|
By Special to People's World
On January 23, 1976, noted singer and actor Paul Robeson died in Philadelphia.
Robeson was also a legendary civil rights and peace leader and athlete.
He was hounded by McCarthy-era witch-hunting committees, deprived of his livelihood and his right to travel for his actions and his beliefs.
Ironically, soon after the turn of the century, Robeson’s fame was carried throughout the nation by a beautiful 37-cent postage stamp bearing his portrait and calling him “an incomparable artist and singer, human rights advocate, scholar and athlete, defender of Black freedom.”
Many events were held in 1998 on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Calling Robeson “a great fighter for equality and world peace, a genius who gave his heart and soul to the people,” Jarvis Tyner, executive vice-chair of the Communist Party USA, said he “embraced all the advanced ideas of the CPUSA, the need for a socialist transformation of society, for unity of Black, Brown, and white. If you look at his writings and you know the party’s history and policies,” Tyner added, “he was an important figure, helping to give leadership in the party’s formulation of its policies.”
Paul Robeson, athlete, scholar, singer, actor and civil rights advocate, rose to fame at a time when segregation was legal in the U.S., and Black people were being lynched by racist mobs...
READ MORE »
|
