Paul Robeson Quotes

"[Singer Marian Anderson was investigated in 1958 when the State Department considered her for] a top level position. ... typical temperamental musician."
-Paul Robeson

"I feel closer to my country than ever. There is no longer a feeling of lonesome isolation. Instead--peace. I return without fearing prejudice that once bothered me . . . for I know that people practice cruel bigotry in their ignorance, not maliciously."
-Paul Robeson

"In my music, my plays, my films, I want to carry always this central idea: to be African."
-Paul Robeson

"I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed.. . . I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own."
-Paul Robeson

"Freedom is a hard-bought thing and millions are in chains, but they strain toward the new day drawing near."
-Paul Robeson

"The patter of their feet as they walk through Jim Crow barriers to attend school is the thunder of the marching men of Joshua, and the world rocks beneath their tread. [on the children of Little Rock]."
-Paul Robeson