 This first document is a telegram from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Jackie Robinson testimonial dinner acknowledging that he was not going to be able to attend, the reason being he was going back to Albany, Georgia. The telegram was sent to Reverend Wyatt Walker, who was his strategist for most of the Civil Rights era movements and trying to, you know, strategize about the nonviolent approach to the civil disobedience strategy they were putting together. You know, King could not attend this dinner, so in fact, you know, King was one of the coordinators of the dinner. He was helping a number of people acknowledge the significance of Jackie Robinson's contribution. The fact that he was being inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame three days later was important because, again, Robinson was the first African-American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Those that played, the last group of African-Americans to play played in the 1880s. So Robinson becoming, you know, the first to integrate baseball in 1947 was significant. Reason being he was the first to demonstrate this IDIV integration in a public way. You know, his baseball play on the baseball field was a demonstration of the ability of African-Americans to persevere and the things he was able to achieve, the things that he endured, made him an example for people like Dr. King. He was an example for young men like an Arthur Ashe. And so this testimonial dinner was to acknowledge his accomplishments. Just in thinking about this telegram to King, the language used, and again, this is a telegram so you can't put everything you want in there. It has to be short and concise. And so King writes, warmest heartfelt greetings to all of you assembled on this auspicious occasion. An important turn of events at Albany, Georgia made it imperative for me to return here immediately. Had looked forward with great anticipation to being with you tonight, can think of nothing I regret more than having to miss this opportunity to personally join with you in this testimonial to one of the truly great men of our nation, Martin Luther King Jr. So in this document, you have someone like King, and even in 62, he is still elevated as being this significant individual that he would acknowledge Jackie Robinson being this really great man. And so I would ask my students, or I would ask even myself, what qualities did Jackie Robinson demonstrate that King thought were so important to identify him as this great man? I think in our nation, when we thought about great men, we think about our presidents. And so to have Robinson at the top of that pile of men or that mountain of individuals is something to imagine. So in my mind, what qualities or what characteristics does someone like a Robinson have that would call for his identification as a great man? I would say that because of Robinson's perseverance, because of the strength of character he demonstrated when he was playing baseball, when he was receiving the cat calls, when he was being taunted by opposing pitchers or managers out of dugouts, he demonstrated the kind of character that King would also take advantage of or use in his own nonviolent civil disobedience or his way in which he demonstrated his own character. And so Robinson became an example for children, for adults. He was, in some ways, not even, I would call him the poster child, but he was the example that a number of African-Americans looked to as they themselves sought to integrate society but to be recognized as human beings and as citizens of the United States. Even with baseball, I would say that it's less about sports and it's more about demonstrating one's, not autonomy, but one's humanity. And so the fact that you have it in an arena where people are watching makes it important because there are those who are there to validate what you're doing. So it's not necessarily that the fact that Robinson could hit home run, it's the fact he's able to compete with white men and have the opportunity to do so. So it's less about the sport, it's more about what it says about his abilities as a human being and therefore he becomes a metaphor for other African-Americans or other minorities or other people who are marginalized. So it becomes a performance.