Background
Robert was born and raised in Philadelphia.
Robert was born and raised in Philadelphia.
He joined the army and served in Europe when he came back from war he went to school at the University of California, Los Angeles this is where studied economics and also went for his undergraduate.
He currently teaches economics at Loyola Marymount University which he has been for twenty years. In 1964 received his Doctor of Philosophy then went on to teach at University of California, Los Angeles for a few years.
Robert began his activism at University of California, Los Angeles when he ran for president of their chapter for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During his time on campus he became inspired by the speakers that would come including James Farmer, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and Langston Hughes that helped him realize the injustices in America.
He first joined the sit ins where he meet other activists and helped them organized events where they would find food, clothing, getting sharecroppers to vote, and organize the freedom riders to Jackson, Mississippi. When he returned the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had been kicked out of the school, so it was replaced with a Congress of Racial Equality group which he was chair of.
The south ignored the ruling that the United States Supreme Court made about public transportation not being segregated because it was unconstitutional. The conditions in the prison they face was harsh they were put in maximum security, separated from each other, and were placed next to the gas chambers.
“Three months after the freedom rides they were to desegregate public transportation.
Robert and Helen Singleton were one of the few couples to be part of the rides.