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<h2><b>La Peña Celebrates Words and Life of Paul Robeson
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<a href="http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-02-26/article/29335" eudora="autourl">
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-02-26/article/29335<br><br>
</a><i>By Deb Schneider, Special to the Planet 2008-02-26 <br><br>
</i>Paul Robeson leads Moore Shipyard Workers in singing “The Star
Spangled Banner” in Oakland in September 1942.<br>
Paul Robeson was something of a Renaissance man. A singer, actor, lawyer,
writer, civil rights advocate, all-American athlete and political
activist, Robeson was a powerful and eloquent spokesman for racial
justice well before Martin Luther King, Jr., or Malcolm X, yet these
successors have eclipsed him in the annals of history. <br><br>
Robeson put his fame on the line for the revolutionary causes he believed
inthe elimination of international fascism and the eradication of racism
at home in the United States. With immense talent and determination, he
developed his skills and earned his fame and influence in the
institutions of white America, fighting racism all along the way. He
proved that a black man could meet any challenge, could pass any test,
and then, at the peak of his powers, he set out to tear down once and for
all the oppressive system he had conquered. With conservative America and
the federal government discrediting his name and his work every step of
the way, Robeson entertained, educated, and inspired people to think
differently about cultural differences in the United States. <br><br>
Twenty-six of Robeson’s inspiring speeches have been collected on a CD,
Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom, the release of which will be celebrated
at 6 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center. The CD was produced by
the Freedom Archives, a San Francisco-based organization specializing in
the preservation of audio and video recordings documenting social justice
movements from the 1960s to the present. <br><br>
Born in 1898 to an escaped slave, who later became a minister, and a
mother who came from one of the oldest African families in the United
States, Robeson committed himself to agitating a white supremacist system
from early in life. He was one of only two black students at his high
school. At 17, he earned an academic scholarship to Rutgers after
graduating from high school with honors at a time when lynchings were
still common. While his brothers chose all-black colleges, Robeson was
the only black student in his class, suffering beatings while trying out
for the Rutgers football team, beatings he endured in order to prove his
mettle before going on to lead the team as a two-time All-American.
<br><br>
As Robeson continued to excel in academics (he attended law school first
at NYU then later at Columbia) and theater performance (he was offered
lead acting roles starting in the 1920s, while performing regularly at
the Cotton Club), he also became intimately familiar with the effects of
racism, social injustice and oppression. His own experience and family
history inspired him to take political action. <br><br>
Throughout Words like Freedom, Robeson’s deep, almost throbbing voice
commands attention. Its unwavering firmness reflects his grounded stance
for justice for African peoples, here and abroad, and his belief that
oppressed people should unite. In “Harlem,” a speech given in 1949,
Robeson asserts that oppression must be named for what it is, in the name
of American responsibility and history. “To fulfill our responsibilities
as Americans, we must unite, especially we Negro people. We must know our
strengths. We happen to be the decisive force. That’s why they terrorize
us, that’s why they fear us! And we must have the courage to shout at the
top of our voices, above the injustices and we must lay the blame where
it belongs and where it has belonged for over 300 years of slavery and
continuous miseryright here on our own doorstep.” <br><br>
As the CD progresses, we hear Robeson’s speeches increase in defiance and
power under the restrictions imposed upon him by the U.S. government. His
passport was revoked in 1950, and a few years later he would be forced to
appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. But this
harassment only increased his political activity. “Freedom for the People
of Africa” reads almost as a resumé of his activities in support of the
liberation of African peoples and leads to an address entitled “To My
Friends in the Bay Area,” where he declares, with the kind of hope not
always associated with radical activists, “we shall overcome.” <br><br>
The 12-minute testimony Robeson gave before the House Un-American
Activities Committee in 1956 is the most dynamic track in the collection.
He solidly declares, “My name is Paul Robeson and anything I have to say,
I have said in public all over the world, and that is why I am here
today. The other reason why I am here is that when I am abroad, I speak
out against injustices against the Negro in this land...I am being tried
for fighting for the rights of my people.” <br><br>
In a brilliant performance, Robeson, much to the audible frustration of
the committee, employs his formidable rhetorical and locutionary skills
to dramatically call attention to the absurdity of the allegations
against him. When asked to speak to his relationship with anti-fascist
movements and the Communist Party, he launches into a forceful diatribe
about his deep roots in the United States, tracing his family’s lineage
to the slaves of George Washington. At one point Robeson is questioned
about his sympathy toward the Soviet Union, with the committee suggesting
that he move there if that nation is truly free from racial prejudice,
and Robeson responds by summoning that history: “Because my father was a
slave, and my people died to build this country, I’m going to stay here
and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist-minded people are
going to drive me from it. Is that clear?” <br><br>
“You are here because you are promoting the Communist cause!” a committee
member says. <br><br>
“I am here because I am opposing the neo-fascist cause,” Robeson
responds, “which I see arising in these committees. Jefferson could be
sitting here!” he says, pounding his spot at the table for emphasis. “And
Frederick Douglass could be sitting here! Eugene Debs could be sitting
here!” <br><br>
A committee member goes on to say that Robeson could not possibly claim
to be a victim of racial prejudice, as he graduated from Rutgers, from
the University of Pennsylvania, and was a football star. <br><br>
“Just a moment,” Robeson interrupts. “This is something I challenge very
deeply: that the success of a few Negroes can make up for $700 a year for
thousands of Negro families in the South. My father was a slave, and I
have cousins who are sharecroppers. I do not see success in terms of
myself.” <br><br>
Robeson knowingly and willingly paid a price for his activism. His music
and films were pulled from distribution, contributing greatly to his
eclipse today. Words Like Freedom is an attempt to bring the power of
Robeson’s life’s work back into the public consciousness in the hope that
it can serve as an inspiration for modern-day resistance movements.
<br><br>
<br><br>
PAUL ROBESON: <br><br>
WORDS LIKE FREEDOM <br><br>
CD release party, 7 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105
Shattuck Ave. <br><br>
<br><br>
Deb Schneider is a volunteer and board member at Freedom Archives, a San
Francisco-based organization that seeks to help people reconnect with the
foundations of social justice work by documenting radical activism and
social movements that have been minimized and misconstrued by mainstream
history. For more information, see
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a>. <br><br>
<br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
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