Jackie Robinson's life through school

JACK “JACKIE” ROBINSON
By: Luke Mozena

Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919. He was born in Cairo Georgia. Jackie had a hard life from the start. His life started out in Cairo where he never met his father and his family was very poor. His mother, Mallie Robinson, had moved the family across the U.S. from Georgia to Pasadena, California. His family consisted of Jackie, his sister Willa Mae, His 3 brothers Mack, Edgar, and Frank. Jackie was closest to his brother Frank because they were only a year apart. Jackie was the youngest of the family. He started his schooling in a sandbox at the playground outside the school. Jackie would stay their all day and play in the sandbox. Jackie started learning about racial hatred at a very young age in Pasadena. His neighbor used to call him very bad names. When he was in about 6th grade he went to the YMCA but they told him people of his kind can only use the facility on certain days of the week. He also tried to go to the swimming pool and got told the same thing. When he got into junior high he went to a movie theater and had to sit in a certain section for colored people. He joined a gang after that. They called themselves the Pepper Street Gang. They didn’t do anything very dangerous. They would usually steal fruit of the side street markets. When they went to the golf course, players would hit long drives and the gang would run and steal the golf ball and sell them on the street afterward. Most customers bought their balls again and again. They did the same thing with baseballs at the local baseball games. The gang consisted of many races. They had African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, and whites. In high school he was considered aggressive because he never wanted to lose. He only lost 2 football games in his freshman and sophomore year. When he was a junior at Muir High School, he quit the gang because his teacher said this, “You know in your own heart you don’t belong in that gang- at least, not with a crowd that might steer you into trouble. Most of you youngsters who fall into the gang habit do so because you’re afraid to be considered different. It takes guts and Intelligence to go your own way, to be different, to stand up on your own to feet. You’ll not only be a much better kid, but better off too, if you resist doing wrong and don’t worry about being called chicken.”

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