Manatee’s 1st Black lawyer broke barriers unapologetically. Now, his name is honored.
The great grandson of slaves and son of migrant farm workers, Layon Franklin Robinson II challenged racial barriers even as a young boy — sneaking sips from the white fountain at the Woolworth store which once stood where the Manatee County administration building stands today.
His family split their time between Albion, New York and Palmetto so his parents could work in the fields. His father had warned he should never be tempted to drink out of the water fountain designated for white people only.
“We had to endure, maintain and try not to upset things,” Robinson said in 2004 during a League of Women Voters forum, according to the Bradenton Herald archives. “My grandfather always said that one day the bottom rung will come to the top of the ladder. I don’t know whether or not we are at the top, but at least I don’t have to drink out of the colored fountain anymore.”
When Robinson passed the Florida Bar exam in 1973, he became the first Black attorney in Manatee County. For the next 47 years, he dedicated himself to the law, service to the community and raising his family.
On Monday morning, the Manatee County Law Library, located on the first floor in the Manatee County Judicial Center at 1051 Manatee Ave. W., was renamed in his honor.
The Manatee County Bar Association was looking for a way to honor Layon Robinson, who died on May 5, 2020 from cancer, and turned to Manatee County Commissioner Reggie Bellamy for help. Bellamy called out to county Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Angelina “Angel” Colonneso, who didn’t take long to come up with an idea.
“It just seemed so appropriate to me to dedicate the law library and Reggie agreed,” Colonneso said. “I think it was the perfect fit to let Layon’s memory live on.”
The Manatee County Commission voted 6-0 on June 8 to rename the law library in honor of Robinson, whom Bellamy described as a trailblazer, when he proposed the resolution.
After four years of working for the State Attorney’s Office, Robinson went into private practice handling criminal and civil cases and he continued to practice law until his death last year.
Robinson helped found Manatee County Rural Health, securing the first federal grant, writing the first charter and by-laws and serving as the first chairman of the board and was the facility’s counsel for about 25 years. Similarly, Robinson helped to found the local chapter of the Police Athletic League, writing it’s first charter and bylaws and also serving as its first chairman.
Robinson was appointed to the Manatee County Economic Development Council working on projects that included the Bradenton Area Convention Center, a parking garage in downtown Bradenton, the Manatee County jail and improvements at Port Manatee. He was also appointed to the Community Development Block Grant Citizen Workshop group, served as president of Manatee County Children’s Services and various citizen groups including helping with the reorganization of and writing the bylaws for the former Samoset Fire Department.
In 2016, the NAACP honored Robinson with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robinson and his wife of 51-years, Davine Elizabeth Robinson, raised their four children in Manatee County: Delon Nickels, Layna Robinson, Layon F. Robinson III and Darine Robinson.
“We’re talking about the late Layon Robinson, here, whose life was full of service, a veteran from the United States Air Force and a doctorate degree from Florida State University” said Bellamy, who went to school with Robinson’s children.
‘Just Dad’
For Robinson’s daughter Delon Nickels, the third of four children, it took going away to college and coming back home to grasp the significance of her father’s contributions.
“He broke racial barriers unapologetically. As a child, I didn’t get it,” Nickels said. “He was just Dad.”
Manatee County was very socially, economically and racially divided when she was growing up, she said.
“It wasn’t easy. He broke a lot of barriers as the first Black attorney in Manatee County, without any remorse or regret. He just did. He didn’t apologize for it,” Nickels said. “He didn’t do it to try to open doors. He just did it because the door wasn’t open, so he opened it.”
When their family moved from east to northwest Bradenton, Nickels says they were one of only three Black families that she knew of living there. She still remembers the first time she heard a racial slur.
Ten years old at the time, she was walking home from Stewart Elementary School with her then-9-year-old sister, Layna, when they heard three white boys yell, “Let’s shoot them N-words.”
Both girls looked at one another, confused, unsure who they were talking to. But then they saw a pellet gun pointed at them.
“I realized we must be the N-word,” she said.
Their father, whom she said was friends with then-Sheriff Charlie Wells, told him about the incident. The following day, when she and her sister were walking the mile home from school, sheriff’s deputies lined their path — about one every every three or four blocks, each waving at the girls.
“I was shocked and awed. I didn’t know my dad was so powerful. He was just Dad,” she said.
A mentor to others
Colonneso first met Robinson during her early years working at the clerk’s office, while still in college.
“Nothing was electronic back then,” she said. “We got to know the attorneys well.”
A colleague introduced her to Robinson, but a few years later as a new prosecutor she would argue her first motion in court against him. When she won, he congratulated her and went on to become her mentor.
“He used to joke and tell people that he helped raise me professionally,” Colonneso said. “He was so supportive and has done so much for this county.”
One of her fondest memories of Robinson was every year with the first cold snap, he would make a pot of chili.
“He would invite people to come have a bowl at lunch time to his office on Old Main,” she said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2021 at 11:06 AM.
