Paul Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976)
voice, football, law, acting, civil rights, Renaissance man, great American
Paul Robeson was a Twentieth Century Renaissance man - one of just a few, really. He has a notable academic, athletic, musical and public/political record.
http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/njh/PaulRobeson/PRBio.htm
As an American, he has set the example for all citizens to follow, lest we fall to apathy, cowardice and desperation ( ... wait a minute! We already have. Was Robeson's example not enough or was it because he was blacklisted and removed from the history books that we don't heed his examples and warnings?)
I spend a lot of time listening to the amazing voice of Paul Robeson. Pure, dynamic, subtle, powerful, honorable, paternal, respectful, responsible are all words I'd use to describe his tone and control and performance.
These days, most folks just don't perform with the strength and the courage that Robeson did. We rely on microphones and technology to enhance all those things that the human spirit can achieve if given the time to practice and master.
Paul Robeson gave us a great gift through his recordings (and his mighty example as an American citizen.) Treat yourself to this gift!
A note on Mr. Robeson's consummate example of American citizenship:
With each passing year, we forget a little more about our responsibilities as American citizens. We have, for some reason unknown to me, come to rely on the government to take care of us instead of taking care of ourselves.
Hand in hand with that fact, we are beginning to change our attitudes toward privacy and propriety. Folks are writing about every little thing that happens to them on a daily basis in blogs (just like this one ... ugh! I'm a hypocryte!) for the world to see, disclosing information that should probably be kept personal or respectfully confronted in a private setting.
Very simply, we are losing our way.
Mr. Robeson came under fire for holding to his way - the good, old-fashioned American way. He did not disclose his religion, political affiliations and many other things publicly. Why? Because it was absolutely NOBODY'S business! The same as it is today - we just don't seem to remember that asking someones age, religious beliefs, financial situation, or politics is in BAD form.
Why is this bad? Let's have a look at a specific example provided by our subject.
Mr. Robeson was brought before the House Committee of "Un-American" Activities in 1956.
The HCUAA accused him of being a "communist." (Of course, I'm from a different era but I'm not quite sure if it's written into law anywhere that being a "communist" is illegal. I'm also pretty sure that it isn't the government's business if anyone is a "communist" or a balloonist or a contortionist or a Buddhist or a Christian or a guitarist or a typist or an atheist ... you get my meaning.)
He stood up to this b.s. U.S. government sponsored bullying - like any responsible, right-minded, forward-thinking, adult American citizen should have.
I am guilty of keeping a blog, despite my earlier denouncement of such technology. However, I'm not in the habit of disclosing personal situations at this blog. I use it more as a bulletin board to post reminders to folks that we all need to take examples from other great Americans; we all need to be responsible for the actions of this country and our "elected," corrupt government.
I am pasting below a copy of a blog I posted on Mr. Paul Robeson. It contains his testimony before the House Committee on "Un-American" Activities.
Please read. Please take notes.
(For those of you who have forgotten or just never learned about this horribly disgraceful and completely embarrassing period of American politics, please go open a book! We are currently involved with yet another despicable undertaking very similar to this one -- this time around, we're losing the battle - for those of you who don't know or don't want to say it out loud: we've already lost our Constitution! If that's not a giant, glaring red flag, I'm not sure what would be!)
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"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force ... Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
- George Washington
I will post in a different blog the transcript from Mr. Robeson's testimony before the HCUAA.
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