First Interview with Shannon Robinson: Social Justice Series

Description

Shannon Robinson talks about attending grade school in Gunnison, Colorado, where she was largely shunned or bullied by white students as the first African-American student to attend her elementary school. She speaks about living in Aurora, Colorado, where she made friends with other Black children, but also experienced bullying from children of all ethnic backgrounds because of her mixed race. She discusses getting to know other members of her African American family, including her father. She recalls dropping out of school at fourteen and beginning work, discovering the hardcore punk scene, riding Vespas with SHARPs (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice), squatting in the attic of an old Victorian, and her involvement in the nascent rave scene. She tells the story of her mom’s pioneering Western Slope family, her mother’s interracial relationship with the man who ultimately became Miss Robinson’s father, prejudice they faced in Grand Junction, and her mom’s subsequent involvement in the Rainbow Coalition. The interview was conducted on behalf of the Social Justice Archive in the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries, the Museums of Western Colorado, and Black Citizens and Friends.