Biography
Ray Robinson Jr. participated in the integrated CNVA peace walk and was jailed in Albany, Georgia, in December 1963.
Photo: Courtesy Cheryl Buswell-Robinson, via South Dakota News Watch, 2025; family photograph dated 1971. Original-image crop; identified by the source (adult at center with daughter Desiree and son Deeter). Source: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/ray-robinson-wounded-knee-aim-aquash-pine-ridge/ . Non-free image used under the site's educational/memorial rationale; no permission or open-license claim.
According to a contemporary report in The Militant, before the Albany imprisonment this participant was arrested during the same peace walk in Griffin, Georgia, on November 9, 1963. Ray Robinson Jr., a 29-year-old former prizefighter from Washington, was repeatedly shocked while officers held him down in the jail. The contemporary report states that the entire group was released later that day after obtaining permission to continue the walk.
The Militant individually identifies this participant in the integrated Quebec–Washington–Guantanamo peace walk among those arrested and taken to jail in Griffin, Georgia on November 9, 1963. Its account alleges police use of electric cattle prods against walkers and reports the group’s release after negotiations over permission to continue. It does not establish a complete individual custody duration. The separate November 19 Macon arrests are a collective report and are not assigned to every Griffin participant. The Militant, November 25, 1963, vol.27 no.42, original PDF page 3. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1963/2742/MIL2742.pdf#page=3
The contemporary CNVA bulletin individually names this walker among those arrested December 23, 1963 and reports confinement at Albany City Jail. This adds the jail location without changing the existing custody dates.
According to a contemporary report in The Militant, before the Albany imprisonment this participant was arrested during the same peace walk in Griffin, Georgia, on November 9, 1963. Ray Robinson Jr., a 29-year-old former prizefighter from Washington, was repeatedly shocked while officers held him down in the jail. The contemporary report states that the entire group was released later that day after obtaining permission to continue the walk.
Tom Cornell’s February 1964 Catholic Worker account, page 2, individually identifies Ray Robinson Jr. as having fasted for the entire 24 days of the walkers’ previous Albany imprisonment. It also identifies him among the walkers arrested again January 27. The literal 24-day completed earlier stay is recorded separately from the renewed detention; no collective release day or new hospital discharge is assigned to him. Source.
