When the House voted on a US-Sub-Saharan Africa Free Trade Bill earlier this week, one of the most active people in Washington on the issue was Randall Robinson, the founder and president of TransAfrica.

Indeed, over the last decade, Robinson has been a major force in shaping U.S. policy toward Africa and the Caribbean. He played a decisive role in shaping the struggle against apartheid here in the Untied States in the 1980s. More recently, he launched a highly publicized and effective hunger strike in 1994 in protest of the Clinton administrations treatment of Haitian refugees.

Guest:

• Randall Robinson, the founder and president of TransAfrica, the organization that spearheaded the movement to influence U.S. policies toward Africa and the Caribbean. He is the author of ??Defending the Spirit: A Black Life in America.

Related links:

• Randall Robinson site