photo: sarah franklin

TALK: THIS LITTLE LIGHT

PAUL ROBESON: Keeping the light shining through the darkest of times.

Paul Robeson's immense popularity with audiences at home and abroad led to his strident left-wing radicalism being seen as an increasing threat to the American Establishment. He became portrayed as a dangerous revolutionary and a non-patriot, and finally, in 1950, the State Department cancelled his passport, rendering him unable to travel abroad to perform. It would be another eight years before his passport was restored.

In this presentation, Mr. Aluko talks about Robeson’s refusal to separate his music from his international activism, and plays some relatively rare recordings from that darkest period of Robeson’s life, when American recording studios joined the rest of America in turning their backs on him. He also performs a few extracts from Call Mr. Robeson, and suggests how Paul Robeson can be a source of inspiration to us individually and collectively in today’s dark times.

Duration: 55 mins.

Requirements: CD player and speakers. Projection facilities from laptop. (Optional)

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