William Robeson soon married Maria Louisa Bustill and the couple had five children - William Drew II, Benjamin, Reeve, Marian, and Paul. The family relocated to Somerville, N.J. in 1910 where Paul attended high school. Paul Robeson graduated with honors from Somerville High School in 1915 and earned a full academic scholarship to Rutgers University. Robeson embodied the term "scholar-athlete." He earned 15 varsity letters while at Rutgers in football, baseball, basketball, and track and field. Robeson was a first-team All-American defensive end in 1917 and 1918. This gave him the distinction of being Rutgers' first All-American football player of any race. His academics were so impressive that the Phi Beta Kappa honor society accepted him as a junior. So, it was no surprise to anyone when Robeson was named class valedictorian of 1919.
Robeson moved to Harlem after graduation and enrolled in Columbia Law School. He paid his own way through law school by playing for the Akron Pros of the NFL and performing on stage. He graduated from Columbia in 1923. Robeson did not pursue athletics after law school and his law career was short-lived as well. Robeson quit the firm of Stotesbury and Miner after a white secretary refused to take dictation from him because of his race. However, he never left singing and acting. Robeson won acclaim in the 1920s for his performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. His first film was 1925's Body and Soul. Robeson married Eslanda Goode while a student at Columbia. The two would move to England in the late 1920s and Robeson became a full-time actor. Robeson appeared in nine films during his time in England. He also garnered the title role in a London stage production of William Shakespeare's Othello; making him the first black actor play Othello opposite a white cast in a century.
Paul Robeson traveled the world performing and soon became a staunch advocate for civil rights. He gave benefit performances for troubled miners in England and spoke out against fascism in Spain. His activism would eventually lead him back to the United States where he became the voice of the anti-lynching movement. In 1946, Robeson spoke at a rally inside Madison Square Garden against the rising number of lynchings in the South. He said lynching "represents the ultimate limit of bestial brutality to which the enemies of democracy, be they German Nazis or American Ku Kluxers, are ready to go on imposing their will. What about it, President Truman? Why have you failed to speak out against this evil? When will the federal government take effective action to uphold our constitutional guarantees?"
He was not one to mince words and this got him into trouble with federal authorities. The State Department denied Robeson a passport in 1950. Officials told him that "his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries." Robeson was officially blacklisted. In the 1950 volume of the College Football Hall of Fame, Robeson's name and records were completely omitted. The United States restored his passport via Supreme Court ruling in 1958. Robeson began performing again, until retiring in 1963. After his death in 1976, several campaigns were started to restore Robeson's name in record books and in society. He was honored with several posthumous awards; including induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Robeson is the inspiration for those who inspire us. He is a champion's champion. His life shows us that any man can be great, if he only dares to be. Until next time...
Be a Good Sport!
-Sol
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