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Epoch Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
Jackie Robinson's Silent Fight for Racial Equality
On Aug. 28, 1945, Jackie Robinson walked into the office of Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Unaware of the reason he was called to this meeting, Robinson had no idea that he was about to play a part in changing American history. In '7 Men and Their Secrets of Greatness,' Eric Metaxas recreated this moment. When Rickey informed Robinson that he wanted him to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson was at first too surprised and overcome to utter a word. Blacks played in their own league, but never on major league baseball teams. After Robinson accepted the offer, Rickey explained what Robinson probably already knew: He would be the target of verbal abuse and threats because of the color of his skin. Then Rickey added a kicker to their agreement that Robinson couldn't have foreseen. 'I'm looking for a ballplayer who has the guts not to fight back.' American professional baseball player Jackie Robinson (1919–1972) of the Brooklyn Dodgers, dressed in a road uniform, crouches by the base and prepares to catch a ball, 1951. Throughout the course of his baseball career Robinson played several positions on the infield as well as serving as outfielder. PhotoRickey then took off his coat and acted out various scenes that would soon confront Robinson: the hotel clerk who would refuse him a room; the maître d' who would turn him away from the restaurant entrance; the spectators at the games who would hurl obscenities and slurs at him. Rickey hit Robinson with these curses and racial taunts right there in his office. Robinson withstood all that Rickey threw at him. He considered the offer, recognized it as an enormous opportunity both to play ball as he had dreamed and to improve race relations, and shook hands on the agreement with Rickey. Looking down at the two men from a wall in Rickey's office was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Robinson first played for the Dodgers' Montreal farm team. There, he successfully completed that season without reacting to the jeers and taunts that often accompanied his appearances on the diamond, and joined the Dodgers in New York in the spring of 1947. A turning point for him and his team came in his first game when manager Ben Chapman of the Philadelphia Phillies, joined by several of his players, spat out racial epithets throughout the contest. Years later, as Metaxas reported, Robinson recollected that horrible afternoon in 'I Never Had It Made,' his 1972 autobiography: 'Starting to the plate in the first inning, I could scarcely believe my ears.' At the stadium the next day, when the insults grew even more cruel and obscene, Robinson's teammates, including those opposed to having him on the team, stepped up to defend him. Eddie Stanky, the second baseman, shouted back at the Phillies' dugout: 'Listen, you yellow-bellied cowards, why don't you yell at somebody who can answer back?' Related Stories 4/16/2025 7/25/2023 Metaxas explained, 'Branch Rickey was delighted with the team's response. Chapman's evil intentions had, he said, 'solidified and unified thirty men, not one of whom was willing to sit by and see someone kick around a man who had his hands tied behind his back.'' Jackie Robinson and his wife, Rachel, arrive at the Capitol Hill grounds in Washington, on July 18, 1949. AP Photo Yet the abuse continued, and not only on the field. Some restaurants and hotels refused Robinson service, and death threats came through the mail. Throughout that entire season, however, Robinson maintained his cool. Never once did he give way to the temptation of retaliation. He ignored the mockery and curses, and usually walked to the plate without a glance at his tormentors. His wife, Rachel, whom he had married in 1946 after Rickey's offer, stood by him and helped him remember the cause for which he was fighting: racial equality not only in baseball but in the nation. According to Metaxas, Robinson also relied heavily on his religious faith to maintain his silence in this torrent of abuse. He made a habit of 'getting down on his knees every night to pray for strength.' Doubtless, he was supported in this resort to prayer by Rickey himself, also a man of strong faith. By the end of the season, Robinson's name had become a household word. Moreover, he won the 1947 Rookie of the Year Award, with a batting average of .297 and an outstanding performance at the plate. Though the abuse continued into the next season, another turning point occurred in Cincinnati. While Robinson was once again being assailed from the stands, Pee Wee Reese walked over to his teammate and put his arm around him. Dedicated in 2005, a A statue of Pee Wee Reese (L) and Jackie Robinson was unveiled in then, other blacks were entering major league baseball. Over the next decade, this practice of putting ballplayers on the field based on their talent rather than on the pigmentation of their skin became standard. Robinson himself went on to an outstanding career in baseball. After retiring from the game, he was engaged in several successful businesses, ran programs aimed at providing food and housing for the poor, and was active in the civil rights movement. In 1962, only 15 years after joining the Dodgers, he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ten years later, he collapsed from heart failure into his wife's arms, telling her for the last time, 'I love you.' Lots of great Americans have helped improve America through their deeds and words. Jackie Robinson did the same through dignity and silence. What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jon Hamm new project out today amid college hazing scandal that he refuses to apologize for
