Former White Sox player to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day with high school athletes

CHICAGO (WLS) -- When the Chicago White Sox take the field on Tuesday, they will all be wearing number 42 for Jackie Robinson Day.

But they will be joined by high school players from Amateur City Elite, who the Sox sponsor. And for them, Jackie Robinson has an even more special meaning.

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Micah Johnson played several seasons as a second baseman for the White Sox before embarking on a second career as an artist. He has been a big success at both, making him an ideal role model for kids in the White Sox ACE program, which consists of Chicago-area high school student athletes.

"My whole platform is about empowering kids to chase their dreams. And the White Sox allowed me to chase mine," Johnson said.

A year ago, Johnson helped students design a t-shirt for Juneteenth. This year, he is helping design a patch they will wear on their uniforms.

"We'll be in town tomorrow, meeting with many of the students," said Josiah Patterson with the ACE Program. "He was amazing. Giving you insight on his career and stuff, like how he failed and stuff."

Johnson says it is important to talk about not only his successes, but failures in life. His words carry a lot of weight.

"Him being a professional artist now, a former baseball player, that made that experience great for them, because they identify with him," said ACE Director Troy Williams.

Williams says Johnson was a great baseball player, but his work giving back in the community is having a greater impact. Johnson will meet with a group of players before Tuesday's Sox game to talk about the patch they are designing.

For his part, Johnson says taking part in Jackie Robinson Day with the team that drafted him as a young baseball player is special. And it helps him to spread the lesson, he says, he learned from Jackie Robinson to younger generations: That anything is possible.

"The likelihood of Jackie Robinson playing Major League Baseball at that time did not seem real. But it ended up happening. If that can happen, anything can happen," Johnson said.

Johnson plans to watch the game with many of the kids and plans to share his experiences both in the baseball and art worlds.