Short Biography: The Great Paul Robeson

The Great Paul Robeson No person was more influential in the world of music and sociopolitical issues that the incomparable Paul Leroy Robeson. According to Paul Robeson in his autobiography “Here I Stand,” Paul Robeson was born April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, the youngest of five children, to the Reverend William Drew Robeson and Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson. (6). Martin Duberman, Professor of History City University of New York writes, that Paul’s father was born a slave in North Carolina, escaped with his older brother Ezekiel, worked as a farmhand, joined the Union Army during the Civil War and eventually attained a educational degrees in theology from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. (Duberman 5-10). His mother was a school

Starting in 1922 Paul sang in the chorus of Eubie Blake’s and Noble Sisle’s play Shuffle Along, which jumpstarted his professional performing career (Boyle and Bunie 98-101; Duberman 51-56). In 1924 Paul started his career in motion pictures by starring in three films, Eugene O’Neill’s Emperor Jones and All God’s Chillun Got Wings and the historic black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul (Boyle and Bunie 132-33; Duberman 77). The following year Paul and his longtime accompanist Lawrence Brown perform a historic solo concert featuring for the first time consisting entirely of African-American songs composed by Africans-Americans (McGinty and Shirley 106-07). Through the ensuing years Mr. Robeson continued to perform in motion pictures, in stage plays, and perform concerts worldwide, Although, he was denied being able to reside in many hotels eat in many restaurants, he once refused to perform before a segregated audience, showing that he would not submit to the prevalent racial policies. His stirring performances of spiritual songs such as: “Deep River,” “Go Down, Moses,” “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” and the song he is most associated with “Ol’ Man River,” truly reflect the depth of his character as well as his immense talent. (Howard 107). Paul’s versatility is exhibited by his vast repertoire of song selections moving from African-American Spirituals to Classical Operatic to show tunes to songs of liberation expressing the desire for freedom. The ability to sing renditions of songs in many languages to audiences around the world is another illustration of remarkable gifts that Mr. Robeson