Colonel John Charles Robinson was an American of African descent, a descendant of the enslaved Africans who were taken captive to America. He was recruited to defend Ethiopia against the invading forces of Benito Mussolini. He was not the only African descendant to support Ethiopia. Robinson was part of a generation that responded to the invitation before the war to help modernize Ethiopia. Benito Mussolini was an ally of Adolf Hitler and part of the international Axis Powers. Mussolini’s motivation was to punish Ethiopians for their 1896 Adwa victory and to create a colony for Italy. Robinson’s thoughts were to help keep Ethiopia forever free and to never become a colony as other African countries.
Born in Mississippi in 1903 Robinson graduated from the famous Tuskegee Institute in 1924. Robinson lived in a racially segregated America—a system of life like apartheid. He received his pilot’s license under extreme odds in 1927. In 1930 the world witnessed the coronation of Haile Selassie as the new emperor of Ethiopia. This inspired millions of African descendants around the world for a new future for Africa. During the war years he flew reconnaissance, and was also the personal pilot to Emperor Haile Selassie. He witnessed and reported the enemy’s use of mustard gas and other atrocities. He served in the war in 1935 until 1944. Although leaving Ethiopia in 1936 he was part of public appearances to bring attention to the situation in Ethiopia which he felt was being ignored. He later returned to Ethiopia to train pilots for the new air force in 1946. Unfortunately, he died from injuries in a plane crash flying a medical mission in 1954. He is buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Gulele in Addis Ababa.
Honored in death in 2015 the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia dedicated their reading garden to Colonel Robinson. As seen in Ghana in 2019, called the Year of Return, the new generation of African descendants are traveling to African countries not only for vacations and holidays, but education, investment and relocation. In their return they are seeking to recollect their heritage and roots through genealogy documents, DNA tests, film, oral histories and more. Robinson becomes of great interest to those traveling to Ethiopia and Africa in the 21st century, because in him they see an extraordinary African connection, and a shining example of bravery, heroism and Pan Africanism.
Johnny L. Coleman II
Founder & Chief Anthropologist
Anthro21
Web: www.anthro21.com
