Paul Robeson

American singer, actor, and political activist (1898–1976) · 1898–1976

Appears in 7 videos · 7 passages, 6 of them in depth.

Summary

Dominique Pagani discusses Paul Robeson both as a singer and as an activist. He stresses his bass voice, which he calls "prodigious"1, and his renditions of "Ol' Man River," from Show Boat, and of the Internationale2 3. What he retains above all, however, is his political stance: for Robeson, the struggle of Black people is the same as that of exploited white workers, Africans and Asians4. He thus called for uniting the white proletariat and oppressed Black people against a common adversary. Dominique Pagani sets this stance against identitarian reduction5. He refers several times to the Cardiff episode, where Robeson sings for Welsh miners and tells them that the African-Americans' fight against capitalism is theirs as well6 7. Finally, he points out that this communist activist is forgotten today, and even that people are made to forget him. He brings him up in sessions devoted to negritude, to jazz and to the "decolonial" question.

Summary produced automatically from 7 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Paul Leroy Robeson ( ROHB-sən; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his political stances. In 1915, Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he was the only African-American student. While at Rutgers, he was twice named a consensus All-American in football and was elected class valedictorian. He earned his LLB degree from Columbia Law School while playing in the National Football League (NFL). […]

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Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: Gordon Parks, Office of War Information; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 07:13, 3 February 2011 (UTC), Public domain

Series · 31 Mar 2021"Red-browns", "decolonial": Should we use the dominant language? • Philosophical Q&A • Pagani

1:08:17Bass singer whom we make people forget. In Cardiff, he tells the miners that the struggle of Black Americans is the same as theirs against capitalism.

Talks · 16 Jan 2021The World Before, The World After - Part 2

55:00prodigious bass singer and forgotten communist militant; he sang for Welsh miners, who saw their struggle as the same as that of African Americans

Series · 15 Dec 2020Musicosophy 6. The Jazz Variation... by Beethoven

1:14:15Great bass, refused identitarian reduction: the struggle of Black people is the same as that of white workers.

Season 8 · 21 Jun 2020#11 • Return to the logics of the subject

1:07:15Singer with a prodigious bass voice; he called for uniting the white proletariat and oppressed Blacks against the same adversary.

Season 8 · 11 Jun 2020#10 • Return to the logics of the subject

1:19:20Great bass, performer of "Ol' Man River" and the Internationale, in solidarity with white workers of Europe.

Talks · 17 Jun 2017Adotevi: Negritude and negrologists (1)

43:14Singer and militant who writes that the struggle of Blacks is the same as that of exploited Whites, Africans, and Asians.

Series · 7 Feb 2021Musicosophy 14. Mozart once more

43:44Made "Ol' Man River" from Show Boat famous.

Who is this?

Read the article on Wikipedia

Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: Gordon Parks, Office of War Information; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 07:13, 3 February 2011 (UTC), Public domain

Often cited with

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