A great collection of essays about a great man, and a true activist athlete. Traversing ground from Jackie Robinson's religious and political leanings (he was a Methodist and a Republican) to his civil rights activism to, of course, his baseball prowess, 42 Today gives incredible insight into the way Jackie Robinson paved the way for all who would come after him.

The best part for me was Part IV, where the book turns more forward and begins looking at the legacy of Jackie Robinson in shaping activism by professional athletes and in the effects of all of remaking Jackie Robinson's image and drawing comparisons between him and other barrier breakers who have come after him. In particular, I found Peter Dreier's essay, "The First Famous Jock for Justice" to be extremely informative about the platform and even leverage that professional athletes have to advance social consequences and so many of the reasons that they do not. And there is so much more to it than we have seen even with Colin Kaepernick, who has continued his activism at the cost of his NFL career (and several of these essays counter head on the notion that Jackie Robinson would not have supported Kaepernick's activism). But Jackie Robinson was tremendously involved in on-the-ground organizing, even during his active Major League Baseball career, including picketing Woolworth lunch counters in solidarity with sit-inners. At the end of his essay, Drier calls for athletes today to do more:

"Taking a knee or locking arms during the national anthem and tweeting and making public statements opposing Trump's racism and ignorance of the First Amendment give athletes a platform to speak out on controversial issues. But there is much more athletes can do to challenge the political status quo, as Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, Sean Doolittle, and others have shown. When was the last time you saw a celebrity athlete standing in front of a post office or grocery store, holding voter registration forms, or walking precincts and going door-to-door in low-income and minority neighborhoods, urging people to vote? If athletes ventured onto the streets to participate in rallies, protests, and pickets about police abuses, voter suppression, workers' rights, or deportation of immigrants, their gestures would generate considerable media attention for these causes."

That said, I also really enjoyed reading about how Jackie Robinson changed the game of baseball by bringing in a more aggressive style of play that dominated the Negro Leagues. How baseball was only his fourth best sport, and how absolutely exceptional he was at it.

Overall, just a phenomenal read. Some of the essays do touch on the same points, but all of them bring a unique perspective that tie this collection together well.

My sincere thanks to NYU Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for the review.

"42 Today" was published on Feb 9. It consists of a Forward by Ken Burns, an Introduction by Michael G Long, 12 essays about Robinson by 12 different authors and an Afterward The Legacy of Perfection by Kevin Merida. It is a MORE THAN worthy title to be read in Black History Month. When I was 7% through (still in Chapter 1), I already knew I would rate it 5 stars.

Ken Burns- This book will paint a different picture of Robinson. Not just the unthreatening martyr, but also a stubborn, intelligent, outspoken activist.

Michael G Long- Quotes Robinson: "A Life is not important except in the impact it has on others."

I was especially impressed with this information provided in Chapter 1 The Owner by Howard Bryant. In it, Bryant describes the difference between Ownership and Advancement. Robinson espoused Ownership, which means grab our rights NOW. America wanted Advancement- a slow, determined path to acceptance and equality. Robinson was more than on the right track.

In the rest of the chapters, I learned Robinson was a Methodist, a Republican, and a member of the board of Chock Full of Nuts.

Robinson was an extremely intelligent person who expressed his views through his own newspaper columns and interviews.

In the chapter The First Famous Jock for Justice by Peter Dreier, Dreier states:
“(Robinson) believed that as an American citizen, and as a black man in a racist society, he had an obligation to use his fame to challenge the social and political status quo.”

I cannot say enough good things about this book. In conjunction with the book The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, which I recently finished, I have learned so much of the plight (and fight) of the African American.

Please read both of these books if you can.

5 stars

A compilation of essays about Jackie Robinson the first black individual in Major League Baseball. I learned a lot about the man that I did not know. The essays covered his time in the majors, why he was picked, his civil rights involvement and his politics. The essays were very interesting and not too repetitive. It was a well researched book.

Ken Burns writes a powerful forward to this important text, a treasure of much more than Jackie Robinson memories. Long compiles essays on Robinson's impact, not so much as a baseball player, but more about his impact as a political activist. While he did set the stage for diversity in the field of sports, he also set a precedent that resulted in a black man's rising to the Presidency of the United States. A powerful book about a powerful and complex man, one willing to withhold his personal feelings for the greater good.

42 Today was an interesting, and informative, read. I liked how it was broken down into essays, written by a wide range of authors, as it brought different views of Mr. Robinson to the table.
I learned a lot more about Jackie Robinson, as both an athlete and as a man, than I had known previously.
Parts of this book were very compelling, especially the stories focused on his early years in baseball, and all he had to endure as the first Black man in the major leagues. People really are despicable, and it's disgusting to think that there are still so many that would treat him the same way today.
The stories that focused more on the political side of his life, his activism both during and after his baseball career, were very enlightening- there is much I didn't know about the man, and it gave me an even greater appreciation for him.
I did feel some of the essays tended to get a little repetitive, and there were sections that I ended up skimming, as they didn't really feel necessary to the overall story that was being told.

