Jack "Jackie" Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, GA, USA in 1919 and grew up in Pasadena, CA, USA.

Jackie's older brothers Frank and Matthew "Mack" Robinson inspired him to pursue athletics when he was in high school (notably Mack Robinson was a silver medalist at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin in the 200 meters sprint). In December 1941, Jackie was a running back for the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the minor professional American football league, the Pacific Coast Football League when he was drafted to the World War II United States Army in which he served from 1942 to 1944. Later after the war in early 1945, Jackie signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the professional baseball league, the Negro American League.

In November 1945, Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie to join the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. Before playing with this organization, he played with the "post-season barnstorming" California Winter League team at the time called the Kansas City Royals (same name, different franchise as current MLB Kansas City Royals). On February 10, 1946, Jackie and his fiance Rachel Isum were married.

In the 1946 season, Jackie played for the Brooklyn Dodgers' affiliate, the Montreal Royals, of the minor professional league, the Class AAA International League. In the off-season in Fall 1946, he played minor professional basketball for the Los Angeles Red Devils.

Jackie made his Major League Baseball preseason exhibition game debut at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, NY, USA on April 11, 1947 against the cross-city rival the New York Yankees, then his regular season MLB debut, also at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947 against the Boston Braves.

Over his 10-season MLB career, in 1382 regular season games, Jackie had a regular season .311 batting average, .409 on-base percentage, and .474 slugging percentage with 734 Runs Batted In ("RBI"s), 137 Home Runs, 54 Triples, 273 Doubles, and 197 Stolen Bases. In the six seasons his team made the postseason/playoffs, in 38 games, Jackie had a postseason .234 batting average, .335 on-base percentage, and .343 slugging percentage with 12 Runs Batted In ("RBI"s), 2 Home Runs, 1 Triple, 3 Doubles, and 6 Stolen Bases.

Notably, 19 of Jackie's career stolen bases (both regular season and postseason) were of home plate, including in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees of which Yogi Berra was catcher for.

1955 was the one season Jackie and the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series in his career. Jackie also was a 6-time MLB All-Star, was the 1947 MLB Rookie of the Year, the 1949 National League Batting Champion and MVP, and was the NL Stolen Base Leader in 1947 and 1949.

Jackie is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, and his number 42 is retired by all current MLB teams. Since 2004, every April 15 is considered "Jackie Robinson Day" in the MLB with all MLB players playing that day wearing number 42 on their jerseys.

Jackie and his wife Rachel had three children who were born between the years 1946 and 1952. On November 19, 1965, their eldest son Jackie Robinson Jr. was wounded in action as part of the United States Army serving in the Vietnam War. Back in USA civilian life, on June 17, 1971, at the age of 24, Jackie Robinson Jr. was killed in a single-vehicle automobile crash on Merritt Parkway near Route 123 in the state of Conneticut.

On October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson Sr. died of a heart attack at his home in North Stamford, CT at the age of 53. He had suffered a previous heart attack in 1968 and complications of heart disease and diabetes had made him almost blind before his death.

Jonathan's Past Reading on Jackie Robinson:

• Stealing Home: The Jackie Robinson Story (biography, 1990) by Barry Denenberg
• Stealing Home (fiction novel, 2006) by Ellen Schwartz
• The Boys of Summer (non-fiction novel, 1972) by Roger Kahn
• 42: The True Story of an American Legend (film, 2013)

Originally: Consciousness Prints Podcast - Carfree Cities

Carfree Cities Alliance; Being Carfree as True "Freedom"; The "Three-Headed Monster" of Industries (Car, Road-Building, Fuel Industries); The Loneliness & Physical Dangers of Car Culture; Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs; Cars As Weapons; Outdoor Carfree "Malls"; Cars Impact On Lack of Play By Kids; Public Transit As Family-Building, Social Lessons For Kids, Spontaneous Interaction; Safety For Women; Localization vs. Globalization

Debra's 2023 TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/KNv8kkC_r3w?si=y64zwwurMSIP-rLu

Jonathan's 2019 Waterloo Region Record op-ed on Carfree Cities: https://www.therecord.com/opinion/columnists/strike-against-climate-change-must-include-strike-against-cars/article_9c7f8afe-ec8a-5de8-9cba-1615c07a30b9.html

Organizations Debra is involved in:

https://www.instituteofwellbeingbd.org

https://www.carfreealliance.org

https://www.healthbridge.ca

https://www.wbbtrust.org

https://www.localfutures.org

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Debra Efroymson, a senior advisor and co-founder of multiple international NGOs focused on public health and urban planning. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and having spent 24 years in Bangladesh, Debra brings a global perspective to the movement of creating cities for people, not cars.

Debra discusses the systemic "indoctrination" of car culture, from children's toys to high-speed architecture. She argues that the true path to freedom and community isn't found behind a steering wheel, but through the spontaneous interactions, "citizenship skills," and safety provided by walkable, vibrant public spaces.

Chapters:

0:00 - Redefining the City: Introduction to the Carfree Cities Alliance and the mission to reclaim public space.

4:30 - The Magic of Hanoi: Debra’s experience in 1994 Vietnam, where thousands of bicycles moved together like a "ballet" without traffic lights.

7:45 - The Three-Headed Monster: Taking on the lobbying power of the Car, Road-Building, and Fuel industries.

11:50 - Isolation vs. Interaction: How cars turn neighbors into "enemies" and "obstacles" rather than fellow citizens.

14:30 - Opening vs. Closing Streets: The philosophy of "Mobile Playgrounds" and reclaiming the road for children’s play.

21:30 - Cars as Weapons: The terrifying responsibility of operating a multi-ton machine and the "normalized" tragedy of road deaths.

24:40 - Jane Jacobs vs. Robert Moses: The historical battle for the soul of New York City and the dangers of highway-centric planning.

32:50 - The Institute of Well-Being: Building an organization in Bangladesh that reflects its values through diversity and local leadership.

41:50 - Architecture for 5 km/h: Why we find European squares and Disneyland's Main Street beautiful—because they were built for the human walking pace.

45:15 - The Virtuous Cycle: How "Walking School Buses" make neighborhoods safer and kids better prepared to learn.

51:00 - The Laughter of the Rickshaw: A story from Dhaka about how spontaneous humor and interaction happen only when we aren't isolated in glass boxes.

1:02:15 - Safety & Loneliness: Why "eyes on the street" make women feel safer and how transit helps fight the modern loneliness epidemic.

1:18:45 - Serendipity on the "Blue Bus": Meeting an artist on a three-hour bus trip and the joy of unexpected friendship.

1:25:50 - Localization vs. Globalization: Reclaiming local food systems and economies to reduce the carbon footprint of transport.