PAUL Robeson, the great singer, actor and activist, was the star attraction at Glasgow’s St Andrew’s Hall on Sunday, March 20. “Personal appearance. One night only”, ran the wording in the advertisements.
Interviewed in his hotel room prior to the show, Robeson spoke to an Evening Times reporter, who noticed his ‘props’: an unfinished manuscript, a piano, and a miniature chessboard. Robeson said he expected to finish the book in five or six months’ time. Whereas his last book, Here I Stand, was essentially political, this one would focus on his experiences in music and the theatre.
The piano? “I’m working on some theoretical problems in music. I’m not a pianist but I need a piano”. The chessboard (next to which lay a newspaper opened at a chess game)? “I play both sides. I don’t play chess very well and this is one way to learn”.
The concert went well; and a few weeks later Robeson, who is pictured, above, with his wife Eslanda, was back in Scotland, for May Day parades. At Queen’s Park (main image) he received an enthusiastic welcome from 10,000 people. They passed a resolution declaring that the South African government’s “ruthless methods” against the native people had aroused the indignation and condemnation of the entire world.
Robeson said his sympathies remained with those who had to struggle. “There can be no question that we, the people, in the deepest sense, create the wealth”, he told the audience. “We are building a world in which we can live a rich and decent life, and we and our children should enjoy it”. He sang what he described as a song of peace, and such old favourites as Water Boy and Old Man River, and led the crowd in Loch Lomond.
The following day he led a miners’ gala day parade in Edinburgh.
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