After reading 42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy I can't help but think Mr. Robinson would be disappointed in how far we haven't come as a country. His comment, "I am not concerned about your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.", is one of the more profound statements shared in this book. And as we've seen in the past year, the US has more than its share of those who still, after all this time, believe people of color are lesser than. It's probably a good thing Jackie Robinson isn't around to see the lack of progress made in the past 50 years.

I received a free ARC from netgalley for this book. I really enjoy non fiction and historical topics on civil rights. I have seen the movie 42 and I know some about Jackie Robinson. The book gave me a deeper understanding and love for Jackie Robinson.

I can not imagine what Jackie endured. I did not realize he went to UCLA and lived in Pasadena. The grace of this amazing player. I did not realize that he was so involved in the civil rights movement (way before Rosa Parks). He died too young and really never got the respect he deserved.

The book looks at his life. The book looks at the life of so many athletes after him in regards to race, sex, and LGBT rights. The book, also, looks at how Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Trump, and so many more, were influenced by him or how he influenced them (or the problems with these historical figures).

A majority of the book isn't about Jackie Robinson. It feels like he is looking down at us and educating us. The book is really fascinating on so many levels.

My only criticism of the book is that the chapters are long and a little difficult to read. The chapters have subcategories. The chapters can cover so much ground.

I am so very glad that I was given the opportunity to read this book. It is definitely a book that should be read more than once.

Being a baseball family, we all know Jackie Robinson and his jersey number 42. But do we all know the turmoil that came with his historic status? This book follows Jackie Robinson's legacy and how he created a pathway for future civil rights activism. Sharing this book and history with my family was eye opening for my children, especially my baseball player son. We have all heard the tales of the past and what a successful athletic career Jackie Robinson lived, but the struggles are so often left out or mildly mentioned. This was an extraordinary book to showcase Jackie Robinson's life and the true value of his legacy.

"I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a White world." That is not a quote from Colin Kaepernick but from Jackie Robinson. We are all familiar with the “story” about Jackie, he always turned the other cheek, and the courageousness of Branch Rickey, etc. However, that is only part, and not a very accurate portrayal, of the story.

“42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy”, a recently released book of essays edited by Michael G. Long, aims to change that narrative and provide a more complex Robinson who was not only courageous but important, not only to baseball and sports, but to America and the civil rights movement. “Robinson was the first well-known professional athlete in post-World War II America to use his celebrity to speak out against social justice.” However, the press, “many of whom had once praised him for his self-control, took exception to his outspokenness, calling him ungrateful and urging him to be a baseball player, not a crusader.” So it is probably no accident and not really a surprise we don’t hear more about this when people discuss Jackie Robinson. This is nothing new as the impact of what he meant for the sport and America was often overlooked at time when he joined the Dodgers in 1947, especially by White journalists and White publications. The pieces in this book try to change that by discussing what Robinson meant to the civil rights movement, politics, and the wider sports world.

Yohuru Williams, writes in his essay, the “deployment of the ‘Good Negro’ troupe plagued Robinson throughout much of his post-baseball life. It obscured the depth and complexity of thinking he brought to many issues impacting the Black community.”

“NAACP executive director Roy Wilkins echoed Gregory’s assessment in speaking of Jack’s legacy on the black freedom struggle beyond words and symbols. As he observed, “Jackie’s contributions have been threefold. First, his conduct and performance as the pioneer Negro in major league baseball broke down barriers across the board for other Negroes. Secondly, his direct involvement in his work for the NAACP, his speeches, his writings have given our cause incalculably greater momentum. Thirdly, his present activities in the business field are helping to bridge the wide gap that separates the Negro from positions in business and industry.”

Since these are individual essays the reader will encounter some of the same quotes and tidbits in different essays. However, I highly recommend this book if you want to learn more about Jackie Robinson and importance he had not only in sports, but in America.
America has made some progress since Jackie Robinson first stepped foot on that field, but it has a long way left to go. Robinson would be disappointed in the lack of progress we have made over the years. However, he should be proud of his legacy and what he did to help move this country closer to our ideals promised in the Declaration of Independence. “Jackie Robinson,” say Kevin Merida, “deserves to be remembered and assessed as the courageous, complex man he was. And not as a character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” This book helps to do that and highly recommend.

This collection of essays beautifully portrayed Jackie Robinson's journey in his baseball career. It covers aspects of his personal life, his struggles with teammates, his struggles with the public, and his image within the Civil Rights Movement. I wish there had been more coverage of his political involvement. What is mentioned, is repeated several times. I thoroughly enjoyed the essay that discusses Jackie Robinson as being the pioneer of minorities in professional sports, for women, LGBTQIA+, and people of color. It was beautifully written.

The collection of essays that fill this book are excellent as stand alone commentaries on the legacy of Jackie Robinson. Together they form a powerful argument for both remembering and extending that legacy to a new generation of both sports fans and the American public. The legacy of Jackie Robinson and what the Dodger Organization accomplished is without question one of the great stories of sports impacting life. However, the greater impact was the continued influence Jackie Robinson exerted after he left the field. These essays point out that legacy in a powerful and intriguing book that needs to be read by everyone.