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.
If my lips teach the public that men are made mad by bad treatment, and if the police are taught that they may exasperate to madness men they persecute and ill treat, my life will not be entirely thrown away.
I feel so fortunate and grateful to be a survivor of breast cancer. I see it as a gift.
I think there was a reason God helped me escape... and I don't take my freedom for granted.
I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle.
As I recovered at Walter Reed, I worried about the soldiers who pulled me out of my helicopter that Friday afternoon. Would they make it back okay? And what about all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who were also putting their lives on the line every day?
The predator wants your silence. It feeds their power, entitlement, and they want it to feed your shame.
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