Robeson, Paul Bustill (1898–1976)

US singer, actor, lawyer, and activist. From the 1930s he was a staunch fighter against anti-semitism and racism against black people, and he was a supporter of the various national liberation movements that came to prominence in Africa after World War II. Robeson appeared in Eugene O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones (1924) and the Jerome Kern musical Show Boat (1927), in which he sang ‘Ol' Man River’, and took the title role in Othello in 1930.

The son of a preacher who had escaped from slavery, Robeson became deeply politicized by his experiences when he lived and worked in the UK in the 1930s. Robeson graduated from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, with an assortment of honours for excellence, then studied law at Columbia University. He was the first black law graduate to enter one of New York's most prestigious law firms. Robeson was an outstanding athlete, becoming one of the first black men to play professional American football. In the cinema Robeson was the first black actor to rise to international prominence in film and, through his outspokenness at the stereotyping of black actors, was the first to bring dignity and respect to black characters. His films include Sanders of the River (1935) and King Solomon's Mines (1937).

Robeson was also a communist and a supporter of the Soviet Union. Before the McCarthy House Un-American Activities Committee he refused to say whether he was a communist or not. But on his return from a visit to the Soviet Union his passport was withdrawn. For eight years he could not act or sing abroad. In 1949, as anti-communist fervour gripped the country, a Robeson concert was attacked at Peekskill, just outside New York City. The concert, in aid of the Harlem chapter of the Civil Rights Congress, was abandoned as jeering crowds screamed abuse and pulled concert-goers from their cars. Robeson returned the following week determined that he and his followers would not give in to mob violence.

Robeson spoke over 20 different languages including several different African languages, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. He spent time with several of Africa's future leaders while in London. In later years, Robeson gained the respect and recognition within the USA that he had long had internationally. His last years were spent in the UK, where he continued to fight against prejudice of any kind until his death.