July 29-August 4, 2004

art

Promises Kept

Sharon Robinson remembers her dad and his legacy to sports and politics.

by Natalie Hope McDonald

"My father was famous," writes Sharon Robinson. Indeed, his name is synonymous with American culture. Breaking records on the field and in civil rights, her father, Jackie Robinson, was as famous for being a major league baseball player as he was for being a racial pioneer. As his only daughter, she recently published a book about her father's feats, Promises To Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (Scholastic Press, $16.95), designed to acquaint young adults with her dad's life in baseball and politics.

"While I'd written books that touched on important aspects of my father's life, I'd yet to fully document the Jackie Robinson story," she says. The book comes at a pivotal time in major league baseball. According to an Inquirer article this month, nine percent of players in major league baseball and only two of the 18 all-star starters are African-American. Salisbury reported, "In 1974, African American players made up 27 percent of major league rosters. By 1995, it was down to 19 percent, on its way to nine percent this season."

As an educational consultant for major league baseball, the younger Robinson created Breaking Barriers, an in-school program designed to promote literacy, values and baseball to young adults in major cities around the country. This year, in addition to promoting her book, Robinson has toured ballparks, libraries and schools to educate students about civil rights history. The program has reached over 1 million children across the United States and Canada. Robinson's own background is in education, having taught at Yale, Columbia, Georgetown and Howard universities. She has also worked with the United Negro College Fund.

"I'm asked all the time what it was like growing up being Jackie Robinson's daughter," says Robinson. "My response is often brief because it's really quite complicated." She says the hardest part was finding her own voice while still embracing his legacy. She explains, "My brothers and I played a very peripheral role in the civil rights movement, but it led to a lifetime of service. As children, we marched alongside our parents at rallies, supported our father as he traveled south in support of the movement, and helped raise money for the cause. As an adult, I've worked on behalf of women's health care issues and in education. As a family, we've combined our efforts to support the Jackie Robinson Foundation and are very proud of the hundreds of scholars and alums it's helped to support."

Among the highlights of Promises To Keep are Robinson's accounts of her father's work with Martin Luther King Jr., in addition to his leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series in 1955. She illustrates the book with photographs from her personal collection, letters the athlete wrote to her mother, and anecdotes she wanted to impart to the next generation. There are also newspaper clippings documenting the African-American migration North during the Reconstruction era. It would, Robinson notes, influence her father's motivations decades later.

"Heroes showed up in my dad's life at critical junctures," says Robinson. "I'd like my dad to be remembered as a man of strong character who used his athletic prowess and commitment to equality to help change America. My father's life speaks of the importance of making a commitment to family and community. He taught me to take risks, follow my passions and to continue to make a difference in the lives of others."

In the book, as a demonstration of her father's impact on different eras of her life, she writes, "I was six when my dad retired from baseball; twelve when he was elected into the Hall of Fame; twenty-two when he died. … My father taught me to flip pancakes, hit a baseball, question political leaders, solve problems and keep promises."

In late 2003, President Bush awarded the baseball legend with the Congressional Gold Medal. Jackie Robinson is one of only 300 people to have received the honor since George Washington in 1776. Adds Robinson in her book, "It's taken me years to understand and celebrate the fullness of my legacy. In achieving understanding, however, I've both been inspired and given a sense of direction that's enhanced who I am."

Sharon Robinson will appear Thu., July 29, 7 p.m., as part of the Cool Books/Hot Topics free summer lecture series in the Montgomery Auditorium at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library, 19th and Vine sts., 215-686-5322.