His Family...

I was born March 23, 1947, in a hospital (Lynn of Jordan) that was considered the only “negro” hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas. I grew up in the country in an area called “Longley settlement.” At the time, in the 1950s, it was my parents and 6 children. We had chickens and hogs that we killed, cooked and ate. We had an outhouse where we used the restroom. Occasionally, we used to go to a spring to get water to wash clothes. We didn’t have a television. We listened to radio programs. We listened to the Westerns a lot on the radio. We played like we were in the Westerns. We would get sticks and form them like pistols.

My mom was a beautiful woman who took care of her kids. My dad was a hard-working man who worked in slaughter and meat houses. He was a good provider, though he might have only been making 50-70 dollars a week. We always had food to eat. Our gas or lights may have been turned off a few times, but we always had meat to eat.

When we moved from the country, we moved uptown to the city. This is when my mom got pregnant again (7^th child). I was 13 years old at the time.

I am the oldest of 7 children. Growing up, as the oldest, my parents often left me in charge. My brothers and sisters (mostly the two closest to my age) didn’t always like me being in charge, since they felt they were close to my age.

As we have matured, I believe my brothers and sisters still see me as the one who can handle or take charge of things that need to be taken care of.

My father and mother were both Christians, but my mom went to an AME church and my dad went to a Baptist church. I mostly went to the Baptist church, but would also go to the AME church. My dad became a deacon at the Baptist church, and he was one of the younger deacons. I watched him change, as he used less “colorful” words around us. The kids would say to each other, “daddy has changed! He’s not using those bad words anymore!”

[All in all] We were a loving family. Though we were poor, we didn’t know it…

His Wife...

I met my wife (Connie) at church. In around 1977, she started to attend my church (Longley Baptist Church). After she joined the church, I asked her would she teach Vacation Bible School. She agreed and I told her I would bring the materials to her apartment. So when I went to take her the materials, she invited me into her apartment to sit down. We started talking and she brought me some Kool-Aid to drink. I dropped the Kool-Aid on the floor and broke the glass….

I told one of my friends about her who encouraged me to ask her on a date…I called her and asked her out on a date and she agreed…

She told me she took tennis lessons and we set up a date to play tennis…I played her and beat her…

We started to date more often…I started going to visit her place and we started going out…

We became very fond of each other…we started spending more and more time with each other…we had several things in common…I would call her long distance when I would travel (didn’t have cell phones back then)…

The first Christmas, I bought her a watch…I liked to play games with her…so I gifted a toy watch…she was still thankful…I then gave her the real watch…

After dating her for a while, she wondered if I was going to marry her…I spent time with the Lord, praying, try to understand some things…[We had been dating about a year or more]…I came to the conclusion that I was in love with her…I talked to my parents about her who relayed that it was my decision…

I went and bought a ring…and on a Saturday evening, I asked her would she marry me…she said yes…I played with her again and gave her a toy ring…but then gave her the real ring…she called her mother, excited with the news…

That Sunday when we got to church, she was walking around church “showing off” her ring…she let people know we were engaged…everybody seemed thrill…

We planned the wedding and decided to have the wedding at Harris Temple Baptist Church…I talked to my Uncle (the pastor), who agreed…

We picked the date, July 7, 1979 to be our wedding date. [some of what seemed to be our confirmations for this ddate seemed to be: we both were the oldest; we both came from a family of 7; we both had mother’s named Dorothy; and in the future, ironically, when we had kids, both of our kids birthdays had the number 7 in them.]

I lived with my parents, though she had an apartment. But as a man, I felt it was my duty to provide for her. So I went and got an apartment for us to live in. I continued to stay with my parents until after we got married, while she stayed in the apartment….

Throughout our marriage, we didn’t have many arguments or falling outs…[she is my best friend; we have been married over 36 years]…

His Kids...

His Daughter…

On February 7, 1981, we had our first baby. Her mother was so excited. At that time, I wasn’t in the room to see the baby and had to be called in later to see her after my wife had given birth. We previously decided to name her Jenelle Nicole Robinson. I had planned to spell her name Janelle, but her mother spelled it Jenelle. I wanted to change it, but I didn’t.

When I saw her…I just stayed there looking at her….

Finally we were able to bring her home and everything was different because we now had a baby waking us up at night. She grew…and was an important part of our life…

As she started growing up, Jenelle and I became buddies. I carried her around with me a lot….

A few unfortunate episodes happened while Jenelle was a child. We had to take her to the doctor to get her arm put back in place…we use to swing her around by her arms, which is what was popping her arm out of place…after multiple times of this happening, the doctor told us to stop swinging her around by her arms.

There was another issue with Jenelle…she had recurring ear infections. She had to get tubes put in her ears. When they picked her up, she yelled and cried, “daddy, don’t let them take me daddy!!!” I was crying and my wife called me a big baby…

The first time I gave her a whooping (when she was a little child), I had to go outdoors and cry. My wife made fun of me for crying.

When I would go speak (ministry related) at different places, Jenelle went with me a lot. She didn’t go with her mother a lot, but with me when I would go places and share the Word of God. I believe it did have an impact on her knowledge and skill in the Word of God.

