Richmond’s Randall Robinson reshaped American’s foreign policy, forced change in South Africa

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Seared by the segregation he grew up with in Richmond, Randall Maurice Robinson championed change in American policies toward African and the Caribbean nations that he considered unjust and undergirded by racial bias.

Artist, author, educator and lawyer, Mr. Robinson was best known for his leadership in the successful fight in the 1980s to end U.S. support for the harsh regime of racial oppression in South Africa known as apartheid – ultimately leading to Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and election as that country’s president.

Reviving the tactics of the Civil Rights