Promises to Keep: List 1

As a result of Dad’s accomplishments on and off the field, I inherited a legacy of excellence and service.

To this day, I’m mesmerized by newsreels of my dad rounding the bases, joyously clapping his hands as he outfoxes another pitcher.

To this day, I’m mesmerized by newsreels of my dad rounding the bases, joyously clapping his hands as he outfoxes another pitcher.

I passed it several times a day and always paused to look at how a cloud of dirt obscured half my dad’s body, or to study the way his right hand was clenched into a fist.

I never failed to notice how my dad’s face twisted with fierce determination.

My great-grandparents were slaves; my grandmother was a sharecropper; my father was born into a segregated world.

By breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, my father helped break down racial segregation.

By breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, my father helped break down racial segregation.

The Civil War (1861–65) ended this terrible, inhumane practice.

Rice called his character “Jim Crow.” White audiences laughed at the clowning and foolish antics of the character. Black people found the performances demeaning.

Rice called his character “Jim Crow.” White audiences laughed at the clowning and foolish antics of the character. Black people found the performances demeaning.

They began to use the term “Jim Crow” to mean discrimination.

1863
President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, which frees slaves in the Confederate states.

The racial tension escalated when southern blacks moved north to work in jobs created by World War I. From 1915 to 1930, nearly 1.5 million black people migrated north at a rate of 100,000 per year.

The rapid shift in population caused overcrowding in many cities and increased resentment from many white workers who were now forced to work alongside blacks.

Mallie Robinson, my grandmother, was one of the early, pioneering migrants.

Mallie Robinson, my grandmother, was one of the early, pioneering migrants.

But my grandmother was a determined woman with an unflappable faith in God.

The children’s verbal battle was interrupted when the girl’s father came outside and started throwing rocks at my father. There were other incidents like that meant to intimidate my grandmother into moving off Pepper Street.

Wells researched and documented the shocking number of lynchings of black people, including three businessmen friends in Memphis, Tennessee.

Despite threats on her own life, Wells continued her antilynching crusade through organizing, lecturing, and writing.

Scholar and writer William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963) believed African Americans should be educated and activists.

Self-made millionaire Madame C. J. Walker (1867-1919) was an entrepreneur who amassed a fortune through her cosmetics business.

Self-made millionaire Madame C. J. Walker (1867-1919) was an entrepreneur who amassed a fortune through her cosmetics business.

Walker was an important supporter of the Harlem Renaissance.

Booker T. Washington (c. 1836-1915), a former slave, became a leading educator, author, and spokesperson for African Americans. He headed Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, an all-black college where students learned vocational skills.

Paul Robeson (1898-1976), an extraordinary singer, stage, and film actor, stunned audiences with his powerful performances in the film Showboat (1936) and in stage productions of Othello (1930 and 1943). Robeson was later ostracized for his social activism.

Zora Neale Hurston (c. 1891-1960) was an anthropologist and novelist, best known for her book Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937).

They waged battles in courts, in newspapers, and at street demonstrations. They supported educational and economic equity.

Black-owned and operated newspapers like the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, Boston’s The Guardian, Ebony magazine (formerly known as the Negro Digest), the NAACP’s monthly magazine, The Crisis, and the Associated Negro Press sprang up to tell the story of racial progress and encourage anti-segregation resistance movement.

The Harlem Renaissance, named after New York City’s vibrant black neighborhood, Harlem, brought forth great African-American writers, artists, and musicians.

Several key factors helped my dad avoid serious trouble. The first and most important was his devotion to his mother and the values she worked hard to instill in him.

Edgar’s feats on roller skates and his bicycle were legendary.

German leader Hitler snubbed Jesse Owens by refusing to shake his hand at the Olympic medal awards ceremony, but black America and freedom-lovers everywhere celebrated this stunning victory over racism.

Europe was on the verge of a second world war.