Barbara A. Robinson

Robinson was born in Alabama at a time when the South was not particularly kind to people of color. Homeless at the age of 16, Robinson was determined to get a high school education and graduated from Spencer High School in Columbus, Georgia; then she received financial aid to go to college in Baltimore, where She Met her husband of 46 years Jerome Robinson. Delegate Robinson attended the University of Baltimore where she earned her B.S. in business management in 1975 and Coppin State College with a M.A. in criminal justice in 1976.

In 1993, Robinson published her first book, And Still I Cry, an autobiography depicting her troubled past, filled with physical abuse, sexual molestation, domestic abuse, mental anguish. In 1998, her second book, Yes You Can, which focused on entrepreneurship was published. Her third book, Eyes of the Beholder, a novel was released in 2002. Her fourth book, Someday Is Now was released in 2004.

During the four-year term prior to Robinson's candidacy for the House of Delegates, two of the delegates, Howard "Pete" Rawlings and Tony Fulton, died while in office. Marshall Goodwin and Catherine Pugh were appointed to finish their terms. Rawlings and Fulton were democrats, as are Goodwin and Pugh. Prior to the 2006 democratic primary, the only incumbent delegate in the district, Salima Marriott, decided to run for the Senate seat being vacated by the district's senator. Catherine Pugh also decided to run for the same seat leaving the newly appointed Goodwin as the only incumbent in the race. The vacancies drew a large crowd of contenders; including Robinson, Frank Conaway, Jr. and Shawn Tarrant, who all finished ahead of Goodwin. The General Election in November, therefore, featured all newcomers for the three open seats.