Paul Robeson was a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and revolutionary internationalist who put one of the greatest talents of the twentieth century in service of the oppressed. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1898, the son of a man who had escaped slavery. At Rutgers he was a two-time All-American football player and the class valedictorian, and he went on to earn a law degree from Columbia. He left the law, closed to him by racism, for the stage, where he became famous for his performances in Othello and The Emperor Jones and for his deep bass voice. He changed the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" from resignation to resistance.

Living in London in the 1930s, Robeson studied African languages and befriended African students and future independence leaders. He came to see the Black struggle in America as part of a worldwide fight against colonialism and capitalism. He declared that the artist must take sides and choose to fight for freedom or slavery. He sang for the International Brigades defending the Spanish Republic against fascism, and in 1937 he co-founded the Council on African Affairs to support African liberation. He sang for workers on picket lines, built solidarity with the Soviet Union, and never stopped demanding the end of lynching and segregation at home.

For refusing to abandon his principles, Robeson became one of the most persecuted artists in American history. Mobs attacked his concert at Peekskill in 1949, and the State Department revoked his passport for eight years. His records were pulled and his concerts canceled. Called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956, he refused to bow and told the congressmen that they were the un-Americans. Robeson's legacy endures as a model of the artist as freedom fighter, who would not trade his conscience for comfort or fame.

• 1 print shipped in a rigid mailer (made from recycled cardstock)
• printed on acid-free, premium matte-photo paper

• paper weight + thickness: 250/m² / 66lbs 

*frame not included*