Paul Robeson

Paul Leroy Robeson ... more

by Greg Joens

Original - Not For Sale

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

8.000 x 10.000 inches

Title

Paul Robeson

Artist

Greg Joens

Medium

Drawing - Pencil On Paper

Description

Paul Leroy Robeson

(April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976)
was an American singer and actor who became involved with the Civil Rights Movement.
At Rutgers College, he was an outstanding football player,
then had an international career in singing, with a distinctive,
powerful, deep bass voice, as well as acting in theater and movies.

He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, fascism,
and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with
communism, and criticism of the United States government caused him to be
blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Ill health forced him into retirement
from his career.
He remained until his death an advocate of the political stances he took.

Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College, where he became a football
All-American and the class valedictorian. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School,
while playing in the National Football League (NFL). At Columbia, he sang and acted in
off-campus productions; and, after graduating, he became a participant in the Harlem
Renaissance with performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings.
Robeson initiated his international artistic résumé with a theatrical role in Great Britain,
settling in London for the next several years with his wife Essie.

Robeson next appeared as Othello at the Savoy Theatre before becoming an international
cinema star through roles in Show Boat and Sanders of the River. He became increasingly
attuned towards the sufferings of other cultures and peoples.
Acting against advice, which warned of his economic ruin if he became politically active,
he set aside his theatrical career to advocate the cause of the Republican forces of the
Spanish Civil War. He then became active in the Council on African Affairs (CAA).

During World War II, he supported America's war efforts and won accolades for his portrayal
of Othello on Broadway. However, his history of supporting pro-Soviet policies brought scrutiny
from the FBI. After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive
Organizations and Robeson was investigated during the age of McCarthyism. Due to his decision not
to recant his public advocacy of pro-Soviet policies, he was denied a passport by the
U.S. State Department, and his income, consequently, plummeted. He moved to Harlem and
published a periodical critical of United States policies. His right to travel was
eventually restored by the 1958 United States Supreme Court decision, Kent v. Dulles,
but his health broke down.
He retired and he lived out the remaining years of his life privately in Philadelphia.

Source: Wikipedia

Uploaded

October 17th, 2015