First published in 1958 and re-issued to mark the centenary of Robeson's birth, these memoirs paint a remarkable portrait of an amazing man - talented and successful worldwide as a singer and actor, and a passionate and outspoken critic of racism in American society. The most celebrated black American of his day, Robeson was blacklisted, silenced and had his US passport withheld because of his criticism of McCarthyism, his fascination with the Soviet Union and his strong support of African independence. He wrote Here I ...
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First published in 1958 and re-issued to mark the centenary of Robeson's birth, these memoirs paint a remarkable portrait of an amazing man - talented and successful worldwide as a singer and actor, and a passionate and outspoken critic of racism in American society. The most celebrated black American of his day, Robeson was blacklisted, silenced and had his US passport withheld because of his criticism of McCarthyism, his fascination with the Soviet Union and his strong support of African independence. He wrote Here I Stand as a bold answer to his accusers and it remains today a passionate and defiant challenge to the prevailing fear and racism that continues to characterize American society. '(Robeson's) nobility, his language, his encouragement and his praise put me forever in his debt because it inspired me fully to be like him, and to use my life as he had used his, to put into it the commitment of the liberation of his people and all people.' Harry Belafonte in Restoring Hope 'Robeson's book is a perennial, first published in 1958, and now a voice from a different time. It anticipates for black persons the moral support of the American majority with an intensity that now seems evangelical. It's full of probably tragic hope. It should be read.' The Boston Globe 'This amazing man, this great intellect, this magnificient genius with his overwhelming love of humanity is a devastating challenge to a society built on hypocrisy, greed and profit-seeking at the expense of common humanity.' The New York Times
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Add this copy of Here I Stand to cart. $72.56, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hialeah, FL, UNITED STATES, published 1971 by Beacon Press.
Neither preachy nor pretentious, this book also avoids the trap of being "folksy" or false. It is instead an honest accounting of Paul Robeson's actions before his peers of the time. Largely forgotten in his homeland to this day, thanks to politically unfashionable decisions he took, Robeson's life story is still worth reading a half century after its publication.
