He first went to England during World War II to join the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he served as a pilot in Bomber Command, holding the rank of flight lieutenant.
[2][3] After the war, Scobie became a correspondent for the Chicago Defender and other Johnson Publishing Company titles with a largely African-American readership.
In addition to covering politics and current affairs in Britain, Africa and the Caribbean, the magazine published short stories by the likes of Samuel Selvon, Jan Carew and Winston Whyte,[6] and included among its contributors George Lamming and Donald Hinds.
By 1964, Flamingo political articles had become more serious, and were similar to media releases from the British Foreign Office's semi-secret Information Research Department.
[1] / At the time of his death in 1996, Scobie was Professor Emeritus of History in the Black Studies Department at City College of New York.