|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, The achievements of singer, actor, athlete, and |
|
activist Paul Robeson mark him as one of the most inspirational |
|
Americans of the 20th century, and it is fitting to pay tribute to |
|
his life and career; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, Mr. Robeson |
|
was the son of William Drew Robeson, a Presbyterian minister and |
|
former slave, and Maria Bustill Robeson, a schoolteacher; and |
|
WHEREAS, An excellent student and athlete, Mr. Robeson was |
|
only the third African American to attend Rutgers College, where he |
|
made Phi Beta Kappa and graduated as valedictorian in 1919; at |
|
Rutgers he also earned 15 varsity letters in sports and was the |
|
first Rutgers football player ever to make All-American; and |
|
WHEREAS, While supporting himself after college as a |
|
professional football player, Mr. Robeson earned a law degree from |
|
Columbia University in New York in 1923; his legal career was cut |
|
short, however, when he encountered racial discrimination, and he |
|
turned instead to the stage; and |
|
WHEREAS, He joined playwright Eugene O'Neill's Provincetown |
|
Players and gave a brilliant performance in O'Neill's play The |
|
Emperor Jones in 1933; other stage triumphs followed in New York, |
|
where he played Shakespeare's Othello and the Haitian revolutionary |
|
Toussaint L'Ouverture; his performances of the song "Ol' Man River" |
|
in the Broadway musical Show Boat and the 1936 film version are |
|
considered definitive; and |
|
WHEREAS, At the peak of his popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, |
|
Mr. Robeson linked his concert and recording career with his |
|
political activism and humanitarian work; his performances of |
|
spirituals and work songs thrilled audiences all over the world; an |
|
outspoken opponent of racism, he used his fame to campaign against |
|
lynching, segregation, and other forms of racial prejudice, and he |
|
refused to sing before segregated audiences; and |
|
WHEREAS, In the 1950s, Mr. Robeson suffered ostracism and |
|
harassment because of his political beliefs; he was blacklisted by |
|
theater owners and concert managers and his concerts were disrupted |
|
by mobs; his passport was revoked by the U.S. State Department in |
|
1950 and not returned to him for eight years; and |
|
WHEREAS, Even so, Mr. Robeson never backed down from his |
|
principles, and before his death in 1976, he was recognized for his |
|
artistic contributions and his activism with such awards as the |
|
Donaldson Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters medal, |
|
the Badge of Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the NAACP |
|
Spingarn Medal, the Champion of African Freedom Award from the |
|
National Church of Nigeria, the Duke Ellington Medal, and the Civil |
|
Liberties Award; he was also awarded honorary degrees from Rutgers |
|
University, Hamilton College, Morehouse College, Howard |
|
University, and Humboldt University; in 1995, more than 75 years |
|
after graduating from Rutgers, he was posthumously inducted into |
|
the College Football Hall of Fame; and |
|
WHEREAS, The artist and humanitarian Paul Robeson was a man |
|
of remarkable gifts and accomplishments who devoted his life to the |
|
causes of freedom, justice, and equal rights; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
|
Legislature hereby honor the life and career of Paul Robeson. |
|
Dutton |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
I certify that H.R. No. 1939 was adopted by the House on May |
|
18, 2007, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |