Cedric Robinson

Cedric Robinson (November 5, 1940 – June 5, 2016) was a professor in the Department of Black Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He headed the Department of Black Studies and the Department of Political Science and served as the Director of the Center for Black Studies Research. Robinson's areas of interest included classical and modern political philosophy, radical social theory in the African diaspora, comparative politics, and the relationships between and among media and politics.

Robinson was born in Oakland, California, on November 5, 1940. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in social anthropology in 1963, and Stanford University, where he received an M.A. and Ph.D. in political theory in 1974.

He became a political activist during his student days, when he protested against the university administration and American foreign and domestic policies along with other Black radical students.

Robinson's grandfather influenced his radical political views. As a political radical in 1920s Alabama, his grandfather was ultimately forced to leave to save his life, and he decided to go to California. Robinson names Winston Whiteside, C. L. R. James, and Terrence Hopkins as other thinkers who have shaped his political outlook.

After leaving Berkeley, Robinson was drafted into the U.S. Army as well as worked at the Alameda County Probation Department. From 1971 to 1973, Cedric was a Lecturer in Political Science and Black Studies at the University of Michigan. In 1973, Cedric accepted his first tenure-track job at Binghamton University – State University of New York. In 1978, Robinson joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and became director of the Center for Black Studies Research.

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