The First, The Hero, and The Man 

In a time where people loved sports;
They saw one color, white, not all sorts.
But in the year nineteen forty four,
Jack Roosevelt Robinson walked through the door.

He was born in 1919 in Georgia state.
His abandoned mother moved the family to give them a clean slate.
To Pasadena, California she took them to be raised,
Yet in their white neighborhood, he was never praised.

He married Rachel Isum his high school sweetheart.
So after graduating from UCLA they would not be apart.

When he joined the minor league Monarchs,
There was one condition.
He had to put up with anti-Negro trash talk,
And just play his position.

He played shortstop for the beginning of his career,
It did not hurt his body, except maybe his rear.
At $400 as his pay,
His astonishing athletic ability put him on his way.

Above the Monarchs,on to the Brooklyn Dodgers, and to the Major Leagues.
Robinson decided to make his own creed.
"I don't care if you like me or not," it stated.
"I want my rights based on being human, not on segregation.

Katie M.

Jackie Robinson: The Player

  Baseball- An Illustrated History by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns

The Voice of a Hero

Coretta grew up with her sister and brother on a farm
Obie was her younger brother who she loved dearly
Remarkable young courageous woman
Edythe was her older sister who she looked up to
Thought she was deficient because she wasn't white
Took voice lessons when younger
ttended a church in which she was the choir director and pianist

Kindness and generosity is why people liked her so much
Introduced to a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King Jr. who one day became her husband
Never would she realize the tragedy to come
Giving his life for her and for his people.

Meghan H.

 Contemporary Black Leaders By Elton C. Fax cp. 1970

Black Americans By :Langston Hughes, Milton Meltzer, and Eric Lincoln cp. 1956,1963

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"

Johnson's mother was a mixed black and descent


Adopted a teenage girl in 1873 named Agnes


Married in 1864


Executive secretary of the NAACP


Ttanton school performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing", the song that he wrote

Johnson's father was born free of slavery


Over in Venezuala became US consul


His brother was a professional musician


Nicaragua, 1909, he became a US consul


School competition, won with and speech on reducing racial discrimination


Over at Columbia University, Johnson studied dramatic literature


New York Age , was editorial writer in 1914

Sarah I.

Rosa Parks

AN UNCONTROLLED FIRE


Rosa worked at the Montgomery Fair Dept. Store
On December First 1955 she was at the bus stop at Court Square Montgomery, Alabama
Sat in the front of the bus where only whites were allowed
Arrested for violating segregation laws in Alabama


Parks was found guilty and fined $14 in court cost
Atlanta minister Martin Luther King brought on the boycott
Ride with a friend, walk or take a cab on Monday, Dec.5 1955
King's walk to Freedom lead to a series of non-violent demonstrations
Successfully the boycott ended after 11 months.

Bibliography - Contemporary Black Leaders by, Elton C. Fax CP. 1970
 

 

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