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Tonight, on PBS Kids! Watch for me -- well, listen for me -- as historical figure Branch Ricky in the Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum episode titled "I Am Jackie Robinson." This was a particularly satisfying job. It was just a few minutes spent in a recording studio to lay down the few lines for the scene - a tender, sincere scene between America's first Black baseball celebrity and the manager who enlisted him. Branch Ricky -- that's me -- had the bravery, the foresight, the decency and the compassion to buck the racism of those days. He had to warn young Jackie about the difficult times that were likely ahead, and encourage him to jump in and join the team anyway. Jackie Robinson was a hero. Branch Ricky was the visionary who paved the way. Xavier Riddle, the series, has an ingenious central premise: Xavier and his friends travel through time to meet famous people from history, and to learn. (Think Bill & Ted recruiting Beethoven, etc.) But Xavier and his pals are much younger. Elementary school-age. And here's the best wrinkle of all: they meet all those famous people when those people were themselves still kids. Eight-year-old Einstein and such. Each episode is devoted to another important person. Catch the show online! PBS Kids. (Warning: this perhaps not available in Canada yet.) 
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