Jon Hamm 's latest project has been released today amid controversy over resurfaced allegations about his college hazing past. The actor is playing Detective Jack Bergin in 'The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery,' an audio drama from Audible Originals. The four episode series is a dramatization of the Chavez Ravine evictions which took place when the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s. The move displaced generations of Mexican-Americans who were forced out of their homes to make way for the Dodgers' Stadium. Hamm told CNN it is important to learn from this dark chapter of LA's past, as he took aim at Elon Musk for not using his massive wealth to tackle inequality. But the Mad Men star has been less forthcoming about his own dark past and on Wednesday snapped at the Daily Mail for confronting him about his time as a sadistic college bully. Hamm was identified as one of seven upper classme n who tortured pledge Mark Sanders during an initiation for the Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Texas Austin. The ordeal left Sanders with a broken spine and kidney damage as part of a brutal initiation ordeal. Hamm previously addressed the reports in 2018, telling Esquire magazine the incident had been 'sensationalized'. On Wednesday he told a reporter he was 'offended' to have been asked about the scandal when contacted, then haughtily declared that his publicists deal with such matters. Hamm's latest project is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of the Chavez Ravine evictions. 'To ignore it is to pretend that it never happened and to pretend it never happened means you don't learn from it, and if you don't learn from it, you're going to do it again,' Hamm told CNN. He pointed out that a stark divide remains between the 'haves and have nots'. 'If Elon Musk would take – and again, this is not this not something he needs to do – but if he would take a chainsaw to his own sort of personal wealth and spread it around, he could build 30 schools in each of the 50 states, and he could be the new Andrew Carnegie,' Hamm said. 'But he doesn't want to do that and that's an interesting choice on his end.' Hamm's latest role is not the first time he has dipped his toe into the world of voiceover and follows credits on 'The Big Lie' series, 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Big Mouth. 'I really like doing it,' Hamm said. 'I think it's a fun and creative way to kind of engage in storytelling and I think ('The Big Fix') is part of that.' Hazing victim Mark Sanders was hit so hard during the warped 1990 initiation that he suffered a fractured spine and nearly lost a kidney The Audible series is described as a 'gritty and winding tale' which also features Erin Moriarty, Omar Epps, and Alia Shawkat. The premise of the show sees Hamm's character investigate a brutal murder at the request of an old flam and uncovers a deadly conspiracy to forcefully evict a Mexican-American community in the process. His hazing scandal was dredged up by columnist Maureen Callahan on her new podcast The Nerve, which is part of Megyn Kelly's new MK Media venture. Callahan said she'd been shocked to see Hamm receive plaudits for his Apple TV+ show Your Friends & Neighbors and land plum spots on SNL and Jimmy Fallon. She said that in her opinion, Hamm is 'worse than Harvey Weinstein.' Callahan detailed the hazing incident Hamm was involved in and said it was shocking he'd escaped unscathed while the likes of Kevin Spacey and Alec Baldwin had seen their careers destroyed by scandals. She said Hamm was 'self impressed', only played a 'douche' and that his rage was 'barely-concealed' on screen. Allegations of the hazing first resurfaced in 2015, just as the final season of Mad Men was airing. At the time, a 'source' close to Hamm told Star magazine that the hazing horror was 'an isolated incident in Jon's life.' 'Since then, he's been strong enough to take steps to make him a better person,' the source added. But there was no sign of any introspection when Hamm was asked about the incident by Esquire magazine in a 2018 interview. Journalist Maximillian Potter said Hamm's tone became 'tinged with anger' when the subject was broached, with the actor snapping: 'I hope I didn't sign up for a hit piece.' When Potter pushed further for a response, he said Hamm 'bristled' before unleashing a stream of self-serving invective. 'I wouldn't say it's accurate,' Hamm began. 'Everything about that is sensationalized. I was accused of these things I don't... It's so hard to get into it. 'I don't want to give it any more breath. It was a bummer of a thing that happened. I was essentially acquitted. 'I wasn't convicted of anything. I was caught up in a big situation, a stupid kid in a stupid situation, and it's a f**king bummer. I moved on from it.' The scandal was then largely forgotten, with Hamm going on to land plum parts in prestige movies and TV shows including Top Gun: Maverick and The Morning Show.
