Jackie Robinson: The True All American Hero Then, Now, and in the Afro-future

Date of Event
1947-04-15
Title
Jackie Robinson: The True All American Hero Then, Now, and in the Afro-future
Brief Description
Jackie Robinson was the first black player to be signed into Major League Baseball. He is considered a hero by many and because of this reputation was portrayed as such in the opening scene of the horror fiction television series "Lovecraft Country". So this begs the question, why was Jackie chosen as the hero in this modern day period piece and not a more common activist such as Martin Luther King?
Location
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Student creator name(s)
Kristen Campbell
Afrofuturism Canon
AfricanFuturism
Tag(s)
AfricanFuturism
Abstract
In the very first episode of “Lovecraft Country”, when our hero Tic dreams of himself in danger, he is saved by Jackie Robinson, the baseball star. Now any reasonable person can understand a young boy's love for Jackie Robinson, especially a young man like Tic who experienced similar discrimination, however, a hero in terms of baseball and in terms of war are not entirely synonymous. So, why would Tic envision Jackie as his hero in a life or death situation? And why would the creators of “Lovecraft Country” specifically place Jackie in this heroic role?
Let us first acknowledge who Jackie Robinson is and was. Jackie Robinson was the first ever black player in Major League Baseball. He was recruited to the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947 after extensive consideration on the part of the white higher ups of the MLB at that time. In many ways he was a pioneer black role model for young black children. His presence in the MLB alone became so significant that he was instantaneously a hero for many. And this title was deserved. Not only was Jackie a talented baseball player, he also had strong beliefs about how he as a black man deserved to be treated; the same as any other human being. But, why would Jackie be depicte as the hero instead of a more common civil rights hero? Such as Martin Luther King? Or other leaders in the movement.
For starters, Jackie Robinson fighting back against the alien creature on behalf of Tic is symbolic in itself. This can be said due to the fact that when Jackie Robinson was signed into Major League Baseball he was known for standing up for himself in terms of racial injustices against himself and his peers. He was intructed to not fight back while playing for the MLB. This was because those in charge of signing him knew he had no chance of being liked if he, a black man, showed any sign of a temper. For this reason Jackie being awarded the chance to fight back in another area in the opening scene of “Lovecraft Country” in symbolic for Jackie himself.
In terms of why Jackie would be chosen, from the perspective of someone like Tic who had most likely grown up with little to no black influences in the media, Jackie may have been the only person a young black boy could look up to and see himself in. Jackie was not only an activist in terms of civil rights, he was also an idol for young boys of all colors who wanted to play in the MLB someday. Jackie was an accessible civil rights figure for children and young men. For this reason it is logical that Tic would imagine a childhood idol rescuing him over a political activist such as Martin Luther King.
In conclusion, despite other maybe more obvious options of who the hero could be from the perspective of Tic, the main character in “Lovecraft Country”, Jackie Robinson’s role means more than it would have as a more commonly talked about civil rights activist. Jackie not being the obvious choice makes for some thinking on the viewers part about what Jackie really meant to young black men and boys at that time. This creates a more powerful message overall in the small scenes that Jackie is in, always as the hero of Tic, an already brave man.

Bibliography:Admin. “Admin.” Society for American Baseball Research, Admin /Wp-Content/Uploads/2020/02/sabr_logo.Png, 4 Nov. 2021, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-15-1947-jackie-robinsons-major-league-debut/.
Helgeland, Brian, and Thomas Tull. 42, Warner Bros., 2013.