Jackie Robinson

A new film by Ken Burns

PREMIERES APRIL 11-12 

In anticipation of its national airing on PBS, please join us for a special panel on Ken Burns’ Jackie Robinson and his legacy and the role that sports play in helping the next generation of Detroiters pursue and achieve their American Dream. On March 31, a panel discussion was led by Jerome Vaughn, news director and host of All Things Considered on WDET, with panelists ESPN's Gary Gillette and Michael Porter, retired Vice President at DTE Energy, and current Freshman Baseball Coach at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. The internet connection was lost at the event, and the full discussion did not stream. The entire discussion will be available Friday evening on demand.

About JACKIE ROBINSON:

Jack Roosevelt Robinson rose from humble origins to cross baseball’s color line and become one of the most beloved men in America. A fierce integrationist, Robinson used his immense fame to speak out against the discrimination he saw on and off the field, angering fans, the press, and even teammates who had once celebrated him for “turning the other cheek.” After baseball, he was a widely-read newspaper columnist, divisive political activist and tireless advocate for civil rights, who later struggled to remain relevant as diabetes crippled his body and a new generation of leaders set a more militant course for the civil rights movement.

JACKIE ROBINSON, a two-part, four-hour film directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon tells the story of an American icon whose life-long battle for first class citizenship for all African Americans transcends even his remarkable athletic achievements. “Jackie Robinson,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.”

JACKIE ROBINSON will premiere at 9 PM, April 11 & 12 on Detroit Public Television.