Robinson, Randall

Robinson, Randall

(1946–  ) lawyer, lobbyist; born in Richmond, Va. He attended Virginia Union University and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1970. Going to Washington, D.C., he served as the administrative assistant to several U.S. representatives and was awarded a Ford Fellowship. In 1986 he became executive director of TransAfrica, a Washington-based organization (founded 1977) dedicated to protecting and advancing the political, social, and human rights of people of African descent throughout the world, whether through publications and meetings, overt public and political pressure, or behind-the-scenes lobbying. Robinson was most visible in calling for maintaining a boycott of South Africa until black Africans really got their rights.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.