting and proper to pay homage to two transformational African-Americans, Jack (Jackie) Roosevelt Robinson and Barack Hussein Obama.  The lives of these two distinguished African-Americans have truly been transformational.  There are others, of course, who have been transformational … Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver, Dr. Charles Drew, Jesse Owens, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Rafer Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Tiger Woods … there are many, many more African-Americans who deserved to be recognized as transformational figures.  I chose Jackie Robinson and Barack Obama because these two pioneers integrated the two most sacred institutions in the United States of America; the White House and Major League Baseball.

  
   Jackie Robinson was a natural ATHLETE who not only participated in several sports, but EXCELLED in every sport he participated in.  At John Muir High School in Pasadena, California, he lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track.  Just to show that his athletic prowess was no fluke, he went on to letter in football, basketball, baseball and track at UCLA, winning the national championship in the long jump in 1940.  He became the first athlete in UCLA’s history to win varsity letters in four sports. 

   He was drafted into the Army during World War II, where he made the rank of Second Lieutenant.  He was court-martialed in 1944 for refusing to take a seat on a non-segregated Army bus.  He was acquitted of the charges. 

   In 1945 Branch Rickey, then the President and General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers expressed an interest in signing a black player to play for the Dodgers after scouting the Negro Leagues.  Rickey knew Robinson the ballplayer was more than capable of playing in the Major Leagues.  He was interested in knowing if Robinson had the character to play in the Major Leagues; in other words, would Jackie Robinson have the wherewithal to stand the racial animus and hatred that would be directed toward him.  In a famous three hour exchange on August 28, 1945, Rickey asked Robinson if he could face the racial animus without taking the bait and reacting angrily – a concern given Robinson's prior arguments with law enforcement officials at Pasadena Junior College and in the military. Robinson was aghast: "Are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?" Rickey replied that he needed a Negro player "with guts enough not to fight back." After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to racial antagonism, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $600 a month, equal to $7,322 today.  On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers in Ebbets Field and in his 10 year major league career he won the Rookie of the Year Award, the Most Valuable Player Award and a batting championship.  When he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, he obviously became the first African-American to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

   As accomplished as he was on the baseball field, he was just as accomplished off it.  In 1965, he became the first African-American to become an analyst on a major network’s sports coverage when he joined ABC’s Major League Baseball’s Game of the Week in that capacity.  He also co-founded Freedom National Bank – a black-owned and operated commercial bank based in Harlem. He also served as the bank's first Chairman of the Board. In 1970, Robinson established the Jackie Robinson Construction Company to build housing for low-income families. He also was a political and social activist post-baseball until he passed away at the young of 53 on October 24, 1972.  He has received several posthumous honors including the permanent retirement of his uniform number, 42, by Major League Baseball on April 15, 1997.  April 15 is Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball and any player who chooses to can wear number 42 in games on that day. 

   Jackie Robinson was a leader, a hero, a pioneer, an icon, husband, father, a champion and a political and social activist.  He integrated one of the most sacred institutions in the United States of America.  He also integrated the FIBER of America.

   Jackie Robinson: one hell of a ballplayer and one hell of a MAN.

   Let’s face it: how many of you REALLY thought that you would live long enough to see an African-American elected to the highest office in the land, President of the United States?  To be completely honest, I sure didn’t.  On February 10, 2007, on the steps of the Illinois state capitol building, Barack Hussein Obama announced his candidacy for the office of President of the United States.  Like millions, I fell in love with the political potential of the slender young politician from Illinois after his electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  In my opinion, his campaign for President began that night.  He was then a candidate for the open United States Senate seat in Illinois.  Post Reconstruction, there had only been TWO African-Americans (Edward William Brooke III and Carol Moseley Braun) ever elected to the United States Senate.  Obama went on to get elected and was sworn in as the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois on January 4, 2005.  So on that blustery February day in 2007 when he announced that he was a candidate for President of the United States, I had my doubts.  Again, I could never imagine him being elected. 
   His chances for success were slim.  He was black and he was … BLACK.  His election to the Senate was historical in itself.  But Barack Obama had a higher ambition.  He saw a path to the presidency that only he and his cadre of advisors could see.  His presidential campaign was brilliant.  He tapped into his experience as a Community Organizer and ran a campaign geared toward the people.  He revolutionized the way by campaigns are run by using social networking to organize and raise money.  It all came together.  He was elected on November 4, 2008 and changed the course of American history.  It was a New World Order in America.  So far, his successful campaign and election has proven to be easy compared to what the future held for him upon taking office.
   The Obama Presidency, literally, had an inauspicious beginning.  Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, John Roberts, flubbed the recital of the oath of office (how does that happen when you have the oath written down?).  The Chief Justice went to the White House the next day and recited the oath for good measure to avoid accusations that Obama was not the President of the United States as a result of not taking the formal oath of office.  As we have come to learn, it wouldn’t matter. 
   This President has had his citizenship questioned, personal attacks levied at his wife and children, been labeled a socialist, a Marxist, a Nazi and the grand daddy of them all, a racist.  It is here where he yet again made history.  To be the first African-American to be elected to the highest office in the land AND be labeled a racist is quite an accomplishment, although an infamous accomplishment.  His signature piece of legislation, the Affordable Care Act, generated some of the most raucous, vile and racially charged town hall meetings in recent memory.  He was openly been disrespected during a speech to the Congress when a Republican member of the House shouted. “You lie!”.  In interviews with conservative leaning media outlets, President Obama has been openly challenged.  It is one thing to disagree with the person who holds the office of President of the United States.  It is quite another to have disrespect for the office, though. 
   Despite it all, including the need for securing a super majority in the Senate to pass ANY legislation, Obama has gotten a lot of signature legislation passed and signed into law.  From a legislative standpoint, his tenure has been successful.
   He has ignored the personal attacks on him, his wife, his children, his citizenship and his love for the country he serves.  After all, he IS the President of ALL of the United States of America.  He has continued to focus on doing the job he was elected to do.  Whether you agree with his politics or not, his election as President of the United States has been transformational.
   Jackie Robinson and Barack Obama.  Two pioneers.  Two role models.  TWO transformational Afican-Americans.
   I am proud of you both.

Peace, peace in the Middle East!

Craig Riggins

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