True American Dreams by Sarah Robinson

Jackie Robinson

sarahrobinson13 — 2025-08-25 20:58:28 UTC

Jackie Robinson, number 42, was an American baseball player from 1947 to 1956. As the first black man to join the MLB, Robinson faced many instances of racial injustice. He was initially held back from playing due to the "color bar," which was a form of Jim Crow within the realm of sports. Despite hatred and bigotry from fans and players, Robinson was given the chance to play by the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey. He fought against Jim Crow Laws and pushed to make changes in the league. Even after being signed, Robinson faced the reality of segregation when he was denied entrance to many restaurants, hotels, and planes. Despite all odds, Jackie Robinson stood resolute against bigotry and went on to become one of the greatest ball players of all time (Franklin, 2011).

Sonia Sotomayor

2025-09-02 13:05:38 UTC

Sonia Sotomayor, a well-known judge in current times. She is the first Hispanic and Latino woman to be inaugurated into the Supreme Court in U.S. history. She was born in the Bronx, New York, and she has a Puerto Rican family. At a young age, she aspired to be a lawyer; however, her life in the Bronx was marked by poverty with her family. Her dad was an alcoholic, and he died when Sonia was 9 years old. Despite her having to deal with those challenges at a young age, she triumphed in high school, was a valedictorian in class, and got a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a juris doctor from Yale University. She did end up becoming a lawyer, and with her being able to become a lawyer, she was raised to the top and worked hard to become the first Hispanic to be in the Supreme Court in the United States.

Rita Moreno

2025-09-02 13:11:57 UTC

Rita Moreno is a famous actress and dancer, known for her role as Anita in West Side and in the Netflix series One Day at a Time. Rita Moreno goals include promoting diversity and Latinx representation in the entertainment industry, mentoring young artist and advocate for social justice initiatives like gender equality and immigrant rights. Rita was first hired at the age of 11 to record Spanish language versions of American films. Rita's first film was called, "So Young, So Bad." Rita Moreno has been a lifelong advocate for diversity and civil rights, motivated by her own painful experiences with racism, typecasting and discrimination in Hollywood, facing immense struggles throughout her career like rampant racism and sexism which caused deep personal pain. She became one of the few performers to achieve EGOT status. Achieving the Triple Crown of Acting, also receiving the presidential medal of freedom.

2025-09-02 13:13:43 UTC

Dolores Huerta's mom, Alicia Chavez, divorced Dolores' dad when she was 5 years old. She moved around a lot. She went to a segregated high school. She didn't see her dad; they had financial struggles, her mother worked 2 jobs and made a total amount of $5 weekly. Dolores Huerta's main goal was to fight for the rights of farmworkers, immigrants, women, and social justice. She had to deal with police brutality and being arrested during her activism. Suffering from injuries from police beatings. Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers to improve wages and conditions. (Wikipedia, 2025).

Albert Einstein

2025-09-02 13:14:09 UTC

Albert Einstein was a German born theoretical physicist from 1905 to 1955 that faced problems in his home country Germany. Albert originally had problems with the German school system and after he dropped out of school he was forced to flee Germany due to Nazis having a bounty on his head due to him being Jewish. Albert had a dream of finding a country where civil liberty, freedom of thought and equality were paramount leading him to america. Once he reached America he had a hard time finding jobs due to poor recommendations from professors due to him being a rebellious and disengaged student. Despite all of this he would transition into a professional scientist around 1905 when he earned his doctorate and published his groundbreaking papers on special relativity and the photoelectric effect. He would go on to win a Nobel Prize for this work in 1921 and ever since he became one of the most well known scientists in history with him creating equations like E=mc² or predicting the existence of gravitational waves and his theory of relativity which revolutionized our understanding of gravity,space and time (Michio,2025)

Cesar Chavez

2025-09-02 13:14:39 UTC

Cesar Chavez was born in 1927. He is a migrant farmworker who faced discrimination. He started working as a farmworker at age 11. He lasted 10 years as a farmworker, then he started his career as an activist. He lived in unstable housing, and he lacked legal protection for agricultural workers. Cesar Chavez's main goals were to organize farm workers into a strong unified union to improve their wages, working conditions, and safety. Cesar Chavez's triumph was that he secured and made better pay wages, better healthcare/ working conditions, and more freedom, and founded da UFW.