CNN
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jon Hamm explores the Dodgers and a dark history in Los Angeles as a grizzled detective in ‘The Big Fix'
Jon Hamm appreciates a challenge, so it makes sense that he'd want to play the central character in a story based on one of Los Angeles' darkest chapters in the sprawling city's history. Hamm returns to Audible Originals as gruff, no-nonsense Detective Jack Bergin in 'The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery,' all episodes of which are out today, an audio drama that weaves the story behind the Chavez Ravine evictions as the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s into a fictional murder-mystery. 'LA has a fascinating history,' Hamm told CNN in a recent interview. 'There's so much of it that people just don't talk about because it's a little problematic and because it's been kind of bulldozed, literally and figuratively, in the name of progress.' Before Dodger Stadium was the home of the LA Dodgers – a baseball team that has won eight World Series championships – the land on which the stadium sits was known as the Chavez Ravine, home to generations of Mexican-Americans. Evictions for residents began in the early 1950s, when city officials used political tactics like eminent domain to acquire land or forcibly remove tenants so developers could build public housing projects. The public housing project eventually fell apart and by the late 1950s, only a small number of original Chavez Ravine residents still resided in the area. That is until Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley acquired the land and forcibly removed its remaining residents to build Dodger Stadium. It's an overlooked part of Los Angeles history that Hamm said is important to remember. 'To ignore it is to pretend that it never happened and to pretend it never happened means you don't learn from it, and if you don't learn from it, you're going to do it again,' Hamm said. The 'Your Friends & Neighbors' star said while progress has been made over the past 70-plus years, an 'incredible divide between the haves and the have nots' remains. 'If Elon Musk would take – and again, this is not this not something he needs to do – but if he would take his chainsaw to his own sort of personal wealth and spread it around, he could build 30 schools in each of the 50 states, and he could be the new Andrew Carnegie,' Hamm said. 'But he doesn't want to do that and that's an interesting choice on his end.' 'The Big Fix' audio series sees Hamm reunite with his 'Mad Men' costar John Slattery, as well as Alia Shawkat, Ana Del La Reguera, Omar Epps and Erin Moriarty. Hamm's other voiceover projects include 2022's 'The Big Lie' series, as well as roles in 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Big Mouth,' among others. 'I really like doing it,' Hamm said. 'I think it's a fun and creative way to kind of engage in storytelling and I think ('The Big Fix') is part of that.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jon Hamm explores the Dodgers and a dark history in Los Angeles as a grizzled detective in ‘The Big Fix'
Jon Hamm appreciates a challenge, so it makes sense that he'd want to play the central character in a story based on one of Los Angeles' darkest chapters in the sprawling city's history. Hamm returns to Audible Originals as gruff, no-nonsense Detective Jack Bergin in 'The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery,' all episodes of which are out today, an audio drama that weaves the story behind the Chavez Ravine evictions as the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s into a fictional murder-mystery. 'LA has a fascinating history,' Hamm told CNN in a recent interview. 'There's so much of it that people just don't talk about because it's a little problematic and because it's been kind of bulldozed, literally and figuratively, in the name of progress.' Before Dodger Stadium was the home of the LA Dodgers – a baseball team that has won eight World Series championships – the land on which the stadium sits was known as the Chavez Ravine, home to generations of Mexican-Americans. Evictions for residents began in the early 1950s, when city officials used political tactics like eminent domain to acquire land or forcibly remove tenants so developers could build public housing projects. The public housing project eventually fell apart and by the late 1950s, only a small number of original Chavez Ravine residents still resided in the area. That is until Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley acquired the land and forcibly removed its remaining residents to build Dodger Stadium. It's an overlooked part of Los Angeles history that Hamm said is important to remember. 