<\/p>\n
Photo of Rochelle Robinson<\/p>\n
On the day she won her hard-fought battle to be the first woman and the first African American elected mayor of Douglasville, Ga., Rochelle Robinson felt a connection to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.
\nHer victory came on Dec. 1, 2015, the 60th anniversary of Parks\u2019 history-making refusal to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus. \u201cI cried when I realized the significance of that day,\u201d Robinson recalled, \u201cand I knew that I was standing on Rosa Parks\u2019 shoulders. What a legacy!\u201d
\nShe took office a month later as mayor of the fast-growing bedroom community near Atlanta, population 35,000. Beating out an incumbent mayor with 62 percent of the vote was especially sweet for Robinson because she narrowly lost her first attempt to win the seat in 2011.
\nThe former Rochelle Martin grew up on Youngstown\u2019s South Side and enrolled at YSU in the early \u201880s with plans to become a nurse. Later, she changed her major to Communication and planned a broadcasting career with two classmates \u2013 Madonna Chism Pinkard, now communications director for WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, and Sharon North, a public relations manager for the city of Richmond, Va.
\nBut the Central Intelligence Agency had other plans for Robinson. She was a senior and an Ohio Army National Guard veteran attending college on the GI Bill when she met CIA recruiters at a university job fair. A YSU cheerleader, longtime runner and gymnast, Robinson was well equipped for the physical rigors of CIA training, and she already had military security clearance.
\nSoon after, in 1986, she accepted a commission as a federal law enforcement officer, trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and began an eight-year run with the CIA. Based in Washington, D.C., she traveled the world \u2013 including some time in Helsinki, Sweden, the one location she\u2019s permitted to mention. She lived under an assumed name and was often out of contact with friends and family for months at a time. \u201cI did some VIP security, that\u2019s all I\u2019m free to say,\u201d she said.
\nAll that changed in 1994 when Robinson visited a church in Atlanta to attend the christening of a friend\u2019s infant and met a young pastor there. A year later, she moved to Georgia, left the CIA and married the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Jeff Robinson.
\nFollowing the example her mother had set for her while growing up in Youngstown, Robinson became involved as a volunteer in Douglasville, her new city of residence, joining numerous community boards and committees and eventually winning election to city council.
\n\u201cI would say that it is phenomenal for me to be the first African American woman to be mayor, but it happened organically,\u201d she said, explaining how years of community service helped her to develop wide-ranging support and recognition.
\nIn her first nine months in office she helped fund a decorative street lighting program to beautify the downtown and advanced collaboration by combining the city and county community development offices. She met with city council members to insist that they stop bickering at public sessions and treat each other with respect \u2013 and so far, it\u2019s working. \u2018One council member asked me: \u2018Are you the mama?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWell I guess I am.\u201d
\nIn addition to her mayoral duties, Robinson and her husband have three children, all in their teens. Also an ordained minister, she co-pastors a church with him in nearby Rex, Ga.
\n(Previously published in YSU Magazine, Fall 2016.)
\nThe former Rochelle Martin grew up on Youngstown\u2019s South Side and enrolled at YSU in the early 1980s with plans to become a nurse. Later, she changed her major to Communication and planned a broadcasting career with two classmates \u2013 Madonna Chism Pinkard, now communications director for WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, and Sharon North, a public relations manager for the city of Richmond, Va.
\nBut the Central Intelligence Agency had other plans for Robinson. She was a senior and an Ohio Army National Guard veteran attending college on the GI Bill when she met CIA recruiters at a university job fair. A YSU cheerleader, longtime runner and gymnast, Robinson was well equipped for the physical rigors of CIA training, and she already had military security clearance.
\nSoon after, in 1986, she accepted a commission as a federal law enforcement officer, trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and began an eight-year run with the CIA. Based in Washington, D.C., she traveled the world \u2013 including some time in Helsinki, Sweden, the one location she\u2019s permitted to mention. She lived under an assumed name and was often out of contact with friends and family for months at a time.
\nAll that changed in 1994 when Robinson visited a church in Atlanta to attend the christening of a friend\u2019s infant and met a young pastor there. A year later, she moved to Georgia, left the CIA and married the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Jeff Robinson. Following the example her mother had set for her while growing up in Youngstown, Robinson became involved as a volunteer in Douglasville, her new city of residence, joining numerous community boards and committees and eventually winning election to city council. She was elected mayor in December 2015.
\nIn addition to her mayoral duties, Robinson and her husband have three children, all in their teens. Also an ordained minister, she co-pastors a church with him in nearby Rex, Ga.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo of Rochelle Robinson On the day she won her hard-fought battle to be the first woman and the first African American elected mayor of Douglasville, Ga., Rochelle Robinson felt a connection to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Her victory came on Dec. 1, 2015, the 60th anniversary of Parks\u2019 history-making refusal to give up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-261","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n