“The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.”
— Paul Robeson
As we reach the 125th anniversary of the great Paul Robeson’s birth on April 9th, with events organized to recognize his lasting example and contributions, the Freedom Archives joins with these appreciations and celebrates the wealth of Robeson-related materials that reside within our collections.
After Paul Robeson’s passing in 1976 it was said, borrowing a phrase about Paul from Mary McLeod Bethune, that “the tallest tree in our forest has fallen,” and you could not find a more apt expression. Paul Robeson was a truly extraordinary human being. Yes, he was “tall Paul,” and of impressive physical stature, but the enormous worldwide love and respect for him emerged because he was great in so many ways—from sports to law to theater to film to international fame as a singer and activist—a polyglot who spoke many languages, a brilliant musicologist and scholar, a profound internationalist and socialist revolutionary who was viciously attacked and repressed by the misrulers of the US empire.
As Ossie Davis said in an interview about Robeson:
“Paul was an internationalist. And in looking at him and listening to him, that richness became part of our lives, too. We didn’t just see Africa, we saw Africa through Paul. You know, Africa of course had meant something, you know, since the days of Marcus Garvey, but it was Paul who gave it life and culture and vibrancy—the greatness of the man was that he could create a people, he could create a nation, he could create identity among us and for us and with us, and that was the basic reason why, with this power, he had to be attacked; he had to be destroyed; he had to be disposed of.”
And on Robeson’s 110th birthday in 2008, Harry Belafonte said:
“All that Paul Robeson stood for had an enormous impact on American and global history. The combination of his art, intellect and humanity was rarely paralleled. The cruelties visited upon him by the power of the State stands as a great blemish on the pages of American history. But despite the attempt to wipe him from memory, he has endured and continues to influence. It speaks to our most strategic interests that African-American children be instructed about the truth of his existence. Indeed, it would be in the best interest of all Americans to know what this great patriot offered this nation.”
His was one of the greatest voices of the 20th century—but in fact his voice is one for all centuries—and the Freedom Archives is extremely fortunate to have a great deal about Paul Robeson in our collection. Much of this is thanks to Emiliano Echeverria, one of our founders, who, through his own extensive archival work and his contacts with progressive journalist Sydney Roger and longshore activist Joe Johnson, built a wonderful collection, from which the Freedom Archives created a CD anthology of Robeson’s spoken word brilliance called “Words Like Freedom.”
For more details on this CD and to listen to the tracks, visit our band camp page: https://freedomarchives.org/publications/paul-robeson-words-like-freedom-2/
In introducing the CD we say: “Embodied in Paul Robeson’s character and contributions is a message for coming generations that is usually whitewashed, even in sympathetic portrayals. At its core, Robeson’s message is one of militant, uncompromising resistance to racism, oppression, and tyranny—a “must keep fighting” spirit, even in the face of repression and the threat of death. On this CD you’ll hear Robeson express this deeply-rooted radicalism in great love for his own African-American people, their culture, and their revolutionary contributions, and you’ll hear it articulated in solidarity with poor and oppressed peoples and nations the world over.”
Here is one of the more than 20 excerpts of Paul Robeson on the CD:
PAUL ROBESON— ¡PRESENTE!
Photo credits:
– Paul Robeson joins a protest by the Civil Rights Congress in front of the White House in August 1948. Photographer unknown. (top of page)
– Paul Robeson leading Moore Shipyard [Oakland, CA] workers in song. September 1942. Photographer unknown. (bottom of page)
