Rose Robinson

CNN recently published an article on Eroseana “Rose” Robinson.  Her story is rarely discussed in classrooms and has been overlooked for years.  She was a great athlete and a track and field star.  In 1958, Robinson was invited to compete against the Soviet Union, when the Cold War was in full swing.  She didn’t want her athletic skills to represent the government that supported segregation and the war against Communism.  As a result, she declined the offer.  A half a year later she was brought up on tax evasion charges.  Rather than paying the $380 fine and leaving prison, she decided to stay in jail and begin a hunger strike. When newspapers began reporting on her hunger strike she was immediately released. Long before Colin Kaepernick there was Rose Robinson. She never returned to sports following the hunger strike in jail from which she never fully recovered.