Turning Point In 'Warriors Don T Cry'

What is a turning point in life? And how does it change and impact on others’ lives? A turning point can be described as a dramatic change in life that might change someone’s life forever by letting them face a life-changing event. In the autobiography “I Never Had It Made” by Jackie Robinson, the memoir “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Pattillo Beals, and the article “The Father of Chinese Aviation” by Rebecca Maksel, the people introduced in the stories all faced turning points in their lives that had impacted on them greatly. In all these three pieces of text, the people introduced in the stories had fought through racial tension and worked hard in order to accomplish their success and faced the life-changing experiences in their lives. They

not only impacted on themselves but also on their country and society.
Jackie Robinson’s life changed when he became the first black man to play in the World Series and Major League Baseball during a time of segregation in the United States. These life-changing events challenged him because he had to face racially tense crowds and endured threats from teammates, opponents and bigoted fan. According to paragraph three from the text, Robinson states, “Some of my teammates refused to accept me because I was black. I had been forced to live with snubs, rebuffs, and rejections. “ This quote explains that Robinson had faced the rejections from some of his teammates because he looked different from them. Despite the racism he faced, these life-changing events caused Robinson to grow and develop by making him proud of his accomplishments and appreciate the support, courage, and love shown by his supporters. In paragraph four, Robinson states, “Black people supported me with total loyalty. They supported me morally: they came to sit in a hostile audience in unprecedented numbers to make the turnstiles hum as they never had before at ballparks all over the nation. Money is America's God, and business people can dig black power if it coincides with green power, so these fans were important to the success of Mr. Rickey's ‘Noble Experiment’.” This quote stated the idea of the blacks were trying to fight through their excitement and nervousness that they felt since they had not been baseball fans before any blacks had been able to play in the baseball majors because of the unwritten law of the sports. These fans were an important key to Robinson’s success, because of their support, Robinson was motivated to fight through all the challenges and proved “a sport cannot be called national if blacks are barred from it”. Robinson was thankful for the support and courage his supporters gave him, he responded to these events by continuing to play baseball and proving himself on the field. He kept cool and tried hard. In addition, he also built up his characters by adding up encouragements and confident. In paragraph eleven, Robinson stated, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the small, shrilling voice of a tiny white kid who, in the midst of a racially tense atmosphere during an early game in Dixie Town, cried out, ‘Attaboy, Jackie!’ It broke the tension and it made me feel like I had to succeed.” This citation shows that Jackie was motivated by the support and courage others gave him. The motivation pushed him forward in his games, and he had been admired by others. His reactions impacted on his country by paving the way for more blacks to play professional sports, integrating the Major Leagues and breaking the color barrier. In paragraph ten, the text states, “They(the blacks) needed a victorious man as a symbol. It would help them believe in themselves.” Robinson described how his work had gave the blacks hope and let them walk out of the suppress and repress they had fallen under in many years. In this autobiography “I Never Had It Made”, Jackie Robinson chose his turning point positively, and in order to work hard to use his turning point as an example to encourage others, he looked to this event as a challenge to change and impact his and others’ lives forever
On the other hand, Melba Pattillo Beals faced her turning point in life when she became one of the first African Americans to go to an all-white integrated school in Little Rock Nine, Arkansas, during a segregated time.

This life-changing experience challenged Beals to face racism and in doing so she built confidence and built up her character. Many were against blacks to go to school with whites at the time, this point is proven in paragraph thirteen, the text states, “Some white people looked totally horrified, while some raised their fists at us, and some shouted ugly words.” This text shows the racial tension Beals and her friends faced during the time. These events had helped Beals to grow and develop pride in her country and understood the sacrifice her country had made for equal rights. In paragraph sixteen, Beals states, “I felt proud and sad at the same time, proud that I lived in a country that would go this far to bring justice to a Little Rock girl like me, sad that they had to go such great lengths.” This quote shows that Beals was appreciating how her country had helped to give justice and equal rights to her. She responded to these events by ending racism and persevering through challenges to get equal education in order to respond to the hard work and sacrifices of her country and her people had made for her. Beals’s reactions impacted on her country and society because it was a life-changing event for all people, her emotions and actions impacts on her

country’s future of whether a segregated or integrated time. In paragraph sixteen, Beals states, “If these guys(the military forces) just go with us for the first time, everything will be okay.” Beals believed that she was a part of the changing history and she also believes her actions today would impact on her country some day or another. In conclusion, Melba Pattillo Beals had also find to use her turning point as a positive event just as Jackie Robinson. She used her turning point as the proof to show that it would be the start of the beginning of a new time of integration.
With the people shown above who had faced racial tension in their lives during a segregated time.

The Chinese Aviator Feng Ru also had a life-changing experience when he immigrated from China to the United States and was inspired by industrialization.This knowledge and the factor of others motivated him to build design and fly a plane in order to impact on others. The events of natural disasters, homesickness, racism, bad working condition, and being in a poor environment had challenged Feng to work hard, to move from place to place, and to learn another new language that he did not know. In paragraph six, it states,“He had to relocate his workshop in Oakland because of San Francisco’s massive earthquakes.” This explains the fact that Feng had to move around from places to places because of the natural disasters and other factors that had stopped his work. These events caused him to grow and develop by motivating him to try harder, never give up, and to pursue his dream of becoming the father of Chinese Aviation. In paragraph nine, “He assembled the parts himself, his discretion paid off; Feng’s successful test flights were covered by the mainstream press, and his work was praised by revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen. Feng responded to these events by trying harder, facing new challenges, persevering, and bringing perfection to his plane. In paragraph five,”He laboriously translated into Chinese everything he could find on the Wrights, Glenn Curtiss and later, French aircraft

designer Henri Farman.” This explains the hard work Feng put in because of his thirst for knowledge and his accomplishments. His reactions impacted his country and society because after Feng had accomplished his success, his tomb was honored as “the Father of Chinese Aviation”, he was highly honored in China after his invention had done so much good for his country and its citizens. Feng had accomplished much throughout his life, he faced the challenges just as Robinson and Beals, and in doing so, earned the respect of many and impacted on his country as well as others.
Turning points can change and impact on others’ lives in many ways. For one, Jackie Robinson’s turning point motivated him to motivate others and make an impact on his country. As for Melba Pattillo Beals, she and the other Little Rock Nine faced their turning points to make a change in the segregated time in Little Rock, Arkansas. As for Feng Ru, he used his turning point to impact on his country and people. They all had faced their life-changing experiences, and in doing so, changed and impacted on others’ lives. Start making a change today, someday it might affect others more than it affected you.