Brief History

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Dr. Kendrick Roberson is a community activist and an educator in political science who hails from Carson, California in the County of Los Angeles. In 2019, he was elected to be the chair of the city of Carson’s only rent control board, ensuring that residents are not treated unfairly or taken advantage of through predatory actions. In 2020, he was elected to represent the over 100,000 federal employees across the nation who are under the age of 40, as the Chair of the American Federation of Employees’ (AFGE) National YOUNG Committee. In 2021, Dr. Roberson successfully spearheaded the campaign to create AFGE’s first Black constituency group in history, and currently Chairs that national constituency group. Finally, in 2023, Dr. Roberson was elected as Fair Practices and Affirmative Action coordinator, where he represents federal workers in discrimination cases throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. Through his various positions and activism, Dr. Roberson is driven to eradicate workplace bullying, mistreatment, racism, sexism, and profiling. 

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Dr. Roberson is also active in higher education. He is currently an assistant professor at Pepperdine University, where he teaches several political science courses centered around American Politics, as well as Race and Ethnic Politics. Further, he is also a visiting professor at UCLA, where he teaches Black Labor Activism. Dr. Roberson’s research is centered around bridging the racial wealth gap, and eradicating the under-the-radar racism that continues to plague people of color in the United States. 
 

Early in his career, Dr. Roberson attained an Associate's degree in the field of Economics from El Camino Community College. During his time at El Camino College, he was a winner in a nationwide competition hosted by NASA and began 9 years of work estimating the costs of satellite systems at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, Space and Missile Systems Center. In 2013, after transferring to Pepperdine for his undergraduate career, Dr. Roberson achieved his Bachelor's Degree in Economics, and was accepted into Pepperdine's Business School. He finished his time at Pepperdine by delivering the student address during his master’s graduation ceremony, ultimately receiving his first master’s degree in Finance. After attending the University of Southern California, Dr. Roberson received his second and third master’s degrees in Economics and Political Science in 2021, and completed his PhD in Political Science and International Relations in 2022.  

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Dr. Roberson continues to fight for equity in all spaces, and is currently working with a team to reform and bring fairness to the redistricting processes in Los Angeles. He is consistently willing to show up for workers, his community, and his nation. As a closing line, Dr. Roberson is quoted saying, “Solidarity is the ultimate weapon in the fight for equity, justice, and freedom.” 

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Current

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Assistant Professor (Pepperdine/UCLA): Dr. Roberson is a tenure-track professor of political science and international relations at Pepperdine University. He teaches an "American People and Politics," "Who has the Power in America," "Race and Ethnic Politics," and "Honors Political Science." He is also a visiting professor at UCLA, where he teaches Black Labor Organizing. 

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National Fair Practices and Affirmative Action Coordinator : In 2023, Dr. Roberson was elected as the National Fair Practices and Affirmative Action Coordinator. He represents federal workers in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona when they are discriminated against on the basis of one or more of their protected classes (such as race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age or genetic information). 

 

 

Commissioner Roberson: Kendrick had always promised himself that he would use his education to do work in his home community. As such, after achieving his master's degree, he worked to get appointed by the mayor of Carson, CA to the Mobil Home Rental Review Board. Kendrick has been sitting as a commissioner on this city board since February of 2016. On the board, he is tasked with analyzing past revenue and expenditures of mobile home parks, attending hearings where residents and owners testify to the board, and voting to pass fair increases of resident rents (if any). The goal of the Board is to make sure the residents of Carson's mobile home parks are not being taken advantage of by nefarious business practices of the owners, while also ensuring that the owners receive fair and reasonable rent increases. 

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AFGE District 12 Y.O.U.N.G. : Kendrick joined the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in 2016. In 2017, AFGE's Local President from El Segundo, CA appointed Kendrick to represent all of the local's member's under 40 years old. After later speaking at a Human Rights conference in 2017, Roberson was requested to be on AFGE's National Y.O.U.N.G. Committee by the committee's chairman. Y.O.U.N.G. stands for, "Young Organizing Unionist of the Next Generation. Appointed by the District 12 National Vice President, Kendrick currently sits on the National Y.O.U.N.G. Committee, representing AFGE's members aged under 40 in California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona. 

 

AFGE Legislative Political Coordinator: In 2018, AFGE's Local President from El Segundo appointed Kendrick to the role of Legislative Political Coordinator. As a Legislative Political Coordinator for AFGE, Kendrick works to define and promote AFGE's stance on legislation currently being put before congress. In this position, Kendrick works hard to spread awareness of legislation that will impact federal workers, as well as help elect people (Republican or Democrat) who are most likely to vote on legislation that will protect federal workers. 

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