Robinson Foundation honors inspiration
01/23/2006NEW YORK -- As the Jackie Robinson Foundation's celebration of its inspiration's birthday progressed Monday evening, archival action footage of No. 42 in his old Brooklyn Dodgers uniform flickered on LCD screens ringing the ESPN Zone's reception room.
The baseball footage was almost an incongruity for the occasion.
Jackie Robinson played Major League Baseball for 10 years. His foundation, committed to educating young people both in the classroom and in real life, has been around for 33 years. His legacy would appear to have moved light years beyond anything bordered by foul lines.
Almost an incongruity, but not quite.
After all, MLB's Rookie of the Year Award still bears the name of the man who, when he took the field in 1947, crossed the gravest line of them all. Ten years later, he took a .311 lifetime average into retirement. Such societal and baseball feats will never fade.
"He will always have his baseball legacy, but he was also an amazing husband and loving father who worked for social change," said Sharon Robinson, his daughter. "So we know he is so proud of our scholars, and our growing list of alumni."
Jackie Robinson died more than 33 years ago. He would have been 87 on Jan. 31 -- a mention which brought gasps of realization from the foundation sponsors and benefactors invited to the fourth annual formal observance of his birthday.
This celebration, hosted by ESPN Zone for the third straight January, is one of the rare public bows by an organization that has championed African-American students for a third of a century.
"This is one of our few events where we don't have a fundraising agenda, but stop and think about the man," said Della Britton Baeza, president and CEO of the foundation. "It's an event that inspires us, kind of gives us the go-ahead for another year of perpetuating his legacy."
Founded by Rachel Robinson mere months after her husband's death, the national public non-profit foundation has funded more than 1,100 scholarships. For the current academic year, it is providing $1.8 million of support to 266 students in 33 states.
One of them, Chanel Cathey, underscored how Jackie Robinson's impact has come to extend far beyond a field. When she became involved in the foundation, she did some obligatory Robinson research -- but not into batting averages or stolen bases or such, but into his business savvy and entrepreneurship.
"Learning more about his various involvements was very inspiring," said Cathey, a Fordham sophomore majoring in communications. "It's something I'd like to mold my life after."
If there is a seismic shift in Robinson's legacy, it is very appropriate, nodded Ernie Banks. The Hall of Famer, now active in the foundation as a member of its Los Angeles Advisory Committee, remembers his contemporary and friend not for his baseball skills but for his dimensions.
"Baseball was just a pastime for him. He had greater things to do in life," Banks said. "He was a special person not controlled by people or things he saw. ... He had his own mission in life.
"Jackie Robinson started housing projects in Manhattan, he was on the board of a bank, he was an executive with Chock Full O' Nuts Coffee, he worked with Nelson Rockefeller. And he inspired people to move on and contribute the same way. All he thought about was making this a better world. Not playing ball ... although he did that great."
In his memory, his foundation still does great.
"He lives in those of us who work hard to fulfill his mission of equality and opportunity," said Allison Davis, vice president of the foundation. "For all of us, he is very much alive."
The first man whose uniform number was universally retired by MLB, whose clubs commemorate his historic debut every April 15, Robinson was keenly aware of the complex requisites of a successful life. For him, that meant options far removed from a base path. For today's JRF scholars, that means education not confined between the covers of a textbook.
"Our comprehensive mentoring programs is what distinguishes us from other scholarship programs in the country," Baeza said. "We offer career development and internship placement."
Corporations and individuals support the foundation by responding to its mission. Major League ballplayers and teams who have funded full scholarships include Derek Jeter, Mo Vaughn, Royce Clayton and both New York clubs.
While there is no offseason for fundraising, the JRF's keynote affair will be its annual awards banquet, March 6 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, once again hosted by Bill Cosby.
"Jackie Robinson's whole life was making this a better world," Banks said, "and to help people do just that. A philanthropist creates and gives. That's what Jackie did. That's what he really was."
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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