Portraits of an Aristoblack
How ironically relevant and timely, we thought, when reading about the release of Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artists, a DVD box set showcasing the varying fields of excellence by Renaissance man and peace activist Paul Robeson. Timely in the post 9/11, creation of United States Department of Homeland Security and Guantánamo Bay detainment camp and passage of USA PATRIOT Act, kind of way. That is, reminiscent of the same political climate in which Robeson's career as an artist and political activist thrived and was condemned; his passport retracted and freedom of speech and expression revoked for eight years.
Portraits of the Artists showcases seven films, a documentary on Robeson's life and art, and a book of essays illustrating Robeson as an exceptional athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. Oscar Micheaux's silent film Body and Soul (1925) introduced American film world to Robeson's theatrical talents in his portrayal of conflicting twin brothers. Although the package excludes Robeson's epic Othello Broadway performance that prompted 12 encores opening night and is still one of the longest running Shakespeare performances on Broadway, it does explore other performances with Robeson as actor, and sometimes narrator in Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand's Native Land (1942).
Robeson's irrevocable passion for progress and equality, often obscured by propaganda and persecution, remains an eternal model for excellence and return to renaissance. His artistic and political contributions uttered through voice and word, in more than a dozen languages, exude his commitment to the international community and the poise of a true diplomat.
In Here I Stand, Robeson's autobiography, he says "[I] learned that the essential character of a nation is determined not by the upper classes, but by the common people, and that the common people of all nations are truly brothers in the great family of mankind." And we certainly hope the depth of Robeson's works in Portrait of the Artists resounds beyond the Broadway stage and screen.
5 April 2007