On March 14th, 1947’ Michael (Mike) Wesley Ferguson was born in Detroit, Michigan. When Ferguson was just three weeks old his mother passed away. This left Mike’s father, John to raise eight kids. John remarried which brought the family to eleven kids. He loved all sports growing up, but found a special passion for baseball. Growing up the youngest of eleven kids, Ferguson was always the smallest one. He joined the local baseball team at the age of four, and his passion for the game began there. Ferguson was always the starting pitcher on his local school team. John moved the family to Hickory, North Carolina after a job emerged as a furniture factory manager when Ferguson was only 15. After high school, at the age of 18, he signed up for the …show more content…
The two daughters did everything from cheer to track and field. As the kids grew up all three went to college and graduated. Ferguson is very outspoken person. He never meets a stranger and will tell his many stories to anyone. Growing up I still remember some stories he told. Ferguson often spoke of his times in the Army, and growing up in the 1960’s. He says this was a much simpler time without cellphones or much television. He tells stories of having rock fights and swimming in the local creek. To this day he still remembers breaking his leg in a pick-up baseball game and his pet pig named Porky that he brought from Detroit to North Carolina. Ferguson is always telling stories, often very different from the last one, but always a joy. Ferguson retired from the factory at the age of 52. He soon began looking for new hobbies. Ferguson found a new love for his three dogs, a Shi-Tzu and a pair of golden retrievers. Ferguson enjoys many different types of hobbies, such as going to races, toying with his classic 1972 Volkswagen Bug, attending college football games, and to travel during his free time. He often travels to Wilmington, North Carolina to visit his youngest daughter Sarah.
In “Jackie’s Debut: A Unique Day,” is written by Mike Royko, and appeared in the Chicago Daily News on Wednesday, October 15, 1972, the day after Jackie passed away. This article is about one of the most famous and cultural African Americans to ever play the game of baseball. In the beginning of the story, there were wise men sitting in the tavern that had something to say about Jackie. They weren’t the kindest words and said that he would ruin the game of baseball. Jackie was going to be at Wrigley Field and the kid had to see him perform. Him and his friend always walked to the baseball games to avoid streetcar fare. On that day, Wrigley Field was packed. He had never seen anything like it, there were about 47,000 people there and at the
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major-League baseball. His inspiring actions and wise words are remembered even now, and on Jackie Robinson day, all baseball players wear his jersey:“42”. Many biographies have been written, and one biography, The Noble Experiment. Recently, in April 2013, Legendary Motion Pictures released a movie entitled “42”. In many ways, the film and Jackie’s autobiography are alike. However, the are also different in many ways.
Bobby Brown is a singer, songwriter, dancer, and rapper. His net worth is $2 million.
One of the major stands that were made during a black athlete’s tenure during his or her sport were their statements on racism. Racism in America was an ongoing situation in the 1900’s that seemed to have no resolve before black athletes took a stand. One prime example can be Jackie Robinson who became the first African-American athlete to play baseball in the modern era. Jackie grew up in one of the most racist towns in Pasadena, California and came from a poor family as his parents were sharecroppers and...
Jackie Robinson’s ability to successfully integrate his sport set the stage for many others to advocate for an end to segregation in their respective environments. His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception of the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues, he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively, his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate.
The Colin Ferguson case is a mystery among most. Questions arise over why he open fired on that railroad? What drove him so mad to acting out in a reckless way? I had those same questions and that’s when I remembered the Ferguson case. As I read different articles I found that Racism in America has always been a problem and will most likely continue to be a problem. People thinking that if someone has different color skin as them then it makes it okay to treat them differently. Every single person on this planet has a skeletal structure, organs, tissue, muscles, a brain, and a heart. So what makes people look at other people differently because of the color of their skin and why was Ferguson such a racist against whites?
Joseph Jefferson Jackson was born in the small town of Brandon Mill, South Carolina on July 16, 1888. (Lieber, 2006) At the age of 6, Joe’s family moved to Greenville, South Carolina, a town of about 13,000 people. (Frommer, 6) When Joe Jackson turned fifteen years old, he name his bat “Black Betsy”, which will be used for the rest of his career. (Frommer, 7+8) When he reached the age of twenty, Jackson married Katie Wynn, a young girl from Greenville County, South Carolina. (Fleitz, 2006) The marriage took place on July 19, 1908. While in the batters box, Jackson would sing his favorite song, “I’m Sorry I Made You Cry.” (Frommer, 44) On December 5, 1951, Joe died in his favorite town of Greenville, South Carolina due to a fatal heart attack. (Fleitz, 2006)
Jackie had an older brother named Matthew, who was also very athletic. Jackie’s mother tried the best she could to raise these boys right, and teach them that no matter what the whites called them... they were special. As time went on, Jackie began to have a great love for sports. He admired basketball, track, football, and of course the wonderful baseball.
Clay grew up playing multiple sports and he felt like he could succeed in job that demands teamwork. Along with the influence of his family he chose to become a police officer. The major problem officers are placed with these days is the trend of the media using racism against officers. Clay believes this is becoming a constant issue in their department because it’s encouraged a lot of people to start challenging officers and fighting them. The problem is that “When one officer from wherever screws up or handles a situation poorly, it makes it like we are all bad and that’s not the case”. He believes that if social media and the news continues to put stories out here with false information it poses a threat to future officers and their ability to effectively do their jobs. Many police departments are starting to back off such as Baltimore City Police and possibly others due to severity of recent events like the Baltimore riot and the past history of the Rodney King case. Clay believes it has now become Cops versus the community and that’s not the case with his department. “People forget that officers, and many others that serve this country are human”. One bad person ruins the rep for thousands of others who are only trying to do their
Jackie Robinson’s dedication was a crucial instrumentality to achieve his goals in life, not just to make it into the MLB league. During World War II, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the U.S army in 1942. Jackie Robinson, and many other African American soldiers applied to Officers’ Candidate School (OCS), but all were rejected (Jackie Robinson, Facing Racism in the Army). With the help of Joe Louis, famous heavyweight champion, and Jackie Rob...
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. This was not an easy task for him to do. People judged him and didn’t like him by the color of his skin. Jackie Robinson said “The hate mail piled up” (Robinson). That shows that no one cared to give him a chance to play in the Major League. The innocence of young kids had a great inspiration on Jackie Robinson because they didn’t care about his color they just wanted him to play good. Jackie Robinson was “proud to be a part of a significant breakthrough” (Robinson) in breaking the color barrier. Even though Jackie Robinson has been through
He later on moved to Berkeley, California, and is currently married to his wife Tabitha Soren in 1997(Los Angeles Times). He has three kids, the name of each one is Quinn, Dixie, and Walker Lewis. In 2009 he published “Home Game: An Accidental….”, about what it took to raise his kids(MichaelLewis.com). He joined the navy...
The first African American to play Major League baseball once said, “a life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives”; this was, of course, Jackie Robinson. Similar to Muhammad Ali, he faced problems head on a...
The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri became a controversial media sensation. The shooting created uproar and mistrust towards police officers. Many believed the shooting was unjustified and even an act of racism on the behalf of the police Officer Darren Wilson. The Department of Justice issued an investigation in order to understand the basis of the shooting and to decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting. Despite the evidence and the investigation which portrayed the shooting as an act of self- defense, the shooting still remains controversial.
The story of Alex Ferguson is inspiring and thought provoking. It shows that success is shaped by failures. The failures prepare you for a better life if you learn from them and move on.