Why Is Paul Robeson Important

awareness and activism leading to self-sacrifice, Robeson’s dedication to freedom, and equality for oppressed people throughout the world was incomparable. Paul Robeson is truly one of the most important and powerful persons in the history of the United States. 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

In their essay “The Image of Paul Robeson, Role Model for the Student and Athlete,” C. Keith Harrison and Brian Lampman explain “Robeson’s legacy should influence K-12 curricula in social science history and physical education.” (117). The importance of Mr. Robeson’s academic and athletic achievements is certainly a prescription that current students and athletes should try to emulate. In 1918 Paul graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University with fifteen varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track, a stellar exposition of singing and stage performances and was the debating champion (Harrison and Lampman 27-28; Weaver Jr. 26; Yeakey 496). Paul graduated from Columbia Law School with a law degree, and eventually resigned from a law firm due to racist attitudes that he experienced and discontinued his practice of law (Duberman

(Duberman 34-46; Boyle and Bunie 94). Paul Robeson’s career included becoming one the first Black actors and singers to appear in motion pictures, the first Black person to perform Othello on stage in a segregated play, and the first Black to perform a solo vocal concert featuring songs consisting entirely content written and expressing the Black experience (McGinty and Shirley 106-07). Paul starred in eleven motion pictures, performed all over the world, which led to life changing epiphanies as he experienced acceptance as a Black man that he didn’t universally have in the United States. Through the convening year Paul was a leading advocate for countless struggles, while encountering his own struggles with the United States government. His lifelong companion Eslanda, died in 1965, Paul started to experience health problems, which led to his retirement from performing. The last part of his life had Paul living with relatives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, virtually forgotten by the outside world until his death in 1976 at the age of