Unita blackwell

390098_3 — 2025-09-02 13:15:29 UTC

Unita Blackwell was the first Black female mayor elected in the state of Mississippi from 1976 to 2001. As the first black woman to be elected as mayor in Mississippi, she faced racial voting inequality. Blackwell lost her job the following day after her employer found out that she attempted to register to vote . Blackwell and her family were left without a steady income and were denied welfare payments. Blackwell joined SNCC after meeting Fannie Lou Hamer in the summer and founded the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party in 1964. She wanted to establish laws preventing Black children’s employment as sharecroppers and to establish black schools that would teach mathematics and science. She failed in unseating the Democratic Party at the national convention, but they gave Black Americans the first-ever opportunity to participate in political action. Blackwell was able to initiate programs to assist the poor, as she had while working with the National Council of Negro Women. Blackwell continued to be a voice for working rural families. In 1992, Blackwell was awarded a $350,000 MacArthur fellowship for her efforts to create the Deer River housing development. Her commitment to racial uplift remained unwavering. Reflecting on her own humble beginnings and activism, she stated, “I’m proof that things can change.” ("Exploring the Meaning of Black Womanhood Series: Hidden Figures in NPS Places" Carey, n.d.).

Mae Jemison

2025-09-02 13:19:11 UTC

Mae Jemison is a pioneering African American woman who broke racial barriers by becoming the first black woman to travel to space in 1992.

She served as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour (1992)

Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago

Jemison knew from a young age that she wanted to study science and someday go to space.

Both her parents were supportive of her interest in science

Seeing the lack of female astronauts during the Apollo missions also frustrated Jemison

She later recalled that everybody was thrilled about space. “But I remember being really, really irritated that there were no woman astronauts.”

Jemison entered Stanford University at the age of 16

There were very few other African American students in Jemison's classes, and she continued to experience discrimination from her teachers.

Jemison said that it was difficult to attend Stanford at 16, but that her youthful arrogance may have helped her. She asserted that some arrogance is necessary for women and minorities to be successful in a white male-dominated society.

She graduated from Sanford University with degrees in chemical engineering and African American studies.

Jemison flew her only space mission from September 12 to 20, 1992, as one of the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour.

After her expedition, Jemsion also founded the Dorothy Foundation for Excellence, naming it in honor of her mother. In the modern day, Mae Jemison continues to work as an engineer, educator, entrepreneur, and public speaker, advocating for science and technology education and inspiring future generations. (Lauren, 2005)

James Baldwin

2025-09-02 13:20:41 UTC

James Baldwin, was an American writer from mid 1940 to 1987. James dealt with abuse from his father at a young age with self-hatred stemming from his identity as a black gay man. James became a prominent writer in the Civil Rights Movement using his voice as a writer to expose racism and homophobia to face uncomfortable truths.

James dealt with racism following off with internalized homophobia being a black gay man. Baldwin experienced harassment and prejudice from society for his identity, making him a voice for the Black LGBTQ+ community. In spite of racial discrimination James continuously used his writing to foster the dream to build a nation that was neither black nor white and have Liberty and Justice for all. (guardian,2001)

Ellen Ochoa

2025-09-02 13:23:20 UTC

Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10th, 1958- now. She is 67 years old and was an astronaut. She was the first Hispanic woman in space. She has a degree in physics and electrical engineering. Being a Hispanic woman, she faced racial injustice and gender credibility issues. When Ellen went to college, she wanted to study engineering; instead, professors encouraged her to study physics because there were not that many women engineers. After she graduated from college, she wanted to go to NASA, but she was rejected twice from the NASA program for being a woman. Once she finally got accepted, she felt as if she didn't have any freedom. Although Ellen did not feel comfortable, she still managed to reach her goal of going to space and becoming a scientist, and going into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame

2025-09-02 13:39:39 UTC

Florence Owens Thompson, born September 1, 1903 - September 16, 1983. Raised in Indian Territory. She was a mother of 11 children who became the subject of Dorothea Lange's iconic "Migrant Mother," a symbol of the great depression. The struggles she faced included poverty, dangerous work as a crop picker during the great depression, and the inability to own land or a permanent home. Florence Owens Thompson's life was defined by constantly moving out to have a better life for her and her kids, even if it was a small house; she thought it would be better. She worked in hospitals, tended bar, and worked in fields.. Her kids helped her with work, raising enough money. Her children bought her a house in odesto, California, in the 1770's but she always preferred to live in a mobile home and move back into one. Thompson was hospitalizedin August 1983. Thompson died of a stroke, cancer, and heart problems.