Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson. They lived on a small farm and worked as sharecroppers. Sharecroppers are people who rent land and pay part of their harvest to the landowner. After about a year of life his father left his family of five children. Jackie and her family took a train and moved to Pasadena, California because they were low on money. He and his family lived there in an apartment owned by his half-brother McGriff. McGriff said he would let Jackie Robinson's family be until they found a home. His family finally found a house to live in. The neighborhood was bad, where many kids broke the law. But there was a man named Earl Anderson who helped develop a sports organization that Jackie and other kids found great. Jackie attended a public school in California that was not segregated (blacks and whites separated) like schools in Georgia. However, he was not allowed to swim in the pools. He was hurt and confused in his young life because African Americans couldn't do the same things as Caucasians. Luckily Jackie didn't react to the Caucasians. As he grew up he realized that he would continue to fight for African American freedom. Jackie had a nine-year-old brother named Mack; Jackie was a role model for him because his father wasn't around. Mack won a silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1936 Olympics. Jackie went to Cleveland Elementary School and continued her education at Pasadena Junior High School. He was a top athlete. He was the best in the school in baseball, football, basketball and track and field. Jackie later attended Muir Technical High School where he set records in track and field and baseball. He went on to…middle of the paper…he says, “A life is not important except in the line of impact it has on other lives.” His gravestone is located in Cypress Hills Seminary. It is 16 miles away from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, where Jackie played his entire career. His headstone took a long time to arrive in Cypress Hills because it was displayed in parades in many black neighborhoods. 1997 commemorated Jackie Robinson's fiftieth anniversary as the first black player to play in the Major Leagues. Many tributes to Jackie took place. The players wore a patch that indicated the anniversary and had Jackie's signature. The Baseball Hall of Fame also had a Jackie Robinson exhibit, and there was a souvenir coin made for Jackie. Additionally his number (42) was retired on all major league baseball teams, meaning no player could wear the number except Mariano Rivera because he had the number before it was retired.