PAUL ROBESON - ARTIST AND CITIZEN
Product Description
edited & with an introduction by Jefferey C. Stewart
Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen presents a kaleidoscope portrait of Paul Robeson(1898-1976), the All-American football player and Phi Beta Kappa Rutgers College graduate who became a world-renowned actor, singer, motion picture star, and America's first African American politically engaged performing artist. Coming to maturity during the Harlem Renaissance, Robeson starred in Eugene O'Neill's plays, sang spirituals in concert enduring roles in such movies as The Emperor Jones (1933), The Song of Freedom (1936), and Proud Valley (1940). But Robeson was also an African American who reacted against negative representations of Blacks in his films Sanders of the River (1935) and Tales of Manhattan (1942) by criticizing racism in the media and ultimately refusing to make more films. A robust political intellectual, Robeson shaped the leftist critique of fascism, championed the rights of works and oppressed minorities on his travels around the world, and became on of America's most outspoken critics of racism after World War II. During the Cold War his steadfast defense of the Soviet Union was seized upon by the media, the United States government, and McCarthyites, unfortunately tarnishing his name and achievements. This collection of essays by some of America's most respected scholars and intellectuals--published on the centenary of his birth--is designed to remind contemporary Americans of Robeson's accomplishments and provide a fresh assessment of his contributions.
Paperback: 331 pages
Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen presents a kaleidoscope portrait of Paul Robeson(1898-1976), the All-American football player and Phi Beta Kappa Rutgers College graduate who became a world-renowned actor, singer, motion picture star, and America's first African American politically engaged performing artist. Coming to maturity during the Harlem Renaissance, Robeson starred in Eugene O'Neill's plays, sang spirituals in concert enduring roles in such movies as The Emperor Jones (1933), The Song of Freedom (1936), and Proud Valley (1940). But Robeson was also an African American who reacted against negative representations of Blacks in his films Sanders of the River (1935) and Tales of Manhattan (1942) by criticizing racism in the media and ultimately refusing to make more films. A robust political intellectual, Robeson shaped the leftist critique of fascism, championed the rights of works and oppressed minorities on his travels around the world, and became on of America's most outspoken critics of racism after World War II. During the Cold War his steadfast defense of the Soviet Union was seized upon by the media, the United States government, and McCarthyites, unfortunately tarnishing his name and achievements. This collection of essays by some of America's most respected scholars and intellectuals--published on the centenary of his birth--is designed to remind contemporary Americans of Robeson's accomplishments and provide a fresh assessment of his contributions.
Paperback: 331 pages
