Post by Laurence Aikens

Paul Leroy Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was a bass-baritone concert artist and stage and film actor who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political activism. Educated at Rutgers College and Columbia University, he was a star athlete in his youth. He studied Swahili and Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. His political activities began with his involvement with unemployed workers and anti-imperialist students whom he met in Britain and continued with support for the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War and his opposition to fascism. He became active in the Civil Rights Movement and other social justice campaigns. His sympathies for the Soviet Union and communism, and his criticism of the US government and its foreign policies, caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College, where he has twice named a consensus All-American in football and was the class valedictorian. Almost 80 years later, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School while playing in the NFL. At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions. He became a figure in the Harlem Renaissance with performances in Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha