Surprising Facts About Paul Robeson, The Radical Star With A Tragic Story
As a young man, there wasn’t much that Paul Robeson didn’t excel at. Only one thing held him back: the color of his skin.
Robeson took the youthful anger he felt about prejudice against Black Americans, and turned it into a life of fighting for underdogs across the globe.
All was going well, until the US government saw his protests and did something shocking: labeled him a communist and threatened to erase him from history.
These concealed facts about lawyer, singer, actor, and dissident Paul Robeson may just help set the record straight.
1. He Was The Son Of A Slave
Paul Robeson was the youngest of four children born to a minister and his wife in 1898. Dad was William Drew Robeson, and had been a slave until he was a teenager. Robeson’s dad managed to escape slavery and land a job as a minister in a Princeton New Jersey church. Life looked good for Robeson and his family—until a simple disagreement turned their happy life into a living nightmare.
2. They Got Pushed Out
While Robeson’s father’s church was all Black, the money for the church came from the pockets of white financial supporters.
When a disagreement arose between Robeson’s father and the funders, Robeson’s dad had to resign—even though he had the congregation's support. Once dad didn’t have a steady job, the Robeson family fell on very hard times.
And just when they thought things couldn’t get worse—they did.
3. His Mother Suffered
After his resignation, Robeson’s father started working low-paying jobs and the family could barely make ends meet. At the same time, Robeson’s mother, Maria Louisa Bustill, was fighting a losing battle with cataracts.
By the time Robeson was six years old, the worst happened: his mother became all but completely blind. Having a blind mother made an already difficult life even harder for the Robesons, but it would soon prove to be fatal.
4. There Was A Fire
In 1904, Robeson’s near-blind mother was cooking in their home. Back then, everyone did their cooking on a wood-burning stove, and a hot ember sparked from the stove and terrifyingly landed on Bustill’s clothes.
With far from adequate eyesight, Bustill was unable to put the fire out, and more and more of her clothes lit on fire. The situation quickly escalated out of control.
