| Biography | Paul Robeson was an American singer and actor who was a political activist for the Civil Rights Movement. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with Communism, and criticism of the US brought retribution from the government and public condemnation. He was blacklisted, and to his financial and social detriment, he refused to rescind his stand on his beliefs and remained opposed to the direction of US policies.
Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers University, where he was a football All-American and class valedictorian. He graduated from Columbia Law School while playing in the National Football League (NFL) and singing and acting in off-campus productions. After theatrical performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings he became an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance.
Robeson's renditions of spirituals, broadcast in, and imported to, Great Britain, proved to be popular music in Great Britain in the 20th century. His portrayal of Shakespeare's Othello was the first occurrence of someone of African descent to take the role in Great Britain, in an otherwise all-white cast, since Ira Aldridge's 19th century portrayal.
His father's background as a former slave, and his personal awareness of social injustices to himself, and others, transformed Robeson into a political activist. He became a supporter of the Republican forces of the Spanish Civil War and then became active in the Council on African Affairs (CAA). During World War II, he played Othello in America while supporting the country's war effort. After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) and he was scrutinized during the age of McCarthyism. |