“To uphold his values”- Sonya Pankey Robinson pays a heartfelt tribute to her grandfather and MLB's first Black player Jackie Robinson

To pay a beautiful, heart warming, and loving tribute to the first Black player of the Major Baseball League, Jackie Robinson , team players and staff members of Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies were joined by Robinson’s granddaughter, Sonya Pankey Robinson , who spoke about her grandfather’s legacy and how he created history for so many players.

Jackie Robinson’s family joins the Dodgers and Rockies for a heartfelt tributeOn Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies gathered around MLB legend Jackie Robinson’s statue at Dodger Stadium and paid a tribute to history’s most important baseball player. Along with basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Robinson’s oldest granddaughter, Sonya Pankey Robinson had joined to interact with the players. Sonya was the granddaughter of Jackie and Rachel Robinson and the only child of Jackie Jr. Her father was killed in a car accident in 1971, when he was barely 24. Granddaughter Ayo Robinson, whose father is David Robinson, attended the tribute as well.

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Pankey Robinson said:

"He was so progressive in so many ways, When I think about him fondly, I just think about all of his contributions to society and to us as a family. I feel a real responsibility to uphold his values and I take that job very seriously."

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Rachel Robinson, who is 102 years old, also celebrated the special day at the Jackie Robinson Museum in Brooklyn. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred joined her to pay tribute .

Of Rachel, Pankey Robinson said:

“She is out looking great and greeting everyone, Not only did she instill the values that she knows my grandfather would expect us to uphold, but she had her own values and her own expectations of us early on to set goals for ourselves in life."

Recently, the U.S. Defense Department brought back a web page that talked about Jackie Robinson’s military service, when the web page was taken down earlier during President Donald Trump's time in office. Now, that information about Robinson has been restored.

Sonya Pankey Robinson said

"Disheartening but not discouraged because I think what he's done is etched in history and it's not anyone else's place to remove that, His impact is large and we feel good knowing that while disappointed, what he did mattered."

Ron Washington and Aaron Boone say the Jackie Robinson’s legacy cannot be forgottenThe Los Angeles Angels’ Ron Washington said:

"It impacted me tremendously to find out what he had to go through just to play the game of baseball, and then you look back and say, 'Wow, in this period could I have done that?' I want to think I could, but I don't know if I could."

For the New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Robinson was "one of the most important figures in American history." He said:

"Obviously, he was part of integrating our sport, but part of further integrating America, and other sports. It's so cool what we get to do today, and everyone wearing 42, bringing attention to it and just honoring what's an amazing legacy."

Also Read: “He meant excellence”- Ex-basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pays tribute to MLB’s first Black player Jackie Robinson