Paul Robeson Pt. 1

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with the V-O-A Special English program PEOPLE
IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about Paul Robeson [ROBE a son]. He was a
singer, actor, and civil rights activist. In the Nineteen-Thirties,
he was one of the best known and most widely honored black
Americans. Later in his life he was condemned for supporting
communism and the Soviet Union.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey in
Eighteen-Ninety-Eight. His father was a former slave who became the
religious leader of a Protestant church. Paul was an excellent
student and athlete. Rutgers University in New Jersey gave him money
so he could study there. He played four different sports while at
Rutgers. He also was the top student in his class. Members of his
class believed Paul Robeson would become the leader of black people
in America.

VOICE TWO:

Paul Robeson graduated from Rutgers in Nineteen-Nineteen. He
attended law school at Columbia University in New York City. He was
only the third black person to attend Columbia Law School. On the
weekends, he earned money by playing professional football. He also
acted in plays. He married Eslanda Cordoza Goode while he was in law
school. After he graduated in Nineteen-Twenty-Three, he got a job
with a group of lawyers in New York. However, he left when he
experienced unfair treatment because he was black. He decided not to
work as a lawyer. Instead, he wanted to use his ability in theater
and music to support African-American history and culture.

VOICE ONE:

Robeson became a professional actor. He joined the Provincetown
Players, an acting group linked to American playwright Eugene
O'Neill. Robeson was the star in two famous productions by Eugene
O'Neill in the Nineteen-Twenties. They were "All God's Chillun Got
Wings" and "The Emperor Jones." Critics praised his performances.
Robeson became the most recognized black actor of his time.

VOICE TWO:

In London, he earned international praise for his leading part in
William Shakespeare's great tragic play, "Othello." That was in
Nineteen-Thirty. Thirteen years later, he played "Othello" on
Broadway in New York. It was very popular. In "Othello," Robeson
played an African general in ancient Venice. He is married to a
young white woman. Othello kills his wife after being tricked into
believing that she loves someone else. This is how Paul Robeson
sounded in "Othello."

(MUSIC: "MONOLOGUE FROM "OTHELLO")

VOICE ONE: Paul Robeson also was famous for appearing in the
popular American musical play "Show Boat." He performed the play in
London in Nineteen-Twenty-Eight and on Broadway four years later. He
played a riverboat worker. Jerome Kern wrote the music for "Show
Boat." Paul Robeson sang the song "Ol' Man River."

(MUSIC: "OL' MAN RIVER")

VOICE TWO:

Paul Robeson appeared in eleven
movies in the Nineteen-Twenties and Nineteen-Thirties. However, he
realized that his acting was limited by the small number of parts
for black actors. He criticized the American movie industry for not
showing the real lives of black people in America. He stopped making
movies and decided to sing professionally instead.

Robeson sang many kinds of music. He sang folk music from many
countries. He sang songs to support the labor and social movements
of his time. He sang songs for peace and justice. And, he sang
African-American spiritual music. One of his famous songs was this
spiritual, "Balm in Gilead."

(MUSIC:"BALM IN GILEAD")

VOICE ONE:

Paul Robeson was recognized around the world for his fight for
civil rights for black Americans. Separation of black people and
white people was legal in the United States. Black people did not
have the same rights as white people. They were not treated equally.
For example, Robeson could not be served in some eating places in
the United States. Violence against black people was common. Angry
mobs of whites sometimes killed black people, especially in the
southern United States.

VOICE TWO:

In the late Nineteen-Thirties, Paul Robeson became involved in
national and international movements that sought peace and better
labor conditions. He also supported independence for African
colonies from their European rulers. He learned the languages and
folk songs of other cultures. He said these folk songs expressed the
same feelings that were in African-American music. He learned to
speak, write and sing in more than twenty languages.

VOICE ONE:

Robeson traveled a great deal in Europe during the
Nineteen-Thirties. He found that black people were treated better in
Europe than in the United States. He met members of liberal
political organizations, socialists and African nationalists. He
also met many working people and poor people.

For many years, he performed in concerts in many countries. The
songs he sang supported the struggle for racial justice for black
Americans, and for civil rights and economic justice for people
around the world. He refused to perform at concerts where the people
were separated by race. He said, "The idea of my concerts is to
suggest that all men are brothers because of their music."

VOICE TWO:

In Nineteen-Thirty-Four, Paul Robeson made the first of many
trips to the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, he said, he was
treated as an equal of whites for the first time in his life. He
declared his friendship for the Soviet Union. And he spoke about the
need for peaceful co-existence between the United States and the
Soviet Union. Conservative groups in the United States strongly
opposed his friendship with the Soviet Union and his support for
other liberal issues.

VOICE ONE:

Paul Robeson went to Spain in Nineteen-Thirty-Eight during the
Spanish Civil War. He sang for Spanish civilians. And he sang for
the Loyalist forces fighting for the Spanish republic. One of the
songs he sang was this Spanish Loyalist song, "The Four Insurgent
Generals."

(MUSIC: "THE FOUR INSURGENT GENERALS")

VOICE TWO:

In the Nineteen-Forties, many people in the United States were
strongly opposed to Paul Robeson's political beliefs. They said he
was too liberal or extreme. Next week, we will tell you about how
opposition to his political beliefs affected the last part of his
life.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This PEOPLE IN AMERICA program was written by Shelley Gollust and
produced by Lawan Davis.