"Not very long ago I was invited by the satirical Krokodile to see the Soviet Union. In Tashkent I sat on a parkbench where I could drink in the breathtaking oriental beauty of the opera house. I was thinking of coming back the next day with my sketch pad when a little Uzbek girl came to me holding out a flower. Her oval face was so lovely, even with the tooth missing from in front. Of course I couldn't understand what she was saying but Yuri, my interpreter explained, "She asks if you are Paul Robeson?" Her mother appeared and suddenly it seemed there were hundreds of Uzbek children with their mothers, all carrying hastily picked flowers. I was terribly flustered but I managed to explain that I wasn't Paul Robeson but that he was my friend. And then one Uzbek mother, proud of her English said, "Here, he is our beloved Pauli.""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Lawyers from the United StatesSingers from the United StatesOrators from the United StatesActors from New JerseyAfrican American communists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Paul Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson (9 April 1898 – 23 January 1976) was an American actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator, lawyer, and basso profondo concert singer who was also known for his social justice activism.
49 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Paul Robeson →
Related Quotes
"I found a special eagerness among the younger, and I am sorry to say, the more intelligent Negroes, to dismiss the sp…"
"From what I have already seen of the workings of the Soviet Government, I can only say that anybody who lifts his han…"
"If the United States and the United Nations truly want peace and security let them fulfill the hopes of the common pe…"
"I am truly happy that I am able to travel from time to time to the USSR — the country I love above all. I always have…"
"Today in Korea—in Southeast Asia—in Latin America and the West Indies, in the Middle East—in Africa, one sees tens of…"
"It was deeply fascinating to watch how strikingly contemporary American audiences from coast to coast found Shakespea…"
"In the early days of my carer as an actor, I shared what was then the prevailing attitude of Negro performers — that …"
"For the first time since I began acting, I feel that I've found my place in the world, that there's something out of …"
"The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative. The history o…"
"If the American Negro is to have a culture of his own he will have to leave America to get it."