Icon of freedom, friend of China

Editor's note: Paul Robeson dreamt of visiting China all his life. But his dream never came true. Today, on the 110th anniversary of his birth, a group of Chinese scholars gather at the former residency of Madame Soong Ching-ling to pay tribute to this great singer, actor, scholar, human-rights champion, and above all, friend of the Chinese people. Professor Chen Lin of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, recalls Robeson's life and his connection to China

Born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, US, Paul Robeson was the son of a runaway slave. Seeing the segregation of the Blacks, Robeson decided to study law so that he could protect the rights of his people. But later, he came to realize that the only way to help win freedom for the blacks was to devote himself to the fight for human rights. Robeson gave up law and took to performing to prove that the Blacks were equal to the Whites.

Robeson soon joined the Provincetown Players sponsored by the famous playwright Eugene O'Neill. He starred in The Emperor Jones and All God's Children Got Wings, which brought him immediate acclaim. With Shakespeare's Othello and the musical Show Boat, his reputation was solidly established. But Robeson saw that his acting range was limited by the choice of roles available to him as a Black and decided to turn to singing full time to give his talent a fuller play.

In the early 1930s, Robeson visited Europe, singing mainly for the underprivileged. His continued traveling throughout Europe and came in contact with the political Left.

In the summer of 1937, the Japanese imperialists started the war of invasion against China. During that year and the next, on various occasions, Robeson openly denounced the Japanese invasion. In 1938, at a mass rally of the international peace movement, he and Madame Soong Ching-ling both spoke in support of the Chinese people's struggle against the Japanese. Robeson sang in Chinese The March of the Volunteers, which became in 1949 the national anthem of the newly established People's Republic of China.

In 1941, Hitler's army invaded the Soviet Union. Robeson wrote to President Roosevelt asking the government to send aid to the war-torn country. At the same time he continued to sing to collect money to support the Chinese people in their fight against the Japanese.

In 1946, during the height of Chiang Kai-shek's suppression of the Communist-led forces, a Sun Yat-sen Day tribute meeting was held on March 12, 1944 in New York city. Both Madame Soong Ching-ling and Robeson attended the rally. In his speech, Robeson said:

"We cannot permit either selfish isolationism or a misguided and abstract sense of democratic propriety prevent Americans and America from speaking out on this issue. The three years' blockade against the Chinese guerilla forces must be lifted. The entire might and strength of China's 400 millions must be united."

After WWII, Chiang Kai-shek intensified his suppression of the democratic elements in China. On November 14, 1945 a rally was held in Washington to support the world's peace movement. Robeson made a speech in which he denounced American support for the Chiang Kai-shek government.

On October 1, 1949, when the People's Republic of China was born, Robeson was in Paris. When he heard the news over the radio he went out of the hotel with a few friends and hand-in-hand they marched in the street singing "Arise, you who refuse to be bound slaves"

Robeson's health began to deteriorate in the mid-1960s. He died on January 23, 1976 at the age of 78.

Four days later, a cold rain fell all day outside Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem, New York City. Despite the rain, thousands - black and white - gathered on the sidewalk and inside the church. The bishop, a boyhood friend of Robeson, delivered the eulogy. He ended with a paraphrase from a line Robeson used to sing at the close of "Joe Hill" - "Don't mourn for me, but fight on for freedom."

(China Daily 04/09/2008 page20)