2 Chapter 1 Born in the South

Chapter 1 Born in the South On January 31, 1919, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in the town of Cairo, Georgia. For a black family, living in the Deep South was tough. Jackie's grandparents had been slaves. His parents farmed land as sharecroppers. That meant they didn't own their small piece of land. A white farmer did. Jackie's mother and father would plant and hoe and harvest the crops. Then they had to give part of their earnings to the farmer. There was never much money left over.

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MACK, JACKIE, MALLIE, EDGAR, WILLA MAE, FRANK Jackie was the youngest of five children. Brothers Edgar, Frank, and Mack came first. Then sister Willa Mae was born, and, finally, Jackie. There were many mouths to feed. Life got tougher when Jackie's father walked out the door and never came back. Now his mother, Mallie, had to care for her children and run the farm all by herself.

The 1920s were a scary time to live in Georgia if you were black. There were race riots. White people burned down black churches and schools. Mallie wanted her children to be safe. She wanted them to feel equal to everyone and anyone—no matter their skin color. What could she do? Where could Mallie find a better life for her kids? Mallie had relatives in southern California. She'd heard things were different there for black people. So she packed up all the family belongings.

Jackie was only sixteen months old when the Robinson family boarded a train that would take them all the way across the country. At midnight, the number fifty-eight train headed west. The trip took more than a week! Finally the Robinsons passed through Los Angeles. It was nighttime. Lights were glowing up and down the mountainsides. Mallie thought it was so beautiful. She had only three dollars in her pocket. But she had hope.

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