{"id":730,"date":"2020-02-22T18:19:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-22T18:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/?p=730"},"modified":"2025-05-19T20:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T20:40:10","slug":"paul-robeson-a-biography-by-martin-duberman-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/?p=730","title":{"rendered":"<em>Paul Robeson: a Biography<\/em> by Martin Duberman (1989)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_5,3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1><em>Paul Robeson: a Biography<\/em> by Martin Duberman (1989)<\/h1>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Book-cover-Paul-Robeson-biography-2.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; width=&#8221;48%&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; module_class=&#8221;no-gap&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;-31px||||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_5,3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;31px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Paul-Robeson-Carnegie-Hall-concert-poster.jpg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; width=&#8221;74%&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>The phrase \u201clarger-than-life\u201d is probably over-used nowadays but for Paul Robeson (1898-1976) it is an apt characterization. He had:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A towering <strong>physical presence<\/strong>, a handsome face, and a mega-watt smile.<\/li>\n<li>An <strong>intellect<\/strong> sufficient to graduate with a law degree from Columbia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Athletic prowess<\/strong>, having played football at both the college and professional levels.<\/li>\n<li>A rare <strong>vocal gift<\/strong> as a naturally deep bass singer along with <strong>acting skills<\/strong> ranging from Shakespeare to Eugene O\u2019Neill.<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>charisma<\/strong> that attracted legions of fans (including several women with whom he had affairs).<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>vision of brotherhood and human progress<\/strong>, not only for his fellow US black citizens but for oppressed people everywhere.<\/li>\n<li>An aptitude for <strong>foreign languages<\/strong>. Over time he used this skill not just for performing opera and folk songs but to actually speak to people in other countries in their mother tongue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; module_class=&#8221;no-gap&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;-48px||||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_5,3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>After deciding a career in law was not for him he gravitated toward a life on the stage. Here he is shown singing <strong>a signature song<\/strong> in the 1936\u00a0movie version of Jerome Kern&#8217;s &#8220;<em>Showboat<\/em>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_video src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yyJtGNk9iEU&#8221; image_src=&#8221;https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Paul-Robeson-singing-Ol-Man-River.jpg&#8221; thumbnail_overlay_color=&#8221;rgba(0,0,0,0.6)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; width=&#8221;73%&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0px|||||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>He traveled overseas to perform, and at home, he came within the orbit of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/americanmasters\/paul-robeson-about-the-actor\/66\/\">Harlem Renaissance which included many of the names we know as contributing so much to our natural culture<\/a>. <strong>The more places he visited the more his eyes were opened to injustice around the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>However, more than anything else it was the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.donquijote.org\/culture\/spain\/history\/the-spanish-civil-war\">Spanish Civil War<\/a> (which also attracted authors like Andr\u00e9 Malraux, John Dos Passos, George Orwell, and Ernest Hemingway to the front lines) that author Martin Duberman sees as the tipping point wherein Robeson decided he had to direct his art toward the political causes he believed in:<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Robeson later called the 1938 trip to Spain \u201ca major turning point in my life\u201d\u2014in the sense of intensifying his already well-developed political sympathies. \u201cI have never met such courage in a people,\u201d he told a reporter. He disliked the notion of turning to war to solve problems, but felt the Spanish people could not stand there and \u201cbe just murdered.\u201d In his notebook Robeson wrote, \u201cWe must know that Spain is our Front Line.\u2026 We are certainly not doing anywhere nearly enough. We don\u2019t feel deeply enough.\u2026 If we allow Republican Spain to suffer needlessly, we will ourselves eventually suffer as deeply.\u201d He deplored the failure of the Western democracies to aid the Loyalist cause in Spain.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>In contrast, Robeson felt, Communists had proved themselves enthusiastic allies in the fight against Franco, and the Soviet Union\u2019s support of the antifascist struggle confirmed for him\u2014and for many others\u2014that it stood in the forefront of the struggle for democratic liberties everywhere.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; module_class=&#8221;no-gap&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;-48px||||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;2_5,3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;2_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_video src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B0bezsMVU7c&#8221; image_src=&#8221;https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Paul-Robeson-with-Welsh-miners.jpg&#8221; thumbnail_overlay_color=&#8221;rgba(0,0,0,0.6)&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_video][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;3_5&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Both during and after World War II his involvement in a range of domestic and international political causes increased significantly, <strong>sometimes to the detriment of both his performing craft and his health.\u00a0<\/strong>This video shows both a clip from a movie related to the life of Scottish miners (in which Robeson starred as a stranded American sailor) as well as a British\u00a0newsreel showing him visiting and singing to &#8220;real&#8221; miners. The song is\u00a0&#8220;<em>I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night<\/em>&#8220;, a ballad about an American trade unionist who was allegedly framed on a murder charge and executed in 1915.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;0px|||||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>There are other biographies of Robeson, but I chose Martin Duberman\u2019s book because after some browsing his tome struck me as the most detailed as well the most arms-length in its objectivity about the subject. Duberman may seem like an odd choice since he is best known as an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Martin_Duberman\">academic historian focusing on LGBTQ topics<\/a>. His writing style is matter-of-fact and thus a little dry at times, but this actually works well owing to the grandeur, gravitas, and enigma of Robeson\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; module_class=&#8221;no-gap&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_2,1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>And as has been the case with other vilified African-American icons like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, <strong>the posthumous historical view of Paul Robeson has been much kinder to him than was the case during his lifetime<\/strong>. A US postage stamp has even been issued in his honor.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=&#8221;https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-i-ended-up-writing-the-legendary-paul-robesons-biography\/&#8221; button_text=&#8221;Read an article by the author on writing about Robeson and his life&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_2&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Paul-Robeson-postage-stamp.jpg&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset2&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Personal connection<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>I first discovered Robeson owing to the fact that my parents had a collection of albums with him performing in a variety of musical styles \u2013 spirituals, folk songs, show tunes, operatic excerpts, love songs \u2013 you name it. Some were accompanied by a full orchestra whereas others featured just Robeson and his piano accompanist of many years, Lawrence Brown.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Robeson had myriad talents \u2013 football star, Ivy League lawyer, singer, actor, international celebrity, advocate for the oppressed. What went wrong?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-classical-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.oganovic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Paul-Robeson-postage-stamp.jpg?fit=297%2C451&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=730"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3120,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730\/revisions\/3120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oganovic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}