Robert Leon Woodson Sr.
(born April 8, 1937) is an American civil rights activist,
community development
The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activist ...
leader, author, and founder and president of the Woodson Center, a non-profit research and demonstration organization that supports neighborhood-based initiatives to revitalize low-income communities.
In February 2020, Woodson launched the center's 1776 Unites campaign to counter
The 1619 Project.
Early life, family, and education
Woodson was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. His father died soon after and Woodson and his four siblings were raised by his mother. In 1954 he dropped out of high school to join the
Air Force
An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...
. While in the Air Force he passed the
GED tests. After leaving the Air Force he went on to graduate from
Cheyney University in 1962 with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
Mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
and then from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
in 1965 with a
Master of Social Work.
In 1977 Woodson married Ellen Hylton, and together they have raised four children: Robert Woodson Jr., Jamal Woodson, Tanya Woodson-Monestel, and Ralph Woodson.
On February 8, 2003, his son, Robert L. Woodson Jr., was killed in an automobile accident.
[Robert L. Woodson Jr., Community Group's Vice President, Dies](_blank)
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', February 11, 2003 An award has been named for Woodson Jr. by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
, where he had previously been employed.
Civil rights activism
Robert Woodson has been actively involved in civil rights and community development since 1962. While completing his graduate work, Woodson became actively involved in the
civil rights movement, directing and coordinating community development programs for a number of local and national organizations, including the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
.
After resigning from the NAACP, Woodson moved to Boston, where he spent three years as a social worker with the
Unitarian Services Committee.
As a director of the
National Urban League, Woodson began to develop a strategy to reduce crime by strengthening community institutions that were closest to the problems of high-crime areas.
Woodson continued to develop the idea of neighborhood empowerment during his time as director of the
American Enterprise Institute's Neighborhood Revitalization Project in Washington, DC. He then became an adjunct fellow providing technical support and advice to community groups.
Neighborhood empowerment movement
Woodson's strategy of neighborhood empowerment is to seek solutions to the problems of low-income communities among what he calls the social entrepreneurs that are indigenous to these communities. Rather than a poverty program directed by a government agency, Woodson's program seeks out families in these troubled neighborhoods that have prospered and persevered to learn from their success.
In 1973
Vernon Jordan, head of the Urban League, and Representative
John Conyers, chair of the U.S. House subcommittee on crime in the
Judiciary Committee, supported Woodson's opposition to vesting more power to Justice agencies as a solution to crime, and a better solution was focusing on neighborhood empowerment.
In 1981 Woodson founded the CNE (now the Woodson Center) to promote "self-help" solutions in low income neighborhoods by promoting and supporting indigenous leaders in those neighborhoods.
The CNE created the
Violence-Free Zones program to reduce the level of violence in schools and help at-risk youth escape the life of violence and crime. On November 15, 2016, the CNE was rebranded as the Woodson Center as a tribute to Founder and President, Robert Woodson Sr.
Awards
* 1990
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...
MacArthur "Genius" award
* 2008
Bradley Prize
* 2008
Presidential Citizens Medal
The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the president of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on N ...
* 2008 Social Entrepreneurship Award from the
Manhattan Institute
Works (selection)
"Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers" Robert L. Woodson Sr. (editor, essays by twenty authors), Emancipation Books, May 18, 2021
*
*
* ''Youth Crime and Urban Policy, A View From the Inner City'', American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1981,
* ''On the Road to Economic Freedom: An Agenda for Black Progress,'' Editor Robert L. Woodson, Regnery Gateway, 1987,
* ''A Summons to Life, Mediating Structures and the Prevention of Youth Crime'', Ballinger Pub. Co., 1981,
''The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today's Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods'' Simon and Schuster, 1998,
* ''Black Perspectives on Crime and the Criminal Justice System: A Symposium'', editor Robert L. Woodson, G. K. Hall, 1977,
Honorary degrees
* University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, Honorary Doctorate, 2012 (Doctor of Humane Letters)
* Colorado Christian University, Denver, CO, Honorary Doctorate, 2010 (Doctorate of Humanities)
References
External links
Woodson Center1776 Unites*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodson, Robert
1937 births
Activists from Philadelphia
American Enterprise Institute
American social workers
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania alumni
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
Pennsylvania independents
Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
United States Air Force airmen
University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice alumni