If you want to get an idea as to how much pride A’s second baseman Tony Kemp takes in getting to play on Jackie Robinson Day, let’s take a trip back to his middle school days in Tennessee.

Assigned a project to highlight a person of importance in the sixth grade, a 12-year-old Kemp chose Jackie Robinson as his subject. And he went all out.

Kemp showed up to class on the day of his presentation wearing his travel ball uniform, attaching duct tape to the back of his jersey and writing the name "Robinson" with a marker. It was during the process of working on this project that Kemp realized the impact Robinson had on the game of baseball.

Now 28 and in his fifth Major League season, Kemp has had multiple opportunities to don the No. 42 jersey. You would think he’s used to it by now, but the sense of pride he gets from wearing it was just as high as it has ever been on Friday night, when the A’s and Astros took the field at Minute Maid Park in full uniform for the national anthem and a tribute that included 42 seconds of silence for Robinson before walking off the field just before first pitch. The game was postponed and will be made up Saturday as part of a doubleheader, with the first of two seven-inning games beginning at 1:10 p.m. PT. The teams will wear No. 42 for Game 1 on Saturday.

“This runs back to when I was 12 years old and I realized in my class project how big and how monumental Jackie Robinson meant to the game of baseball and what he did,” Kemp said. “Even what he played through. Every time I put on that No. 42 or hear the name Jackie Robinson, it gives me chills. It gives me a certain feeling in my heart that I really can’t explain. I wouldn’t be able to play this game that I love without him.”

The significance of Jackie Robinson Day has only grown in a time when systemic racism is dominating the national conversation. The A’s were at the forefront of the battle against racial and social injustice on Thursday, deciding to sit out their game against the Rangers in an effort to add their voices to the national protest over Sunday's shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis.

For Kemp, the decision not to play Thursday followed in the footsteps of Robinson.

“I told the guys, ‘Look, we’re all activists, whether you like it or not.’ We made a stance,” Kemp said. “I saw Jackie Robinson’s daughter saying he would be proud to see what we were doing. That’s what it’s all about. Giving people hope that these issues can end and we can be better as a nation.”

Major League Baseball chose to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on Aug. 28 for two reasons. It’s the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, which the Robinson family attended, and it also is the date in 1945 when Robinson and Branch Rickey met to discuss his future as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In conjunction with the celebration, MLB announced a partnership extension with the JRF Scholarship Program, the Jackie Robinson Museum and the annual JRF ROBIE Awards. The extension is through 2023 and includes a $3.5 million commitment on behalf of MLB.

On Thursday, members of the Players Alliance, a group of more than 100 Black current and former professional baseball players united to create increased opportunities for the Black community in every aspect of baseball, announced that they are donating their salaries from Thursday and Friday (Jackie Robinson Day) in order to “combat racial inequality and aid Black families and communities deeply affected in the wake of recent events.”

The opportunity to donate is not limited solely to members of the Players Alliance, as Kemp said all players were given access to a form so they can donate their salaries or a flat rate.

While specific organizations and communities will be announced after the funds are collected, Kemp said he would like his money to go to the community of Oakland.

“We’re going to figure out numerous communities that we want to target to put the money towards, whether it be Oakland or a different city,” Kemp said. “I’m feeling most of it will be donated to Oakland.”

A’s shortstop Marcus Semien, also a member of the Players Alliance and a Bay Area native, would like to see the money go into programs related to better integrating the police into the community of Oakland.

"For me, I think it should be related to the integration of the police in the community of Oakland through mentorship programs,” Semien said. “Growing up in Richmond, Calif., they had the Richmond Police Athletic League where you have a police officer as the coach of a bunch of inner-city kids. Things like that need to be revisited. We need to dig deeper, and hopefully the funds we raise can help that cause."