PPGJLI Participates in Minnesota Twins' Celebration of Jackie Robinson

ST. PAUL, Minn. - May 2, 2022 - PRLog -- Dr. Artika R. Tyner, founder of the non-profit organization, Planting People Growing Justice™ Leadership Institute (PPGJLI), participated in the recent festivities held by the Minnesota Twins professional baseball team. Special activities were held throughout their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Target Field in celebration of the 75^th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by local grade school students Nah'Lyah Davis, Abigail Mutua and Aniyah Stewart, who were winners of the team's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Writing Competition, held in partnership with PPGJLI. The topic was "What it truly means to be a drum major for justice." PPGJLI (http://www.ppgjli.org) seeks to plant the seeds of social change through education, training and community outreach. Few people exemplify that like Jackie Robinson.

The Minnesota Twins highlighted Robinson's enduring impact on the game of baseball and society by celebrating youth and future generations that continue to break barriers, push for social equity and inspire everyone. Robinson was the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball and his signing by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 marked the beginning of the end of racial segregation in professional baseball.

Robinson's No. 42 uniform was retired across all major league teams – the first athlete to be honored in that way. A new tradition was initiated on April 15, 2004 called Jackie Robinson Day in which every player on every team wears the No. 42.

The son of a sharecropper, Robinson won numerous awards during his illustrious 10-year career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 and was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The world lost one of the greatest baseball players of all time in 1972. Robinson died at his home in Stamford, CT, at the age of 53 from heart disease and diabetes. Gone but never forgotten, Robinson's legacy and legend lives on in the game of baseball and the many youths that one day dream of being like Jackie.