New Film From Ken Burns Tells the Story of Jackie Robinson

JACKIE ROBINSON, a new two-part, four-hour documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, will air April 11 and 12, at 9:00 p.m. on WSKG TV. The film chronicles the life and times of Robinson, his breaking of baseball’s color barrier and his lifelong fight for equality on and off the field.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr5P8dcn3n4“Jackie Robinson is the most important figure in our nation’s most important game,” said Ken Burns. “He gave us our first lasting progress in civil rights since the Civil War and, ever since I finished my BASEBALL series in 1994, I’ve been eager to make a stand-alone film about the life of this courageous American. There was so much more to say not only about Robinson’s barrier-breaking moment in 1947, but about how his upbringing shaped his intolerance for any form of discrimination and how after his baseball career, he spoke out tirelessly against racial injustice, even after his star had begun to dim.”In addition to interviews with Robinson’s widow, Rachel, and their surviving children, Sharon and David, the film features interviews with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; former Dodgers teammates Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine and Ralph Branca; writers Howard Bryant and Gerald Early; Harry Belafonte; Tom Brokaw; and Carly Simon. The film also features Jamie Foxx as the voice of Jackie Robinson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqizYxTxnjIImage Credit: Courtesy of Hulton Archive Getty Images