When Jenelle was older (junior high and high school), I saw her as a very smart student. She was a straight A student for the most part. She was pretty active in church….but as she grew up, she tried to express her own independence and we would get angry with each other. She [often] tried to challenge my authority. We had our share of arguments….[we grew closer as she got older…]

His Son…

My son was born December 27, 1983. He was born in Baptist hospital on a cold and dreary day. I was in the room for his birth (I was not for my daughter’s). My son was “naturally” born. There were no drugs used (like with my daughter). When he came out, there was all this “matter” all over him. They started wiping all that stuff off, and I thought, “I thought this was a boy, but all this wiping off of this matter, they might wipe off what I thought showed me he was a little boy!” After they cleaned him up, I saw that he was a little boy.

Once we got home, I showed my daughter the baby, but when she saw the baby crying, she said, “daddy, that baby wants its mommy and daddy!” I had to explain to her who his “mommy and daddy” was.

As he started growing, we eventually put him in a daycare with his sister. The daycare people said that “Jenelle would just sit at the daycare all day watching to make sure nobody was doing anything to her brother.”

As Kelvin grew, he used to ask me, “daddy, are we buddies?” I would tell him, “yes son, we are buddies.”

One time, we went to Wild River Country, and Kelvin got stuck in a tube…he was about 7 or 8 years old…I can’t swim, but I had to go down the tube to try to get him out…

Kelvin was very argumentative…as well, he liked to tussle with me….I would always show him that he was “not quite there yet” as I would overcome him in wrestling…

As Kelvin went through school, he was a very smart kid. But when he got to the 6^th grade and on, he seems to back off on making good grades…I think it was because he was trying to be cool based on the other guys around him…. But Kelvin had an excellent memory as he grew up…though he wouldn’t always do well on tests, if he had a good teacher, he could do well on the test simply from memory…

In the 9^th grade, he became a baseball player for Parkview (though he was in junior high)…later he playing baseball at J.A. Fair where he did pretty well…he played outside of school in the summers as well…on one occasion, he got hit in the head with a baseball….as time progressed, he started having seizures…we went to the doctor who suggested medications…we went to get a second opinion and in the time between that first and second opinion, he died…

His Sport (Basketball)...

As a little boy, living in the country, we didn’t know much about basketball…instead, we played hardball (baseball). When we moved to the city when I was in the 6^th grade, I played on a softball team. I thought I was really good until I saw boys who played better than me. Then I got to junior high school and got introduced to playing basketball. I enjoyed playing it, and when I got in the 10^th grade, I was playing basketball in gym, and my gym teacher (Coach Elder) came up to me and said, “Henry, would you like to be on the basketball team?” I said, “Coach, I don’t know nothing ‘bout no basketball.” He said, “I’ll teach you.” 

During spring practice, I attended the practices where he started teaching me how to play basketball. I watched the older guys play and thought, “I can’t play like that.” But all of the seniors were leaving and they needed new members to try out. So at the end of the season, and these “practice tryouts,” there was a list posted of those who had made the team. And though I thought a lot of the other guys were better players than I, I looked on that list, and there was my name. But that was just the first elimination. The second elimination was that if your name WAS on the list, you were eliminated. So I was looking at the next list, fearful that my name was on that list. My name was not on that list. And so I was officially on the team. We started the practices. But we initially didn’t start out playing basketball. We did a lot of drills…drills as if we were running track. We ran up and down the court and up and down the bleachers, continuously. Then one day, Coach put some narrow rims on top of the goals, and we had to try and shoot the ball through the narrow holes. Then we did a drill called “fast break” where three guys run down the court passing the ball without the ball ever touching the floor. You had to run fast enough so that when you caught and passed it, you would not be making a “traveling” violation. After those drills, we scrimmaged against 12^th graders who were graduating. Then after that, during the summer, every Thursday, we met at an elementary school and would play basketball. Here, we were still learning the skills of basketball. 

So now, I’m in the 11^th grade and had to try out again. I was scared again, but made the team. Not only did I make the team, but I was put on first string, which consisted of the first 8 boys on the team who would be called to play (5 starters and 3 backup players). I was one of the backup forwards. One of the first games I played in (we played a school called St. Bartholomew), I was shooting so well, but constantly praying that they wouldn’t throw the ball to me. But they kept throwing the ball to me, and I kept hitting! We won that game. I remember our principal asked the coach, “Coach, where did you get this boy from?” We continued through the season with me substitute playing. We didn’t win a championship or anything, but we had a good team. Then my senior year came, and I had to try out for the team again!!! And I made it again…and was made part of the first 5. We began to play and win. I got a little cocky and wanted them to throw it to me! I could shoot well, but I never could dunk the ball. I had one really good game (against a school in Pine Bluff) where I knocked down 30 points! My name was in the newspaper: “Robinson leads the Bearcats!” 

