Office of Student Life & Associated Student Body present

Musical Theater featuring KB Solomon Internationally-known Basso Profundo

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 7:00 p.m. Student Lounge El Camino College Compton Center 1111 E. Artesia Blvd., Compton, CA 90221

In Observance of Black History Month

THIS EVENT IS FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The El Camino Community College District is committed to providing equal opportunity in which no person is subjected to discrimination on the basis of ethnic group identification, national origin, religion, age, sex, race, color, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or retaliation. Paul Robeson Civil & Human Rights activist, all American & professional football star, class valedictorian, lawyer, internationally renown stage and film star, and celebrated recording artist.

Star Athlete and Academic Paul Robeson was born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, N.J. He was the son of a former slave, born and raised during a period of segregation, lynching and open racism.

When he was 17, Robeson earned a scholarship to attend Rutgers University, the third African American to do so, and became one of the institutions most stellar students. He received top honors for his debate and oratory skills, won 15 letters in four varsity sports, was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and became his class valedictorian.

Then from 1920 to 1923, Robeson earned a degree from Columbia University’s law school, teach- ing Latin and playing professional football on the weekend to pay tuition.

Major Force on Stage & Screen Robeson starred in Shakespeare’s Othello, the musical Showboat, The Emperor Jones, All God’s Chillun Got Wings and other stage productions and in films such as Jericho and Proud Valley . He also starred in African-American director Oscar Micheaux’s 1925 work, Body and Soul. Robeson continued to make waves in London in 1928 with his star turn on stage in Showboat, where he brought the house down with “OI’ Man River”, a song that would become his signature. He estab- lished both a singing and film career and would be featured in six British films in the 1930s. He was one of the top performers of his time, earning more money than many white performers. His concert career spanned the globe: Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, New York, and Nairobi.

Activism and a Curtailed Career A beloved international figure, Robeson regularly spoke out against racial injustice and was in- volved in world politics. He supported Pan-Africanism, sang for Loyalist soldiers during Spain’s civil war, took part in anti-Nazi demonstrations and performed for Allied forces during WW II. He also visited the Soviet Union several times during the mid-1930s. Taken by much of its culture and ideas.

Back in the United States, he once again received accolades for his stage work in the 1943 Broad- way production Othello. Yet McCarthyism and Cold War paranoia was on the rebound. Robeson found himself contending with government officials looking to silence a voice who spoke out elo- quently against racism and had political ties that could be vilified. Robeson was labeled a commu- nist and was barred by the State Department from renewing his passport in 1950 to travel abroad for engagements. Despite his immense popularity, he was blacklisted from domestic concert venues, recording labels, and film studios.

A Lasting Legacy Robeson published his biography, Here I Stand, in 1958, the same year that he won the right to have his passport reinstated. Robeson again traveled internationally and received a number of accolades for his work, but damage had been done, as he suffered from debilitating depression and related health problems. Robeson and his family returned to the United States in 1963. After his wife Eslanda’s death in 1965, the artist lived with his sister. Robeson died from a stroke on January 23, 1976, at the age of 77, in Philadelphia. www.biography.com/people/paul-robeson-9460451