Sunday Reflection: The Great Number 42

"But as I write these words now I cannot stand and sing the National Anthem. I have learned that I remain a black in a white world." And, "There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free." -- born on this day in 1919, legendary baseball star Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947, with the Brooklyn Dodgers. A six time All-Star and 1952 inductee into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, Robinson was a star athlete at UCLA and in the Negro Leagues preceding his national fame with the Dodgers. Robinson's wife Rachel Robinson, who turns 99 later this year, has a record of accomplishments in her own right, once serving as Assistant Professor at Yale University's School of Nursing, and founding the Jackie Robinson Foundation, which has provided support for more than 1,000 minority students since its beginning in 1973.

Sunday Reflection

"The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time."  Jackie Robinson, baseball great, businessman, and civil rights pioneer.  Major League Baseball has designated every April 15 as "Jackie Robinson Day," when players wear Robinson's number 42 in his honor.  With the continuing Republican efforts to abridge voting rights for minorities, discriminate against LGBT Americans, and restrict women's reproductive rights, Robinson's words are just as true today as they were a half century ago.