Robert Woodson

Robert L. Woodson Sr. (born April 8, 1937) is an American civil rights activist, community development leader, author, and founder and president of the Woodson Center. The Woodson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and demonstration organization that supports neighborhood-based initiatives to revitalize low-income communities.[1]

For the American botanist, see Robert Everard Woodson. For the Canadian football defensive back, see Robert Woodson (Canadian football).
Robert Woodson
Personal details
Born (1937-04-08) April 8, 1937
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materCheyney University (BS)
University of Pennsylvania
(MSW)

In February 2020, Woodson launched the Center's 1776 Project campaign, to counter The 1619 Project.

Early life, family, and education

Woodson was born in Philadelphia. 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.  While in the Air Force he earned a G.E.D.. After leaving the Air Force he went on to graduate from Cheyney University in 1962 with a B.S in Mathematics and then from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965 with a Master of Social Work (MSW).[2]

In 1977 Woodson married Ellen Hylton, and together they have raised four children: Robert Woodson Jr, Jamal Woodson, Tanya Woodson Onestell, and Ralph Woodson.[2] On February 8, 2003, his son, Robert L. Woodson Jr., was killed in an automobile accident.[3] An award has been named for Woodson Jr. by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he had previously been employed.[4]

Civil rights activism

Robert Woodson has been actively involved in civil rights and community development since 1962.

Community development 1962-1968.

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. [2]

Unitarian Services Committee, social worker, Boston, MA, 1968-71.

After resigning from the NAACP, Woodson moved to Boston, where he spent three years as a social worker with the Unitarian Services Committee.[2]

National Urban League, Administration of Justice Division, director, New York City, 1971-73.

It was during this time that Woodson began to develop a strategy to reduce crime by strengthening community institutions that were closest to the problems of high-crime areas.[2][5]

American Enterprise Institute, 1974-1981.

Woodson continued to develop the idea of neighborhood empowerment during his time as director of the Neighborhood Revitalization Project in Washington, DC.  He then became an adjunct fellow providing technical support and advice to community groups.[2]

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 some government agency, Woodson's program seeks out families in these troubled neighborhoods that have prospered and persevered to learn from their success.[6]

Opposition to the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)

In 1973 Vernon Jordan, head of the Urban League, and Representative John Conyers, chair of the House subcommittee on crime in the Judiciary Committee, supported Woodson’s opposition to vesting more power to Justice agencies as a solution to crime; that a better solution was focusing on neighborhood empowerment.[5]

Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE)

In 1981 Woodson founded the CNE to promote “self-help” solutions in low income neighborhoods by promoting and supporting indigenous leaders in those neighborhoods.[6][7]

Violence free zones

The CNE created this program to reduce the level of violence in schools and help at-risk youth escape the life of violence and crime.[8][9]

Woodson Center

On November 15, 2016, the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise was rebranded as the Woodson Center as a tribute to Founder and President, Robert Woodson, Sr.[1]

"1776 Unites" campaign

In February 2020, The Woodson Center launched the 1776 Unites campaign, with the support of scholars, journalists, and entrepreneurs like Carol Swain, Glenn Loury, John Sibley Butler, Clarence Page, and Coleman Hughes, among others.[10] Woodson has stated that his central motivation in founding 1776 Unites was to counter the “lethal” narratives embedded in The 1619 Project.[11] "This garbage that is coming down from the scholars and writers from 1619 is most hypocritical because they don’t live in communities [that are] suffering," he said. In an interview with Fox News host Mark Levin, Woodson called The 1619 Project’s thesis “one of the most diabolical, self-destructive ideas that I’ve ever heard.”[11] He argued that the assumptions behind The 1619 Project are actually a form of “white supremacy” as they are predicated on black Americans having no agency and being incapable of overcoming adverse circumstances.[12]

Awards

Works
  • 'The Left Forgets What Martin Luther King Stood For', The Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2020
  • "Ganging Up for Good", The Washington Post, August 21, 2005
  • Youth Crime and Urban Policy, A View From the Inner City, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1981, ISBN 978-0-8447-2210-8
  • On the Road to Economic Freedom: An Agenda for Black Progress, Editor Robert L. Woodson, Regnery Gateway, 1987, ISBN 978-0-89526-578-4
  • A Summons to Life, Mediating Structures and the Prevention of Youth Crime, Ballinger Pub. Co., 1981, ISBN 978-0-88410-826-9
  • The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods, Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 978-0-684-82742-1
  • Black perspectives on crime and the criminal justice system: a symposium, editor Robert L. Woodson, G. K. Hall, 1977, ISBN 978-0-8161-8039-4

Honorary degrees
  • University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, Honorary Doctorate, 2012 (Doctor of Humane Letters)[18]
  • Colorado Christian University, Denver, CO, Honorary Doctorate, 2010 (Doctorate of Humanities)[19]
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References
  1. "Robert L. Woodson, Sr. - Woodson Center". Woodson Center. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  2. "Woodson, Robert L." Encyclopedia.com.
  3. Robert L. Woodson Jr., Community Group's Vice President, Dies, The Washington Post, February 11, 2003
  4. The Robert L. Woodson Jr. Award/
  5. "The Missed Opportunity of Robert Woodson". The Marshall Project.
  6. Frezza, Bill (May 9, 2014). "Paul Ryan Mentor Bob Woodson Slams War on Poverty". Forbes.
  7. Smither, William (October 13, 2015). "ROBERT L. WOODSON SR. (1937– )". BLACKPAST.
  8. "Milwaukee Violence Free Zone". Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
  9. Johnson, Byron; Wubbenhorst, William (April 2010). "Richmond Violence-Free Zone Initiative" (PDF). Baylor University.
  10. "New 1776 Initiative Aims to Counter 'Lethal' Narrative of 1619 Project". Washington Free Beacon. 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  11. March 16, Tim Hains On Date; 2020. "Bob Woodson: "1776 Project" Seeks To Improve Lives In Low-Income Communities". www.realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved 2020-07-28.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. Creitz, Charles (2020-03-06). "Civil rights activist Bob Woodson slams New York Times' 'diabolical' 1619 Project on 'Life, Liberty & Levin'". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  13. "MacArthur Fellows". MacArthur Foundation.
  14. "About the Bradley Prizes". The Bradley Prizes.
  15. "Robert L. Woodson, Sr". The Bradley Prizes.
  16. "The Manhattan Institute".
  17. "Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2008" (PDF). The Manhattan Institute.
  18. "UC News". University of Cincinnati.
  19. "Robert L. Woodson, Sr". Colorado Christian University.
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