Paul Robeson

Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor - American Library Association (ALA)

An updated and redesigned edition of an award-winning biography of Paul Robeson, who overcame racial discrimination to become an international entertainer and civil rights activist. Includes a new introduction and afterword by the author, focusing on Robeson's legacy.

Paul Robeson, born in 1898 and the son of a pastor, learned from his father to love written and spoken words, to be proud of being black, and to stand up for what he believed was right. These were the things that guided Paul throughout his life.

After achieving academic and athletic success in school, Paul gained fame as a singer and an actor. His talent and his deep, rich voice won him fans and admirers worldwide. But as he traveled the globe for performances, Robeson became disturbed by the poverty and injustices he saw. In the 1940s and 1950s he began speaking out and fighting for freedom. Such activism was not tolerated, and Robeson came to be considered an enemy by the United States government.

With dignity and a dynamic spirit, Paul Robeson-athlete, actor, singer, and civil rights activist-stayed true to himself and took a stand for his beliefs. A new generation of readers will soon be introduced to this courageous man.

Eloise Greenfield is a celebrated poet and the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry and biography for children, including the Coretta Scott King Award winner Africa Dream, The Coretta Scott King Award Honor books Mary McLeod Bethune and Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir, co-written with her mother. Greenfield is the recipient of the Hope S. Dean Award from the Foundation for Children's Literature, and the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She has received the Hurston/Wright Foundation's North Star Award for Lifetime Achievement, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Moonstone Celebration of Black Writing, and has an Honorary Doctor of Education Degree from Wheelock College in Boston. Greenfield has also been inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. She lives in Washington, D.C.

George Ford is an award-winning artist who has illustrated dozens of children's books, including several by noted authors such as Nikki Grimes, Eloise Greenfield, Nikki Giovanni, and Robert Coles. In 1974, he was the recipient of the first Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Ray Charles. A lifelong jazz enthusiast, Ford lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife.