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Amanda V Casabianca - Author of "Robeson In Depth" My initial reason for offering the " web browser" an in depth look at the life and times of Paul Robeson was to circumvent many of the misconceptions that surround his history. Along with the commonly asked questions that a Robeson historian is called upon to answer, the biggest query seems to be "with so many accolades and achievements, why haven't I heard of him?" I wondered this myself, sometime in the late eighties, when my late friend, Jonathan F. Smith, told me of an African American man "who was a star football player, a Shakespearean actor, an opera (sic) singer and a Renaissance man who said the Soviet Union was the only place where a Black man could feel like a true human being. And how "his love of the U.S.S.R. led to him having his passport taken away...he became so depressed that he eventually had shock treatment to destroy his memory." I never forgot those words, but as a teen who was more interested in saving the world's endangered cats, the concept of electro shock was the only thing that really piqued my interest. To be honest, I thought that my dear friend had been exaggerating. I had, after all, a wide pop culture lexicon and I naively believed every major figure of the 20th century was in it. How wrong I was! Now, after nearly three years of studying Robeson in depth, my most succinct answer to the most commonly asked question is that the racist elements that existed (and still exist) in the United States government do not want to admit that the twentieth century's greatest American was a black man. Bonnie Weiss - Author of "The Paul Robeson Chronology" and "Posthumous Recognition" Bonnie Weiss has been active in promoting Paul Robeson's legacy since 1970. The chronology published on this website focuses on Robeson’s activism in the struggle for civil and human rights, labor rights, world peace and friendship among all peoples. Also included are some of the many tributes, awards and honors bestowed upon him by others during his lifetime. The information in the Chronology and Posthumous was gleaned from books listed in the bibliography and newspaper/magazine articles and interviews, theater programs, playbills, publicity announcements of concerts and other events, videos, LPs and CD recordings. |
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