By Gloria DULAN-Wilson
Hello All:
I
totally confess that from childhood, I've had a life long fascination
and crush on the great Paul Robeson. Ever since I saw The Emperor Jones
on the big screen in The East Side Theater, a Black owned movie theater
in Oklahoma City. My parents took us to see it and other Black movies
when we were kids - us being my sister Brenda and me. Even at that
young age I totally appreciated the very handsome Black man with that
amazing voice that reverberated through my skinny bone structure. It
was love at first sight - second only to my Daddy, Warner Hale Dulan.
In
school in Oklahoma City, we studied Paul Robeson; in our many Black
history school plays the guys imitated him, and we basically grew up
listening to his many songs. But, other than Showboat and God's
Trombone, I had no idea of the amazing body of work he had done outside
the limitations of a racist America. I did not learn about this until I
was grown, on my own, and watching latenight movies on WNET Channel 13
in NYC - where they did an amazing retrospective of Paul Robeson's
movies - that was in the 70s.
I
also did not connect the dots when I was attending Lincoln University,
that I was in the very city where he was born raised and resided.
Amazing!!! Of course at that stage of my life, I would have been much
too shy to do anything about it. But, just to think that I was visiting
my best friend, Annie Gee, in West Philadelphia, and she lived right
around the corner from him!!! Wow!!
I
was totally blown away! I had met his son Paul Jr., who was a nice
guy, but nothing like his dad - and asked him about the movies his
father had starred in. He seemed to be totally surprised to find it
out.
In
1976, while residing in California, I completed training in Broadcast
Journalism, and got my FCC license. I did my first broadcast, and sadly
my first story was about the passing of the great Paul Robeson, who had
fought a valiant fight against racism, restriction and the
disenfranchisement of Black people. His Passport and Visa had been
confiscated because he stood up for Black people - at home and abroad.
Sadly Black people did not stand for him during his trial and
tribulations. I had always wished that he had done like WEB DuBois, and
expatriated to Ghana when America decided they were going to turn on
him (I wished the same for Bill Cosby - when they tried to lynch him
with lies).
The
caucasoids tried to claim he was a communist - which he was not, and
emphatically denied - because he spoke out against the racism in the
United States perpetrated against Black people.
Paul
Robeson was the epitome of a FINE BLACK MAN - who stood his ground,
stood for Black people, did not back down, a quadruple threat: ACTIVIST,
ACTOR, VOCALIST, SPEAKER, ICON, INTELLECT, i.e. THE FULL PACKAGE of
everything caucasoid males are totally afraid of - those indeniable
nascent qualities most Black men possess, that caucasoids have been
trying to either beat into submission, or deprive us of ever since they
set their rotten feet on AFRICAN SOIL -
BTW: Did I mention he was an ARIES?
With
al the foregoing, I was so elated to find that TCM had selected him as
their September Star of the Month - which started this past Sunday,
September 5 with a kickoff salute to him, and two of his early movies
BODY & SOUL, and THE EMPEROR JONES. Most of his movies were made
in England - where he was the principle star of the movie - something he
could never do in the US. I hope you tune in and watch this wonderful
brother at his finest - Black in the day.
But my big question is this:
WHY HAVEN'T OUR BLACK TV CHANNELS DONE A TRIBUTE/RETROSPECTIVE ON THE GREAT PAUL ROBESON? BET, ASPIRE, TV ONE, Griot???
WHY
HAVEN'T OUR PRODUCERS DONE A BIOPIC ON THE GREAT PAUL ROBESON? He
definitely paved the way for so many of those who are enjoying freedom
of creative expression today! Spike, Tyler?
Why aren't we supporting the Paul Robeson Museum in Philadelphia, PA??? They could certainly use our support.
WHY
ISN'T THERE A PAUL ROBESON EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD given to
someone who has gone the extra distance? Come on BET, NAACP, Urban
League, etc???
Having him featured as Star of the Month on TCM
is indeed a great honor for such a great man - but we should likewise
be giving Paul Robeson his due for generations to come.
It's really up to us, isn't it?
I
Posted the article below in my Blog and on Facebook on February 28 this
year - I'm re-posting it in honor of The Great PAUL ROBESON
I've
included links to some of his movies that were done outside the US to
show his brilliance at a time when we were being lynched, discounted,
disregarded, and just plain dissed. Hope you enjoy them. If they don't
open, paste them into your browser.
https://www.facebook.com/WeActRadio/posts/3350542964995623
I am a lifelong fan of the great PAUL ROBESON - ever since I first heard his voice sing OLD MAN RIVER.
It's
too bad we couldn't clone this FINE BLACK MAN - there are a lot of
sisters who would absolutely love to have a Fabulous Brother like him in
her life - including yours truly.
It's
obvious the mainstream media and racist caucasoids have been successful
in squelching the wonderful movies he's done that were so far ahead of
the game that it would have caused street riots in the South to see this
brother in all his glory and magnificence.
I'm
share a short list of his works with you. The caucasoids try to say he
was a communist - totally ignoring his other greater body of work in
the Cinema and his stance for Black people and liberation.
There
are several other movies starred Paul Robeson where he was cast as the
lead - THE HERO - unlike the many demeaning movies made about Black men
and women - (Showboat springs to mind).
PAUL ROBESON MOVIES
2) SANDERS OF THE RIVER
3) BIG FELLA
4) BORDERLINE (SILENT MOVIE)
5) SONG OF FREEDOM
6) THE PROUD VALLEY - (SORRY - NO LINK)
There are days when I just binge on his movies.
There
is one movie with Nina Mae McKinney where he is the king of his tribe -
she plays his wife - that is so absolutely fabulous - it is absolutely
my favorite Paul Robeson movie.
I
hope you can click on the links and watch them and enjoy this
wonderful, powerful, FINE BLACK MAN - PAUL ROBESON. Share them with
your family - especially the ones who said they don't like black and
white movies. What they don't realize is that they were done in the
early to mid-30s when technology was deemed out of reach of Black people
- but we told the stories and made the movies anyway - and did a
fabulous job. At the same time Robeson was making movies for Black
people, Spencer Williams and Oscar Michaeaux were doing the same as
well. Robeson had the distinction of being able to be on an equal or
superior footing with whites, and telling them off with impunity -
probably because his movies were made outside the USA.
I'm
a little disappointed that Philadelphia Blacks did not stand up for him
when his passport and travel rights were taken away to prevent him from
having a larger platform to speak of the evils Black people were
suffering in the US. They also prevented him from singing locally. He
was there for us, but we did not reciprocate.
Enjoy
the movies - and if you find any additional Robeson movies that I'm not
familiar with (that are non-communistic in nature), please share them
with me: 4ECLECTICALLYBLACKNEWS@gmail.com
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
 |
| Gloria DULAN-Wilson |
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
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