Paul Robeson

The George Padmore Institute has pleasure in inviting you to

This Little Light of Mine
Paul Robeson: Keeping the Light Shining Through the Darkest of Times

a talk on the life, ideas and songs of Paul Robeson with musical illustrations
by Tayo Aluko

on Monday 12 March 2012 at 7.00pm

Tickets £5.00

Paul Robeson’s (1898-1976) international achievements as a singer and actor in starring roles on stage and screen made him the most celebrated black American of his day. However, his outspoken criticism of racism in the United States, his strong support of African independence, and his fascination with the Soviet Union placed him under the debilitating scrutiny of McCarthyism.

This amazing man, this great intellect, this magnificent genius, with his overwhelming love of humanity was a devastating challenge to a society built on hypocrisy, greed and profit-seeking at the expense of common humanity – New York Times

Since being introduced to the ideas and work of Paul Robeson, some 15 years ago, Nigerian born Tayo Aluko has been bringing this great man’s remarkable story to new audiences across the UK, North America, the Caribbean and Africa. In this presentation, Tayo Aluko talks about Robeson’s refusal to separate his music from his international activism, and plays some relatively rare recordings from that darkest period of Robeson’s life, when American recording studios joined the rest of USA in turning their backs on him.

The George Padmore Institute (GPI) is an archive, educational research and information centre housing materials relating mainly to the black community of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe. One of its main current activities is its HLF-funded project ‘Dream to Change the World’, which is cataloguing and archiving the papers and other materials of the late John La Rose, founder of New Beacon Books and the GPI.

George Padmore Institute, 76 Stroud Green Road, London N4 3EN
(nearest station Finsbury Park – underground and British Rail)

For more information or to book a place, please contact the George Padmore Institute at

info@georgepadmoreinstitute.org or call tel. 020 7272 4889

www.georgepadmoreinstitute.org