Robin Gregory

Robin Gregory grew up in segregated Washington, DC and attended public schools in the city. She recalls a family upbringing filled with intellectual curiosity, big personalities, and an all-enveloping love. She went on to attend Howard University, a school closely tied to her family, where she was involved with political activism and was the first Homecoming Queen to sport a natural hairdo. She majored in Fine Arts While in college and was deeply involved in the planning of the March on Washington in 1963, meeting Bayard Rustin, A. Phillip Randolph, and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, including Marion Barry.

She was an important part of the developing Black Power movement in Washington, DC, working closely with Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and others on community development and organization.

After moving to California in 1969 and starting a family, Gregory worked in public education and continued her concern with racial uplift, getting to know members of the Black Panthers and other groups seeking black uplift and equality. She also became involved in meditation, joining a group who traveled to Ethiopia to train under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a transcendental meditation teacher. She has two daughters, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.