Biography
Aida McCray Robinson was a 20-year-old student at Golden Gate College when she fell in love with Allen Sims while working in a bookstore. Their son, Atiba, was born in August 1971. Sims convinced Robinson to fly with him and the baby to Los Angeles. As the flight prepared to land, Sims whispered in Robinson's ear, "When I get up you have to watch the other one; otherwise, we're all gonna crash." He then retrieved a sawed-off shotgun that he had hidden in Atiba's cradle and jammed it in a stewardess's nose. Robinson then took a pistol from the cradle and pointed it at the other stewardess. The couple demanded to be flown to "Africa," but was informed that the plane didn't have the range necessary to make the transatlantic trip. They instead settled for a trip to Cuba, with a refueling stop in Tampa.
The couple moved to Jamaica in 1973, and Robinson secretly returned to the U.S. with Atiba and another child in 1975. She switched her last name to McCray, moved to Sacramento, became a clerical worker, and had three more children with a new boyfriend. Police arrested Robinson while following up a routine request to check in on her three children at her house. Robinson was sentenced to 20 years in prison, despite her stated regrets about the hijacking.
She was released in 1995, and went on to found Families with a Future, an organization dedicated to helping the children of incarcerated mothers. She received the Violence Prevention award in 1999 from the California Wellness Foundation. She graduated from San Francisco State University and is currently working on family reunification and parenting at the SF County jails.
New Afrikan woman political prisoner held in federal custody at FCI Dublin in California, BOP #03323-097. Listed as a North American political prisoner in PFOC Breakthrough magazine during the 1980s and 1990s. Documented in PFOC Breakthrough magazine.