I hurt my ankle later on in my 12^th grade year and was taken off the first string so I had to stop playing with first string. I played with the 2^nd string team. I played in small consolation games. Finally, my ankle healed.  From that time on, “I was a running Bearcat.” I was back at it. We went to the state championship game and lost to a team from Strong, AR. The season ended and while I didn’t get a scholarship, I got offers to tryout at a few junior colleges (one in Texas). But my mom would not let me go. I ended up going to college at UALR. I was playing basketball in their gym and one of the coaches saw me and asked me about my basketball skills. I told him that I had played for Horace Mann. He asked me to come out and play for their team (Little Rock University). I went to spring training, but was not able to play because I was drafted to the military. I played a little basketball in the military with guys who had played all over the United States. 

When I got out of the army, several asked me to try out for UALR’s basketball team, but I declined. But I did play City League basketball. We played against a lot of guys who finished playing college basketball, but did not go on to play professional basketball. That is how I met one of my wife’s brothers. We beat his team really bad….

When I married my wife, my wife’s brothers underestimated my basketball skills. But I showed them on the court that I was a good basketball player. They were wowed. I also played for the church basketball team when my children were younger…

His Cars...

Upon returning from the military in 1968, I bought a 1967 Ford Fairlane (burgundy in color). My mom helped me to buy it (she did the negotiating). After that car, I traded it in and bought a 1968 Chevrolet 2-door caprice. It was blue with a white vinyl top. After that car, which I sold to my brother, I bought a 1972 ford torino…a lighter green in color…2 door also. I started having problems with it so I knew it was time for me to look for another automobile. After that, I bought a 1974 Ford LTD, brown with a brown top. It was a very luxurious car. It drove well. I liked that car and hated to get rid of it. After that car, I wanted a more newer car. So I went out to a Buick dealership and bought a Buick La Sabre, white with burgundy seats. It was a very beautiful car, but the engine was too small for it, being a heavy car. After that, I traveled to Morrilton, AR and saw and bought another Ford LTD. I traveled all over the state of Arkansas in that car. It was also a luxurious car. I drove through Malvern, AR and decided I wanted a truck too. So I bought a 1973 Chevrolet truck. My dad assisted me with getting that vehicle home. After that, I got married. I remember my dad saw my wife driving my car before we got married and said to my mom, “who is that driving “the boy’s” car?” After my wife and I got married, I drove those vehicles for several years. Later, I traded the car for a small Buick. We had this car during the time we had our children. My wife became the primary driver of this vehicle. I started having a lot of problems with this car. So as I was going through Searcy, Arkansas one day, I decided to look at cars and saw a Mercury Marquis I liked. So I traded our car for this one. The Mercury was beige, loaded, and brand new. After that car, I mostly drove the Monte Carlo that my wife brought into the marriage. But my wife felt like I needed my own vehicle. So I went and bought a white Cadillac from Parker Cadillac. The Marquis started to act up, so we traded it in for an 88 Oldsmobile. Later, we were in a couple of accidents with my Cadillac and a new Cadillac that I bought. After these, I bought a black Q45 that we all fell in love with. After the Q45, I traded it in for a Lexus, while my wife was still driving her Oldsmobile. I eventually bought my wife an Avalon. After the Lexus, I traded it in for another Q45. To get my wife a car, I traded my Q45 in for a Lexus for her. So I started driving what was formerly her Avalon. Eventually I bought a green truck, then a white truck. Later, I traded the Lexus for another Lexus and got a newer Avalon for our Avalon. Then I traded the Avalon for a BMW which gave me back issues. I eventually traded the BMW for my current Cadillac….

His Church…

If you know my daddy, you know that he loves his church. I asked him to tell me about his church experience and this is what he said…

“I grew up at Longley Missionary Baptist Church. I’ve been going there all my life. I joined the church when I was 13 years old under Rev. H.E. Dedmon. We had a church out on what is now known as 65^th street. We moved a couple of times during my childhood. Our biggest time of celebration was Pastor’s Anniversary. My brother and I sold drinks for a nickel out of the back of my uncle’s truck. We went to church on the first and the third Sundays. The church has grown from 25 in my childhood to over 2500 members of Longley Baptist Church.”

“In my many years at Longley, from childhood until now, I have served in roles on the usher board, choir, as Sunday School teacher, Sunday school superintendent, youth director (the first), deacon (where I served as chairman for over 17 years), Christian Education Director, and now Elder" (he didn’t say Elder... I added this since he has recently become an Elder)

“The role that was the most fulfilling role was teaching. I loved to share the Word of God. After I came from the military (where I had direct experiences with the Lord), I had a holy boldness to share the word. I’ve also taken different correspondent courses to further my understanding of the Word.”

[Being a deacon, especially the chairman of the deacon board, was a challenging role at times.] “When we were without a pastor, people would come to me for everything. Sometimes you think, “I’m just a deacon.” But everybody comes to you for everything. If you are not careful, that could be a power charge. So I had to try to stay humble. I didn’t like the idea of being the person in charge, knowing I was not the pastor.”

(when asked about his commitment to the church) “I definitely was committed to the church. But while raising a family, it is easy to forget that your children are individuals with their own choices. I definitely indoctrinated them into church ways so they could become more god-like. I have no regrets for that. However, maybe I should have shown a little more sensitivity…especially when they had other kids over. I would often say that their friends had to go back home (if it was a Sunday) because my kids had to go to Sunday night Bible study (BTU)…"