"He was a record breaker. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have seen Michael Jordan, LeBron James or Willie Mays. He was influential to the game of baseball and any sport in history."

Angelo Lucier   

This book is dedicated to all sports fans across the entire world.

CHILDHOOD

Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia on January 31, 1919 to a family of 5, Frank, Edgar, Matthew and Willa Mae. His family were farmers, and since his dad didn’t want to be a farmer, he left the family when Jackie was young. His mom decided to move to Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles. They were the only black family on the block, and they were very poor in a rich community.

                                  John Muir High School

Jackie Robinson went to John Muir High School. His brothers Matthew, who broke all sports records at the school and Frank, persuaded Jackie to pursue sports. He was amazing at 5 sports-tennis, baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He got  scholarships for basketball, football, track and field and baseball. He played shortstop for the baseball team, quarterback for the football team, point guard for the basketball team and ran long jump for track and field. He was accepted into Pasadena Junior College for his amazing athletic ability.

                                          Pasadena Junior College

Near the time he went to Junior College, his brother Matthew competed in the 1936 Olympics and placed 2nd in the 200 m dash only 0.4 seconds behind the famous runner Jesse Owens. Jackie then broke all school records held by brother Matthew. He was one of the smartest people in Pasadena.   Life was going well for him but, major racial injustices started popping up. His black friend was facing detention for something he didn't do, so Jackie stood up to the police, and as a result got a 2 year prison sentence.

                                                          UCLA

Jackie enrolled in UCLA after his time in prison, and he became the first ever man black or white, to win awards in 4 different sports-basketball, track and field, baseball and football. There were 3 other black people on the UCLA Bruins football team, who also made up the outfield in baseball. As a senior, he met his future wife Rachel Isum who was very familiar with Jackie's athletic career. Jackie never graduated because in the spring of his final year he left due to financial difficulties.

                                                     Military

In 1942, Jackie was drafted into a military unit in Kansas. It took a lot of fighting and debating, but he and other fellow black people were accepted into the army. Later in his military career, Jackie  was asked to sit in the back of the bus, just like many others (yes he was before many, including Rosa Parks) and he didn't. He was taken into custody and even transferred out of his unit. He joined another unit, but he was court martialed because of false accusations by his boss. He was removed from the military because of it.