Jackie Robinson
I have written about ,Jackie Robinson, another admirable figure I have spoken on previously. The legendary gentleman endured baseballs thrown at his head, taunted, shamelessly harassed every moment he stepped onto the field, off the field, and demeaned by those who did not wish to see the materialization of the first Black American Major League Baseball player. From what was reported of him he was a proud strong Man who was known to fight back. This was so much that while in the service prior to his MLB career he was thrown in the brig for fighting a white solider over a bus incident. Once he joined the major leagues of baseball he seemingly had to bottle it up and fight by way of his labor.
Rickey: “If you fight they won’t say Chapman forced you to. They’ll say you’re in over your head that you don’t belong here.”
Robinson: “Do you know what it’s like having somebody do this to you?”
Rickey: “No you do. You’re the one living the sermon in the wilderness, 40 days, all of it. Only you.”
Robinson: “There’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”
As someone who has also endured constant remorseless harassment, taunts, and degradation in some form or another pretty much daily for 10 years to the point of vengeful stalking, impeding, and attempting to keep me from even earning a livelihood every step of the way all because I won a court case against a textbook predator who should have never bothered me to begin with, should have been put away to never walk the streets again but yet instead was allowed to walk out of the court room to continue to prey in entire impunity, thus through this I became an actual activist at a young age, utilized my voice for the sake of change, or just my continual aspirations to be more than average placing my gifts on the back burner of what I have always desired out of life. You will often find many want aspirations for themselves but no one else that does not fall in line with what they think is suitable for others when honestly it isn’t their call on anyone else’s life nor concern. All of it has had a pattern around anything in life that doesn’t involve being stagnant and settling for less. IE I couldn’t even look into or take a class without the predator and or their clique knowing about it, taunting about it so, or impeding on it even such as following me countless times across state lines even among a multitude of textbook human rights abuses against myself, loved ones, or anyone who has had anything to do with me in order to isolate me. Therefore Robinson’s spirit and story has really been a source of strength for me as a survivor activist, as a dancer, as a person. The strength it takes not to defend and fight back especially as an ethnic person is enormous sometimes when being tormented. Robinson handled it quite well. His story is a notable metaphor for those with a legitimately challenging life, you have to keep going, never sit down, back down or allow anyone to push you into silence and into a place they are comfortable with you being in. As Bishop Jakes once said “Don’t let anyone control you.”
You have to keep it stepping and moving no matter what because God did not create those with purpose to be held back, stamped out, nor controlled in anyway, shape, nor form. Sometimes you have to go to the hypothetical dug out, break the bat, get back out there and keep walking through it because those that rail against you so intently with such hatred want that. They want to drain your energy, means, talents, and time due to being so afraid of someone else’s rise in life. Sometimes you just have to get up and keep going forward.
