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Profs and Pints presents: “Jackie Robinson, Revolutionary,” an homage to the hero who broke baseball’s color line, with Richard Zamoff, professorial lecturer in sociology at George Washington University and director of the Jackie Robinson Project.
Every April 15th, every player, coach, manager and umpire in Major League Baseball wears the number 42. They do so to honor Jackie Robinson, who on that date in 1947 walked onto Ebbets Field as the Brooklyn Dodgers’ first baseman and, in doing so, changed baseball and America forever.
Born into a family of Georgia sharecroppers and raised in poverty, Robinson never had much patience for racism, and he used his phenomenal baseball talent to fight it. Much more than just a baseball player, he was an American hero who challenged, educated, and encouraged America, ultimately forcing it to think differently about matters related to race. Roger Kahn, author of The Boys of Summer, wrote: “Jackie Robinson occupied center stage and wherever he moved, center stage moved with him.”
Robinson has been described as “a revolutionist in a baseball suit” and both a symbol, and catalyst, of change. Martin Luther King called Jackie Robinson “a freedom rider before freedom rides, a sit-inner before sit-ins.” In Ken Burns’ documentary on baseball, the essayist and culture critic Gerald Early said, “You can divide black-white relations in the 20th century into two parts—before Robinson and after Robinson.” Cornel West has called the Dodgers’ Ebbets field “one of the sacred spaces of American culture.” Major League Baseball retired Robinson’s number, 42, in perpetuity back in 1997. This past January 31 marked the centennial of Robinson’s birth, and he is being remembered and, in some cases, discovered by those who did not know of his legacy before.
Come hear Robinson’s life and contributions discussed by a scholar with a passion for the subject. Professor Zamoff teaches a class titled “Jackie Robinson: Race, Sports, and the American Dream,” and developed an annual Jackie Robinson lecture series. The Jackie Robinson Project, which he has directed for 23 years, travels to schools, libraries, and community organizations in several states to discuss the baseball legend’s impact as an informal civil rights leader. Professor Zamoff also serves as faculty advisor to the Jackie and Rachel Robinson Society, a GW student organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the Jackie Robinson legacy.
If you are interested in baseball, modern American history, or matters of race, being on hand for this talk will be like watching a home run fly out of the ballpark.
Advance tickets available at https://profspintsrobinson.brownpapertickets.com
