Longtime state representative fought tirelessly for racial justice
If racial injustice were a wound, William Russell Robinson was the surgeon committed to healing it.
The longtime representative of the Hill District and Pittsburgh’s eastern neighborhoods in the state House, Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council “was into the struggle until the end,” said his longtime friend, Tim Stevens, Chairman and CEO of The Black Political Empowerment Project.
“I always felt Bill Robinson was on the right side of the issues for the African American community, and he was always committed to the cause of justice, serving the community and doing the right thing,” he said.
Mr. Robinson, 78, of the Hill District, died in his sleep last Tuesday.
For decades, he took up the mantle of civil and minority rights, Mr. Stevens said.
“Early in my days as Pittsburgh NAACP president, around 1994, the two of us were in my office alone, and Bill said, ‘Tim, during my years of service, the issue that always comes up with black people is police brutality. It never goes away,’” Mr. Stevens recalled. “I always remembered that. It was unusual to hear that from a politician. I think if he were alive now, he’d be proud that this is the moment that change is happening.”
Mr. Robinson grew up in the Hill in a politically conscious family, said his daughter Nyota Robinson, also of the Hill.
“Our whole family was actively involved in politics, and that influenced him to go into politics and become more socially active,” she said. “He was a very industrious person at a young age; he had a paper route, and he was a hard worker.”
A standout on the Schenley High School track team, Mr. Robinson was awarded a track scholarship to Ohio State University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1964. He went on to earn a master’s degree in political science from Duquesne University in 1972.
Mr. Robinson received more than just an education at Ohio State. He adopted the state flower — the scarlet carnation — as his signature boutonniere.
“He wanted to stand out and make sure people never forgot who he was while he was campaigning,” said his daughter, who said Leon’s Floral in the Hill and other area florists often kept them in stock for her father. “He didn’t want to be like everyone else, with a rose in his lapel.”
“He was always a gregarious person, and anytime I saw him, he had a red carnation in his lapel,” Mr. Stevens said. “It was kind of a branding. If he didn’t have one on, it didn’t seem right; that was his thing.”
Her father loved flowers in general, Ms. Robinson remembered, and even sometimes surprised her with bouquets at school.
“He was very good at gifting; he always knew what to buy you,” she said.
From 1978 to 1985, Mr. Robinson, a Democrat, served on city council. He was elected to the state House in 1989, representing the 19th Legislative District until 2003, when he was elected to represent District 10 on the county council. He retired in 2015.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he was sorry to hear of Mr. Robinson’s passing.
“I had the pleasure of serving on county council for eight years with Bill and worked on many groundbreaking initiatives with him, including a countywide smoking ban, creation of a county Human Relations Commission, row office consolidation and many others,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement. “It was important work as this county transitioned from the commissioner form of government to an executive and council body form of government. My condolences go out to the Robinson family and their friends on this loss.”
Current council members also released a joint statement about Mr. Robinson last week.
“Bill served as a fundamental member of Allegheny County Council for 12 years; dedicated to serving the residents of District 10. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time and we wish to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences,” read the statement.
Bill Neal said his youth foundation might never have flourished as it did if not for Mr. Robinson.
“In 1979, Mr. Robinson was the first politician to connect with me; he thought what we were doing at the time was quite progressive,” said Mr. Neal, who founded Achieving Greatness, Inc., a nonprofit agency that sponsors dozens of summer programs and athletic clinics for local youth.
“He thought so much of it that he took me to city council and the mayor’s office and literally got us into the city budget,” he said. “And we’re still involved, and we’re still providing services for kids. People like him were old-school pillars of the community. He was a great man, and this is a great loss. He was irreplaceable.”
A longtime adjunct professor of history and political science at Carlow University and Duquesne, Mr. Robinson also taught and served for many years on the board of trustees at the Community College of Allegheny County.
He was also a jazz aficionado who hosted radio and television programs, his daughter said.
“There is a listening room dedicated in his honor at Pitt,” she said. “And he hosted the Pitt Jazz Festival for years.”
Her father often took her to museums, Ms. Robinson said, and he supported beautification programs that included incorporating artwork into common spaces.
“He was a big lover of cultural arts, music and plays,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know the things he did. The city is a better place because he was here. He was very tender and thoughtful under all that bravado.”
And, she said, “he wasn’t afraid to mix it up,” including the time he lectured Rick James about his on-stage marijuana use during one of the late singer’s visits to Pittsburgh.
Mr. Robinson was perhaps most proud of his work in ensuring minority contractors were given equal opportunities in the constructions of Heinz Field, PNC Park and other large projects, his daughter said.
“He was very, very serious about making sure that people of color would be hired at the same rate as other contractors,” she said.
Throughout his life, her father had an irrepressible urge to right the wrongs he saw, Ms. Robinson said.
“He told me that he sometimes felt this rod in his body that would stand up inside him if he saw an injustice, and he just had to speak out and do something,” she said. “He would pick a side, and even if he had to stand alone and he caught heat for it, he didn’t care.”
Along with his daughter, Mr. Robinson is survived by his 101-year-old mother, Annie L. Kemp Robinson, and his son, William R. Robinson II, both of the Hill District.
Funeral services will be announced at a later date.