SENATE RESOLUTION
8649
By Senators Hasegawa, Conway, and Saldaña
WHEREAS, Paul Leroy Robeson was born on April 9, 1898; and
WHEREAS, Robeson was born the son of a runaway slave and is now considered by many as the quintessential 20th Century Renaissance Person; and
WHEREAS, As a scholar, Paul Robeson went to Rutgers University on an academic scholarship where he was the only African American student; and
WHEREAS, At Rutgers he was a member of the Intercollegiate Debating Association, was inducted as a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society, and was nominated as Class Valedictorian in 1919, and he went on to earn a law degree at Columbia Law School; and
WHEREAS, As an athlete, Robeson earned 15 varsity letters at Rutgers in football, basketball, baseball, and track, was a two-time All-American in football, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and went on to play football in the NFL in order to pay his tuition, while also attending law school; and
WHEREAS, As an artist for nearly four decades, Robeson achieved worldwide acclaim as a vocalist and actor on stage and screen; and
WHEREAS, He performed Shakespeare's Othello at Stratford-On-Avon and was summoned for a Royal Command Performance at Buckingham Palace, starred in film performances in Show Boat and other productions, and released recordings of some 276 songs; and
WHEREAS, As a global citizen, Robeson was a brilliant scholar of languages and world cultures, fluent in over 20 languages, including Russian, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Yiddish, Arabic, and a number of African languages, and was able to perform in over 50 languages; and
WHEREAS, Robeson connected the struggle for social justice with people around the world who also were fighting for political rights, cultural recognition, and economic justice; and