Hank Aaron

growth for African American workers. On December 25, 1971, Operation Breadbasket was renamed Operation PUSH - People United to Serve Humanity.

Over the next decade, Jackson continued his involvement with local, national, and international politics. In 1983, Jackson negotiated the release of war prisoner, U.S. pilot Robert Goodman, in Syria. In 1984 and 1988, Jackson ran for President of the United States. As a Democratic candidate, he garnered massive support and exceeded expectations for the number of delegates received. Jackson’s electoral run also helped to register two million new voters.

Jackson moved to Washington, D.C. in 1989. At that time, the Washington City Council created two positions of shadow senator to lobby for the statehood of Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Congress. Jackson won one of the Senate seats, his first elected position.

In 1991, Jackson gained international acclaim again when he negotiated for the release of hundreds of foreign nationals in Kuwait under the regime of Saddam Hussein. In that same year, his likeness was put on a United States Post Office pictorial postal cancellation. Jackson is the second living person to ever receive such an honor. President Bill Clinton then appointed Jackson in 1997 as a special envoy for democracy in Kenya, later awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in March 2000. Jackson hosted the CNN television program Both Sides With Jesse Jackson from 1992 to 2000. He has written numerous columns and authored/ co-authored several books including Keep Hope Alive (1989) and It’s About The Money (1999).

Jackson and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition have organized numerous events over the years that bring attention to problems facing all Americans including economic advancement, workers rights, labor conditions, voter registration, education, and racial profiling. He has been awarded over forty honorary degrees, received the NAACP Springarn Award, and been listed as one of the top ten most respected Americans. In 2000, Jackson received an honorary Masters degree from his former school, Chicago Theological Seminary. The seminary recognized Jackson’s countless years of civic service to the American community.

In 2003, Jackson created the Wall Street Project. This project aims to build economic opportunities and advancements of African Americans influencing corporate America companies to increase economic growth and opportunity with minority communities and businesses. In 2004, Jackson became a radio host for the nationally syndicated radio talk show entitled, Keep Hope Alive.

Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, currently divide their residency between Chicago, Illinois and Washington, D.C. They have five children, Santita Jackson, U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Jackson, Yusef Jackson, and Jacqueline L. Jackson.

Provided by https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/reverend-jesse-l-jackson.

FEBRUARY 5, 1934 – JANUARY 22, 2021

Baseball legend Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s hallowed mark of 714 home runs and finished his career with numerous big-league records.

WHO WAS HANK AARON?

Born into humble circumstances in Mobile, Alabama, Hank Aaron ascended the ranks of the Negro Leagues to become a Major League Baseball icon. He spent most of his 23 seasons as an outfielder for the Milwaukee and

Atlanta Braves, during which time he set many records, including a career total of 755 home runs. Aaron was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, and in 1999, MLB established the Hank Aaron Award to annually honor the top hitter in each league.

MOBILE ROOTS

Born Henry Louis Aaron on February 5, 1934, in a poor Black section of Mobile, Alabama, called “Down the Bay,” Hank Aaron was the third of eight children born to Estella and Herbert Aaron, who made a living as a tavern owner and a dry dock boilermaker’s assistant.

Aaron and his family moved to the middle-class Toulminville neighborhood when he was 8 years old. Aaron developed a strong affinity for baseball and football at a young age and tended to focus more heavily on sports than his studies. During his freshman and sophomore years, he attended Central High School, a segregated high school in Mobile, where he excelled at both football and baseball. On the baseball diamond, he played shortstop and third base.

In his junior year, Aaron transferred to the Josephine Allen Institute, a neighboring private school that had an organized baseball program.

NEGRO AND MINOR LEAGUES

In late 1951, 18-year-old Aaron quit school to play for the Negro American League’s Indianapolis Clowns. It wasn’t a long stay, but the talented teenager left his mark by hitting .366 and leading his club to victory in the league’s 1952 World Series. Additionally, he would become the last to play in both the Negro Leagues and the Major Leagues.

After signing with the Milwaukee Braves for $10,000, Aaron was assigned to one of the organization’s farm clubs, the Class C Eau Claire Bears. He did not disappoint, earning Northern League Rookie of the Year honors in 1952. Promoted to the Class A Jacksonville Braves in 1953, Aaron continued to tear apart pitching with 208 hits, 22 homers and a .362 average.

MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER

Aaron made his Major League debut in 1954, at age 20, when a spring training injury to another Milwaukee Braves outfielder created a roster spot for him. Following a solid first year (he hit .280 with 13 home runs), Aaron charged through the 1955 season with a blend of power (27 home runs), run production (106 RBIs) and average (.328) that would come to define his long career.

After winning his first batting title in 1956, Aaron registered an outstanding 1957 season, taking home the National League MVP and nearly nabbing the Triple Crown by hitting 44 home runs, knocking in another 132 and batting .322.

That same year, Aaron demonstrated his ability to come up big when it counted most. His 11th inning home run in late September propelled the Braves to the World Series, where he led underdog Milwaukee to an upset win over the New York Yankees in seven games.

With the game still years away from the multimillion-dollar contracts handed to star players, Aaron’s annual pay in 1959 was around $30,000. When he equaled that amount that same year in endorsements, Aaron realized there could be more in store for him if he continued to hit for power. “I noticed that they never had a show called ‘Singles Derby,’” he once explained.

He was right, of course, and over the next decade and a half, the always-fit Aaron banged out 30 to 40 home runs on an annual basis. In 1973, at the age of 39, Aaron was still a force, clubbing 40 home runs to finish the year with a career total of 713, just one behind Babe Ruth. In 1974, after tying Ruth on Opening Day in Cincinnati, Ohio, Aaron came home with his team. On April 8, he banged out his record 715th home run off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a triumph and a relief, as more than 50,000 fans on hand cheered him on as he rounded the bases. There were fireworks and a band, and when he crossed home plate, Aaron’s parents were there to greet him. g

After finishing his record-breaking 1974 season with 20 home runs, Aaron joined the Brewers in his old big-league hometown of Milwaukee to take advantage of the new designated hitter rule that gave aging sluggers a chance to rest their legs. He played two more years, wrapping up his stellar career after the 1976 season.

ENCOUNTERING RACISM

As Aaron drew closer to home run No. 714, the chase to beat the Ruth’s record revealed that world of baseball was

far from being free of the racial tensions that prevailed around it. Letters poured into the Braves offices, as many as 3,000 a day for Aaron. Some wrote to congratulate him, but many others were appalled that a Black man should break baseball’s most sacred record. Death threats were a

part of the mix. Still, Aaron pushed forward. He didn’t try to inflame the atmosphere, but he didn’t keep his mouth shut, either, speaking out against the league’s lack of ownership and management opportunities for minorities. “On the field, Blacks have been able to be super giants,” he once stated. “But, once our playing days are over, this is the end of it, and we go back to the back of the bus again.”

STATS

Aaron, nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank,” is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Over 21 years as an outfielder for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves and two final years as a DH for the Milwaukee Brewers, he compiled numerous records, including:

• Runs batted in (2,297) • Extra-base hits (1,477) • Total bases (6,856) • All-star appearances (25) • Years with 30 or more home runs

(15 — since tied by Alex Rodriguez)

Aaron ranks second all-time in-home runs (755), third in hits (3,771), third in games played (3,298) and tied for fourth with Ruth in runs scored (2,174). Over the course of his career, he won two batting titles, led his league in homers and RBIs four times each, and won three Gold Gloves for fielding excellence.

HANK AARON AWARD

In 1999, Major League Baseball introduced the Hank Aaron Award to honor the top hitter in each league. Initially determined by the compiling of points based on stats, it g