Paul Robeson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson

Paul Leroy Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an African-American concert singer (bass-baritone), recording artist, athlete and actor who became noted for his political radicalism and activism in the civil rights movement. The son of an escaped slave, Robeson was the first major concert star to popularize the performance of Negro spirituals and was the first black actor of the 20th century to portray Shakespeare's Othello in a production with an all white cast.

A nationally renowned football player from 1917 to the early 1920s, Robeson was an All-American athlete, and Phi Beta Kappa Society laureate during his years at Rutgers University. In 1923, Robeson drifted into amateur theater work and within a decade he had become an international star of stage, screen, radio and film. Robeson went on to be a recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, the Stalin Peace Prize and of honorary memberships in over half a dozen trade unions. James Earl Jones, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte have cited Robeson's lead film roles as being the first to display dignity for black actors and pride in African heritage.[8][9] Though one of the most internationally famous people of the 20th century, blacklisting during the Cold War has nearly erased Robeson from mainstream interpretations of history.

At the height of his career, Paul Robeson chose to become primarily a political artist. In 1950, Robeson's passport was revoked under the McCarran Act over his work in the anti-imperialism movement and what the U.S. State Department called Robeson's "frequent criticism while abroad of the treatment of blacks in the US." Under heavy and daily surveillance by both the FBI and the CIA and publicly condemned for his beliefs, Robeson's income fell dramatically and he was blacklisted from performing on stage, screen, radio and television. Robeson's right to travel was restored in 1958, but his already faltering health broke down under controversial circumstances in 1963. By 1965, he was forced into permanent retirement. He spent his final years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, unapologetic about his political views and career.Advocates of Robeson's legacy have restored his name to history books and sports records, honoring his memory with posthumous recognitions.

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https://www.biography.com/people/paul-robeson-9460451

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/02/how-paul-robeson-foun... How Paul Robeson found his political voice in the Welsh valleys

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/long-overdue-paul-robeson-reviv...! We Are Long Overdue for a Paul Robeson Revival By Peter Dreier

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-paul-robeson-said-77742433/ What Paul Robeson Said After the singer and activist spoke at a Soviet-sponsored peace conference, he was reviled in the United States. But was the most widely reported version of his remarks accurate? By Gilbert King smithsonian.com September 13, 2011

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/ny1.htm Paul Robeson House

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/singer-actor-athlete-act... Music 1976 Singer, actor, athlete, activist Paul Robeson dies

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Robeson Paul Robeson AMERICAN SINGER, ACTOR, AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/robeson The Many Faces of Paul Robeson

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/paul-robeson-about-the-acto... Paul Robeson: The Renaissance Man About the Actor August 26, 2006

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0732079/ Paul Robeson (I) (1898–1976)

http://www.cpsr.cs.uchicago.edu/robeson/bio.html PAUL ROBESON, a brief biography

Paul Robeson in USSR: https://archive.org/details/forsakenamerican00tzou/page/94 (bottom right page and following)

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