Publication: Race and Class
Publication Date: 01-OCT-04
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Carew, Jan
Article Excerpt
The late 1950s was an era of profound social and political change. Characterised by McCarthyism and the cold war and overshadowed by the atomic bomb, the period was also marked by the growing momentum of anti-colonial struggles and by mass population movements worldwide. including Commonwealth immigration to Britain. Jan Carew, Guyanese novelist and historian, playwright, poet, one-time actor and always activist, lived in London for much of that time. He was uniquely placed, from the breadth of his concerns, to respond to and involve himself in the major cultural and political currents of the period. What follows is a brief extract from his ongoing memoirs.
Paul Robeson and his wife Eslanda Cardozo Goode, Essie, had arrived in England in July 1958 after an eight-year-long fight against McCarthyite prohibitions, the cruellest of which, by taking away his passport, had relegated him to an internal exile that prevented him from appearing in theatres and concert halls across the United States and throughout the world. So thousands of fans had been denied the pleasure of listening to his deep, melodious and uniquely expressive voice when he was in his prime.
I had been a member of the Robeson Defense Committee and I met Paul and Essie at several receptions and public events at which they were the guests of honour. I had last seen him almost a decade earlier and now, though he was at least thirty pounds heavier, he was still a magnificent specimen, and the natural friendliness and warmth he exuded made everyone he met feel that he or she was a cherished friend.
Robeson's arrival in Britain in 1958 was at the behest of Glen Byam Shaw, the general manager of the Royal Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, who wanted him to play the role of Othello to mark the opening of the 100th anniversary season. When Robeson had agreed to play the role, the membership of the British actors' union Equity had voted unanimously to allow him to act in Great Britain, although he couldn't come then as his passport had not yet been returned to him. Needless to say, his welcome when he finally did arrive in the summer of 1958 was a warm and tumultuous one.
True to form, shortly after his return to London, Robeson was the main speaker at a mass rally for peace in Trafalgar Square and his great voice filling that historic square and echoing beyond it seemed to touch everyone in the huge crowd personally. Macdonald Stanley, the blind Trinidadian trade union leader, also spoke at that rally. Tall, lean, ascetic and looking like a black Jesus, his voice, trained to speak to large audiences without a microphone, had also thundered across the square with a surprising clarity and resonance.
I took Robeson shopping in London on a couple of occasions, and I was always surprised about his reluctance to hail a taxi. When I asked him why he seemed to be boycotting London taxis, he laughed and said, 'I'll show you why', then he hailed the first cab that came our way. But when we reached our destination, I only realised at that moment that the meter had been turned off since the moment we sat down in the cab. The driver opened the door for Paul, shook his hand and, refusing to take any money from us, said, 'It's a great honour, Paul Robeson. Here is my card. Anytime you want a lift just call me.' 'That's why I don't hail cabs here--unless I really have to', Robeson explained genially. 'You know, when I try hailing a cab in New York, the white drivers won't take my money either, but they also refuse to take me as a passenger because I'm black.'
He was genial, affable and restless, and every day he and Essie had to contend with a new array of invitations to social and political events. Claudia Jones visited the Robesons daily. This Trinidadian-born political activist and former member of the Central Committee of the US Communist Party had settled in...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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