In 1947, Jackie Robinson pioneered the integration of American professional athletics by becoming the first black player in Major League Baseball. From a This I Believe essay recorded in 1952, he discusses his fight against prejudice.
In his 1953 memoir, “The Seeking,” Will Thomas detailed his family’s experience of moving to an all-white New England town. His essay explores how his own bigotry once shaped his beliefs.
Financier and elder statesman Bernard Baruch found his beliefs shaken by the atrocities of World War II and the advent of the hydrogen bomb. But by believing in courage, intelligence and reason, Baruch is able to feel hope for the future.
Inspired by the generosity of his parents, University of Louisville sociology professor Charles H. Parrish believed in the importance of helping others and always looking for the good in people. By doing so, Parrish said we can catch a vision of God.
Margaret Mead says she can’t separate what she believes as a person from what she believes as an anthropologist. And she believes humans beings, as part of a greater biological whole, have a responsibility to everyone else on the planet.
Helen Keller learned to communicate through the eyes and ears of others after a fever left her deaf and blind as an infant. The author, activist and lecturer discusses her vision of faith and how it gives her hope for the future of mankind.
Long-time NAACP Executive Secretary and civil rights activist Walter White was inspired by his parents as well as Jesus and Gandhi to believe in upholding moral principles and committing to human equality.
When Seth Chalmer was an adolescent, he regularly endured numerous and lengthy lectures from his father. After relaying one particular story of an incident on the middle school playground, Chalmer got one of the shortest lectures ever, but the lesson within has lasted a lifetime.
From the 1950s series, bestselling writer Louise Dickinson Rich tells how a family tragedy challenged her notions of strength and independence. But when she accepted the help of her neighbors, Rich found a greater connection to humanity.