Today is April 15, 2013 just any old day to some, but to others marks a very historic day. It is Jackie Robison day.  Some may not know who Jackie Robinson is and to those people I ask to please go inform yourself of who this brave man is.

To be completely honest until about 13 years ago I wasn’t even too sure who he was. I did not know why Jackie was so important. Then I did a little bit of research and read up on why the number 42 was retired throughout the all of baseball. What I read shocked me and put things into perspective for me. The sport that I love did not allow black people to play in the majors and more shockingly when Jackie and Branch Rickey tried to break this color barrier the reaction it got. This weekend the movie 42 came out and put things into REAL perspective for me (because we all know I’d rather watch a movie than read a book) and gave me more of an appreciation of why Jackie is important. It has made me a little sick that at some point the country I love was like this at some point. This was a man who was allowed to serve our country and fight to defend equal rights but could not play ball with white people. This is sickening to me. I know it is just a movie and that some things were probably taken out to make the story more appropriate to be a movie but I still could not imagine how it must have been to be around in that time.  I knew there had always been a problem with racism before the civil rights movement but I guess I had always taken that for granted and never really understood.

I am happy I got to grow up in a time where people of all colors can play baseball together, but it is not without Jackie Robinson that this is possible. Let us all take sometime to reflect and pay respects to this courageous man who broke the color barrier in baseball. Today we are all 42. Thank you Jackie Robinson!