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Cleveland
Robinson (deceased)
President
District 65 Distributive Workers of America
Cleveland Lowellyn Robinson "Cleve" was reverently spoken of
as the historian of CBTU. His direct participation in all the major labor
organizations, civil rights struggles and human rights campaigns during
the last half of the 20th century made his voice the authority in any
discussion. He was a former advisor on labor to the Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr., and was the administrative chairman of the historic 1963 March
on Washington. This militant Jamaican-born labor leader was a gifted speaker
and organizer, who served as vice president and
then president of the Negro American Labor Council, the forerunner of
CBTU. That body took up the struggle to get minority representation in
the leadership of the AFL-CIO and its affiliates. Robinson was the first
elected 1st vice president of CBTU. Throughout the years, Robinson was
a relentless opponent of apartheid in South Africa. In 1990, he was co-chairman
of the official visit of Nelson Mandela to New York. He led District 65
and its 30,000 members for 40 years, until his retirement in 1992. He
died in August, 1995, but his indomitable spirit is alive.
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