The story of the great Jackie Robinson, the first African American player in major league baseball opened in many theaters yesterday.  Although I intend to go see this film imminently for the enticing story, I am equally thrilled to see this film of someone who stood up and challenged the status quo because of his passion for what he believed.  He made history and changed the minds of many people via his own trials and tribulations, about  feelings of prejudice and the pure concept of equality.  In doing some research of his biography, I also learned some other interesting things. Mr. Robinson had a stellar career in athletics where he excelled and while at UCLA, he became the first ever student to earn varsity letters in four sports for the acclaimed university.  In 1942, while in boot camp during his service in the U.S. Army he was court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus.  Although he was acquitted of any charges later, his courage to stand up to the establishment was an evident precursor to what would later come in his professional baseball career.  I found the correlation of experiences between him and Ms. Rosa Parks to be remarkable.  Through her defiant stance she would become the catalyst of the way a nation treated its citizens in her monumental moment when she refused to give up her seat on a bus in 1955.  The civil rights movement was certainly born through their endeavors and our nation is better because of them. When you think about how much changed occurred due to their leadership, they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders with respect to this issue.  If it were not for Mr. Robinson, I don't believe we would be able to see the diverse ethnicity that now exists in the beloved game of baseball or any other sport.  Today the stand-out players that earn year end titles and most valuable accolades, are from as varied cultures and backgrounds as the true formula of our great country. Mr. Robinson's stood in the face of fear and not only for himself, but for the other many individuals like him that did not know what might happen next.  However, he proceeded to walk through tumultuous periods with his head held high.  The boldness of his faith is part of the legacy that we have today, as a result of the path that he was able to carve for those that came after him.  I wish that more stories such as these were able to be told via the different media, so that we may be reminded more frequently about how far we have come and how much further we still need to go.  We should all be as passionate about what moves us, so that we too can contribute greatly to the world in which we live today.