Well now, lemme tell ya about a fella named Jerry Robinson, the man who was Jackie Robinson’s daddy. Now, don’t go thinkin’ he was around much to raise Jackie, ’cause he wasn’t. In fact, Jerry packed up and left his family back in 1920, and that left Jackie’s mama, Mallie, to raise him and his four older brothers and sisters all by her lonesome. Ain’t that somethin’? Now, I reckon he musta had his reasons, but he sure did leave Mallie in a tough spot, poor woman. She was left to raise them kids in a time when money was tight, and folks had to work real hard just to make ends meet.
Jackie Robinson, well, he was born on January 31, 1919, down in Cairo, Georgia. That’s in the south, ya know, where folks did a lot of sharecroppin’. Now, Jackie wasn’t the only one born to Mallie and Jerry. Nope, he had four older siblings. There was Edgar, Frank, Matthew, and little Willa Mae. They had a big ol’ family to look after, but like I said, Jerry wasn’t there to help. He left ‘em all in the dust, and Mallie had to figure things out by herself.
After Jerry up and left, Mallie didn’t just sit around feelin’ sorry for herself, though. Nope, she packed up and moved with the kids to Pasadena, California. A long ways from Georgia, let me tell ya. I reckon she hoped for a better life, and she worked her tail off to make sure the kids had what they needed. Jackie, he musta learned a thing or two from his mama about perseverance, ’cause Lord knows life wasn’t easy for ‘em.
Now, Jerry Robinson, where’d he go after he left his family? Well, that’s a good question. I ain’t rightly sure, but I do know this: he wasn’t around to see his son Jackie go on to make history in baseball. Jackie, as y’all probably know, went on to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball and became a hero to many. But his daddy, Jerry, well, he missed all that. He never got to see what his son achieved, which is a real shame, don’t ya think?
It wasn’t until the year 1972, when Jerry Robinson passed away, that the U.S. finally made Father’s Day a national holiday. Up until then, folks had been celebratin’ Mother’s Day for 58 years, but Father’s Day wasn’t official yet. Ain’t that somethin’? Here was this day to honor fathers, and Jerry Robinson had already passed by the time it became a big deal. Funny how things work out like that, don’t ya think?
Now, Jackie’s story ain’t just about his dad, though. It’s also about his mama, Mallie, who did everything she could to raise those kids right. I reckon, if you ask Jackie, he’d tell ya that it was her strength and love that helped shape him into the man he became. But that don’t mean Jerry Robinson didn’t leave a mark, even if it was a bit of a sad one. See, sometimes when a man leaves, he don’t know what he’s missin’. And Jerry Robinson, well, he missed out on seeing his son become a legend.
So, I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is this: Jerry Robinson wasn’t there for his son in the ways that a father should be, but that don’t mean we shouldn’t remember him as part of Jackie’s story. After all, sometimes a man’s absence can teach you just as much as his presence, if not more. And Jackie Robinson, he sure did learn a lot, didn’t he? From his mama and from the world around him, he learned how to fight for what’s right and never give up, no matter how hard life gets.
In the end, Jackie Robinson’s legacy isn’t just about baseball, it’s about the struggles and strength of his family, especially his mama, Mallie, who did the best she could under hard circumstances. And while Jerry Robinson’s role in Jackie’s life was small, it was still a part of the story, and sometimes that’s all we need to know.
Tags：[Jerry Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Father’s Day, Mallie Robinson, Jackie Robinson Family, Sharecropping, Baseball History, African American History, Pasadena, Georgia History]
