This is FRESH AIR. Bass-baritone Paul Robeson was one of the most popular figures of the 20th century, and also one of the most controversial. He died in 1976 at the age of 77, leaving a huge imprint ...
January 23rd was the 50th anniversary of Paul Robeson’s death. As historian Gerald Horne noted in his 2016 biography of Robeson, Time magazine declared him “probably the most famous living negro” in ...