Free Minds and Hearts at Work: A "This I Believe" Essay

Written by Jackie Robinson

Narrated by Jackie Robinson

In this essay originally aired in the 1950s, baseball legend Jackie Robinson reflects on fighting imperfection to create a better world in "Free Minds and Hearts at Work", his contribution to NPR’s This I Believe series.

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe book collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, TX and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of NPR's This I Believe anthology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Oct 3, 2006
• ISBN: 9781427203885

Jackie Robinson

In 1947, Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) pioneered the integration of American professional athletics by becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. After retiring from baseball, Robinson chaired the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), helped open the black-owned and -operated Freedom National Bank, built low-income housing, and was active politics.

Reviews for Free Minds and Hearts at Work

[J.M. Casper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Inside the mind of one of America’s most important men. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was more than symbol, more than a sports icon, but an active participant in the cause which his debut in Major League Baseball symbolized and catalyzed, the fulfillment of first class citizenship as he would say, for all, regardless of race, religion, or any bias one might have. The greatest athlete of the 20th century needs not to have his athletic career examined to Understand his impact upon the American ethos.