#FORZA HORIZON OST PAUL ROBESON FULL#

What we know as the Korean War was not of Korea’s own making. Their military campaign against the colored peoples of Asia has let loose the vilest passions of Anglo-American ‘superiority,’ which threaten to drown the lives and liberties of Negro Americans in a sea of blood.” “ The blood-letting in Korea has driven our rulers mad.

#FORZA HORIZON OST PAUL ROBESON FULL#

On June 28, 1950, just three days after the outbreak of war, Robeson spoke to a full house at Madison Square Garden, linking the Korean intervention with racism at home and cautioning that black Americans would be drafted to protect imperial interests in Africa if they “fail to stop the intervention in Korea.” Protesting at numerous “Hands Off Korea” rallies thereafter, Robeson warned in the February 1951 issue of the Freedom newspaper: A major and oft-forgotten reason for the travel ban was his activism in opposition to US involvement in the Korean War. In 1950, Robeson-an outspoken critic of US policy-was stripped of his passport by the State Department and banned from traveling abroad. But there was a poignant omission from his life story. As I watched the production in 2019, on the hundredth anniversary of Robeson’s graduation from Rutgers, where I now teach, I was struck by the continued resonance of Robeson’s commitment to anti-racism and solidarity alongside his virtuosity as an artist. Accompanied by soulful ballads, the play wistfully sketched the contours of Robeson’s life, from his encounters with racism as a young athlete to his final performances at Carnegie Hall.

It was the voice of an actor playing Paul Robeson, the iconic figure who popularized songs like Joe Hill and Ol’ Man River during the US labor movements of the 1930s. The museum is still applying for other funding to make renovations and improve accessibility to the 109-year-old house on Walnut Street.The theater echoed with a thick, velvety bass baritone. She had a mortgage burning party in January. Now 75, Michael, who is the former owner of the Legendary Blue Horizon boxing venue on Broad Street, said she has retired four different times and is looking forward to bringing a younger director to lead the museum. Michael had known the Robeson family since she was a child living across the street from the Forsythes’ home, and called the famous actor and activist “Uncle Paul.” She said she has pictures of Robeson demonstrating outside the White House in the 1930s. Many of them are the same issues he fought for in the 1930s, 40s, 60s, and 70s.” “We want to show the world who Paul Robeson was, and what he has meant to the Black Lives Matter and the civil rights issues of today. Michael, the Robeson House executive director, now a volunteer position, said the grant will be used to pay the salary of a new executive director to take over and “propel us to the next level.” It is now both a museum and the headquarters for the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. “With urgency and intention, the nation must value the link between architecture and racial justice, and should fund these and other cultural assets to ensure their protection and preservation.”Īctor and activist Paul Robeson lived in the 1911 Victorian rowhouse that belonged to his widowed sister, Marian Forsythe, for the last 10 years of his life, from 1966 to 1976. The funds were part of $1.6 million in grants given to 27 cultural sites and organizations around the country that the National Trust awarded through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.īrent Leggs, executive director of the Action Fund, said in a release: “The recipients of this funding exemplify centuries of African American resilience, activism, and achievement, some known and some yet untold, that tell the complex story of American history in the United States. The Paul Robeson House, a museum and cultural space in West Philadelphia, has received a $135,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Forza horizon ost paul robeson