I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the struggles faced by anti-fascists and communists in the United States, emphasizing the ongoing persecution they endured.
Paul Robeson's quote speaks to the experience of individuals who stood against fascism and oppression, underscoring the persecution they faced at home. It reflects the broader struggle for justice and equality in the face of oppressive ideologies, revealing how political beliefs can lead to severe social and personal repercussions.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech at a civil rights rally to highlight the importance of standing against oppression.
I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
We ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
Art is not just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be.
The moment I understood this - that my Parkinson's was the one thing I wasn't going to change - I started looking at the things I could change, like the way research is funded.
Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory and you will come home with no wounds whatsoever.
Bite your lips, little brother...Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now...Wait. Clench your teeth and wait.
I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I've had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don't think we should be judgmental. Lord, I've got enough problems of my own to pass judgment on somebody else.
Black power can be clearly defined for those who do not attach the fears of white America to their questions about it.
Donβt wait to be hunted to hide, that was always my motto.
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