'To ignore it is to pretend that it never happened and to pretend it never happened means you don't learn from it, and if you don't learn from it, you're going to do it again,' Hamm said. The 'Your Friends & Neighbors' star said while progress has been made over the past 70-plus years, an 'incredible divide between the haves and the have nots' remains. 'If Elon Musk would take – and again, this is not this not something he needs to do – but if he would take his chainsaw to his own sort of personal wealth and spread it around, he could build 30 schools in each of the 50 states, and he could be the new Andrew Carnegie,' Hamm said. 'But he doesn't want to do that and that's an interesting choice on his end.' 'The Big Fix' audio series sees Hamm reunite with his 'Mad Men' costar John Slattery, as well as Alia Shawkat, Ana Del La Reguera, Omar Epps and Erin Moriarty. Hamm's other voiceover projects include 2022's 'The Big Lie' series, as well as roles in 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Big Mouth,' among others. 'I really like doing it,' Hamm said. 'I think it's a fun and creative way to kind of engage in storytelling and I think ('The Big Fix') is part of that.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jon Hamm explores the Dodgers and a dark history in Los Angeles as a grizzled detective in ‘The Big Fix'
Jon Hamm appreciates a challenge, so it makes sense that he'd want to play the central character in a story based on one of Los Angeles' darkest chapters in the sprawling city's history. Hamm returns to Audible Originals as gruff, no-nonsense Detective Jack Bergin in 'The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery,' all episodes of which are out today, an audio drama that weaves the story behind the Chavez Ravine evictions as the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s into a fictional murder-mystery. 'LA has a fascinating history,' Hamm told CNN in a recent interview. 'There's so much of it that people just don't talk about because it's a little problematic and because it's been kind of bulldozed, literally and figuratively, in the name of progress.' Before Dodger Stadium was the home of the LA Dodgers – a baseball team that has won eight World Series championships – the land on which the stadium sits was known as the Chavez Ravine, home to generations of Mexican-Americans. Evictions for residents began in the early 1950s, when city officials used political tactics like eminent domain to acquire land or forcibly remove tenants so developers could build public housing projects. The public housing project eventually fell apart and by the late 1950s, only a small number of original Chavez Ravine residents still resided in the area. That is until Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley acquired the land and forcibly removed its remaining residents to build Dodger Stadium. It's an overlooked part of Los Angeles history that Hamm said is important to remember. 'To ignore it is to pretend that it never happened and to pretend it never happened means you don't learn from it, and if you don't learn from it, you're going to do it again,' Hamm said. The 'Your Friends & Neighbors' star said while progress has been made over the past 70-plus years, an 'incredible divide between the haves and the have nots' remains. 'If Elon Musk would take – and again, this is not this not something he needs to do – but if he would take his chainsaw to his own sort of personal wealth and spread it around, he could build 30 schools in each of the 50 states, and he could be the new Andrew Carnegie,' Hamm said. 'But he doesn't want to do that and that's an interesting choice on his end.' 'The Big Fix' audio series sees Hamm reunite with his 'Mad Men' costar John Slattery, as well as Alia Shawkat, Ana Del La Reguera, Omar Epps and Erin Moriarty. Hamm's other voiceover projects include 2022's 'The Big Lie' series, as well as roles in 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Big Mouth,' among others. 'I really like doing it,' Hamm said. 'I think it's a fun and creative way to kind of engage in storytelling and I think ('The Big Fix') is part of that.'
