Customer Reviews

Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen

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Provocative essays, never-before-published photographs, Robeson-inspired artwork, and a comprehensive chronology are the pleasures of this first-rate text. Developed as a companion to a multimedia exhibition celebrating Robeson's centennial birthday, _Artist and Citizen_ is a must-read. Curator and editor Jeffrey Stewart has succeeded in providing a careful, comprehensive, sophisticated, yet accessible view of one of the major figures of the 20th century. Essayists include those whom we readily associate with Robeson and his era: Lloyd L. Brown, Martin Duberman, David Levering Lewis, and John Hope Franklin. The reader also learns from those who bring the unique perspectives of their fields such as economist Julianne Malveaux, film scholars Ed Guerrero and Mark A. Reid, legal scholar and social critic Derrick Bell, and photography historian Deborah Willis among others. The essayists explore Robeson's upbringing, athletic exploits, political philosophies and alliances, artistic career, and commitment to social justice with an eye on understanding Robeson's challenges and legacies, his life as a "work of art and politics," and the meaning of this hero and icon. In the introduction, Stewart stakes out his claims for the book. "We see ourselves as heirs to Robeson not in following any particular ideology that he espoused, but in practicing the intellectual integrity he lived...Hence, in this volume is a chorus of diverse voices, not all of whom sing Robeson's praises, but which rather raise the kinds of concerns that he himself voiced during his long and fruitful life." _Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen_ lives up to Stewart's claims. It is an essential text for anyone interested in Robeson, race and class matters, art and politics, or the remarkable life lived.