NewsBraves, Robinson honor courageous kids
Students recognized in 'Breaking Barriers' essay contest
By Adam Rosenberg / MLB.com
05/17/09 3:25 PM ET
ATLANTA -- Jackie Robinson's story is one of inspirational courage to overcome a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Although it's been over half a century since Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color barrier, his legacy lives on in many ways.One of those ways is the work of his daughter, Sharon Robinson. She runs "Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life," a 13-year-old multi-curricular character-education program. When the program began, it was only found in cities with MLB teams. About five or six years into its existence, it went national.
An aspect of the program is a yearly essay contest, which is open to students from grades four through eight in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. This year, nearly 8,000 entries were received. Two of this year's nine national winners, fourth grader Eric Cox and eighth grader Meagan Williams, were visited by Robinson and honored by the Braves on Sunday at Turner Field before a game against the D-backs that was eventually rained out.
"I started it during the 50th anniversary of my father's achievement," Robinson said. "I was going out to ballparks and throwing out first pitches. People would ask me if it was just about celebrations at the ballpark. I realized it had to translate into action. My parents were both about action, and they loved kids."
The program focuses on the nine values associated with Jackie Robinson's remarkable character: commitment, integrity, persistence, citizenship, courage, excellence, justice, teamwork and determination.
Robinson wanted to instill the character of her father in children all over the country. While his achievement of breaking the color barrier was monumental, his legacy goes beyond that.
"I wanted to take the theme of breaking barriers and center it on kids," Robinson said. "I started going to schools and talking about my dad's character. I figured it was something they could run with instead of only focusing on the color barrier."
Both Cox and Williams wrote outstanding essays about the difficult obstacles they have had to overcome in their own lives. Both students have flourished despite troubling home lives that would have been too much for some children to handle.
"Both Meagan and Eric focused their essays on courage," Robinson said. "They both had situations of abuse at home and wrote about what it took to overcome that."
Williams, whose second-prize winning essay won her a laptop and Braves tickets, among other prizes, said the contest allowed her to deal with her problems through talking about them. First, she had to build up the courage to put into words a very painful situation, and then share those words with strangers.
"I think the values of courage and determination were my main thing," said Williams, an eighth grader at Kennedy Road Middle School in Griffin, Ga. "I never really opened up about my story. It helped me to write it down and talk about it with people. It took a lot to actually write the essay."
Cox, a fifth grader at Holly Hill Elementary School in Enterprise, Ala., attended his first Braves game on Sunday. Robinson called Cox's essay one of the most painful she has ever read, as it dealt with startling abuse.
Remarkably, Cox was able to express his feelings about the situation in a powerful essay that displayed a level of courage akin to Jackie Robinson's.
"I decided that it would be the perfect way to let out my feelings," Cox said. "I really wanted to test my skills. I read about Jackie Robinson, and I thought it would be really cool if I could meet his daughter."
Both students braved the steady downpour that fell at Turner Field on Sunday, and not even the rain could dampen their remarkable spirits. The courage exemplified by both Williams and Cox is something that Jackie Robinson would surely be proud of.
Adam Rosenberg is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
