Paul Robeson For Beginners

Paul Robeson despite being one of the greatest Renaissance figures in American history still remains in relative anonymity. An exceptional scholar lawyer athlete stage and screen actor linguist singer civil rights and political activist he performed brilliantly in every professional enterprise he undertook. Any serious treatment of civil rights history and radical politics as well as American sports musical theatrical and film history must consider the enormous contributions of Paul Robeson.And yet Paul Robeson remains virtually unknown by millions of educated Americans. People typically know him for only one if any of the major successes of his life: the concert singer best known for "Old Man River" the star of Shakespeare's Othello on Broadway in the early 1940s the political activist blacklisted for his radical views and activism during the era of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Paul Robeson For Beginners demystifies and bestows light and long overdue credence to the life of this extraordinary American.