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保罗.罗伯逊(1898-1976)

为了世界的和平与黑人的权利，他周游世界，放声歌唱

今天，我们继续向你讲述保罗.罗伯逊，他是一位歌唱家和国际政治活动家。

到二十世纪二十年代后期，保罗.罗伯逊已经成为世界上最为著名的、最受尊敬的黑人演员和歌唱家。在上世纪三十年代，他开始涉足国内和国际的和平，关注黑人的平等权利，并为改善劳工的生产和生活条件而呼吁。他在世界各地唱歌，支持世界各地的这些方面的斗争。然而，他与苏联的友谊引起了美国保守派的强烈反对，美国许多人反对罗伯逊的政治信仰，认为他的政治信仰太自由、太极端了。据说早在1941年，美国联邦调查局所属的一个机构就将他列为危险分子，他们认为他的政治活动与美国政府的最高利益相违背。

在第二次世界大战期间，美国与苏联是盟友，共同对付纳粹德国，罗伯逊录制了好几首俄罗斯歌曲，以表示对苏联人民为保卫祖国、坚决抵御纳粹入侵的敬意。这些歌曲在苏联广播中播放，许多苏联士兵说，他们是听着罗伯逊的歌声投入战斗的。下面你将听到的就是这些歌曲中的一首，这首歌曲叫《Native Land》(《国土》)。

在第二次世界大战之后，美国与苏联的关系变得非常紧张。在上世纪四十年代，美国人担心共产主义会威胁他们的生活方式，而苏联人也反对美国人所崇尚的自由。美国联合其他一些国家，共同阻止共产主义在全世界扩张。另外，苏联“独裁者”约瑟夫.斯大林所犯下的罪行已经公开，这些罪行包括杀害数百万反对他政策的苏联人。结果，许多原本支持共产主义的美国人不再支持苏联了。

然而，罗伯逊继续支持苏联，他仍然信仰共产主义，而且他仍然相信美国与苏联之间的友谊。国会中有一个委员会开始调查那些支持共产主义者及其他们的朋友。这个委员会质询了罗伯逊，对于问他是否是共产党，他拒绝回答。罗伯逊说这种质询是对任何一个致力于国际友谊、追求平等的人的民主权利的攻击。

罗伯逊还因为他对美国政府的批评而被指控为罪。1949年，他在法国巴黎的世界和平大会上发表演讲。有报道说，他在世界和平大会上说：他认为美国黑人不应该为那个强迫他们反对苏联的美国政府而战。这个演讲在美国的媒体、政府和公众中引起了强烈的反应，正因为这个原因，当罗伯逊出现在纽约州的一个音乐会时，导致了一场骚乱，一群人向出席音乐会的人扔石头，有数百人受伤。

在上世纪五十年代，美国国务院以罗伯逊所表达的政治观点为由取消了他的出国护照，这使他不能离开美国到别的国家演出。美国国务院说，他到别的国家演出不符合美国的利益。不仅如此，罗伯逊还被禁止在美国许多地方演出，他的音乐会被取消，他的唱片从商店中下架，唱片公司拒绝为他录制新歌曲。罗伯逊说针对他的这些行为就是为了让艺术的表达保持沉默，他还说，这些行为也在设法控制人们听谁的、听什么。

在1952年，英属哥伦比亚、加拿大的矿业、制造业和锅炉工人联合会邀请罗伯逊参加他们的年度会议。美国人不需要护照就可以进入加拿大，但美国政府则禁止罗伯逊去加拿大，所以该工人联合会邀请他在美国举办一个户外音乐会。这场音乐会在和平拱门公园举行，这个公园位于华盛顿州的东北，与加拿大交界。罗伯逊面对美国和加拿大两国的三万多人进行演唱。下面你听到的就是该音乐会的录音，罗伯逊演唱了一首非常著名的工会歌曲，这首歌曲叫《Joe Hill》(《乔.希尔》)。

第二年，罗伯逊在和平拱门公园又举办了一次音乐会，在这次音乐会结束之际，罗伯逊对数以千计参加音乐会的人发表演讲，他承诺，他将尽他所能继续为自由而战，下面你听到的是他这次演讲的部分录音。

1958年对于保罗.罗伯逊而言是非常重要的一个年。在这一年，在美国最高法院一个类似案件判决之后，他重新得到了他的护照。美国最高法院判决国务院不能因为美国公民的政治信仰或他们所加入的团体而扣留他们的护照。这一年，他写了一本自传也出版了，这本自传就是《Here I Stand》。而且同样在这一年，他出现在纽约的一个音乐会中，这个音乐会在著名的卡内基音乐厅举行，这是他十一年来首次出现在卡内基音乐厅。卡内基音乐厅座无虚席，保罗.罗伯逊演唱了一首美国黑人宗教歌曲《Didn't My Lord Deliver》，下面你听到的就是录制该音乐会的这首歌曲。

保罗.罗伯逊和他的妻子埃西搬到了英国伦敦，在那他继续演唱和演出，他们还经常访问苏联。在1963年，他们又回到了美国。保罗.罗伯逊身体不好，而且精神还出现了一些问题。他因身体原因而离开了公众视野。1976年保罗.罗伯逊在宾夕法尼亚州费城去逝。早在1941年，保罗.罗伯逊曾经写下这些话：“我要把我的声音传到各个地方，在那里，那些面对恐惧而想听到美妙的自由之声、想听到充满希望的言语的人都能听到我的声音。我的武器是和平的，因为我的武器只有通过和平才能获得，和平一定能够实现，自由之歌一定会盛行。”

简评：

自由，从来都不是无限的，特别是在一定的社会历史条件下，自由的表现也是多各多样的，脱离一定的社会条件谈论自由，是毫无意义的。

美国社会够自由吧，然而，在不同时期，美国的自由都是很有限的。在美国初创时期，黑人和妇女是没有自由的。到二十世纪四、五十年代，美国的信仰同样也是不自由的。由于对共产主义的敌视，美国从政府到民间，都掀起了一场声势浩大的反共运动。在这场运动中，对那些信仰共产主义的人进行无端的调查和清理。这些做法就如保罗.罗伯逊所说的，完全是对人的民主权利的攻击，哪有什么自由可言。我们从保罗.罗伯逊的所经所历，就可以清楚地看清美国的自由是一种什么样的自由。

自由，是每一个所追求的，但任何一个人如果忽视其所在的环境，盲目地去追求自由，那么很可能什么也得不到，还可能因此会失去已有的自由。如保罗.罗伯逊被禁止出境，禁止在一些地方演出等。

然而，能够为了保有既有的自由，就不去寻求更大的自由吗？那也不是。自由从来不会从天上掉下来，自由是需要人们去争取的。在争取更大的自由中，也必然会出现损失，甚至是牺牲，但也正因为一些人的损失或牺牲，才使更多的人享受到更广泛的自由。如美国最高法院最终裁决美国政务院无权因为公民的信仰或参加某一团体而扣留公民的护照。如此，所有的公民因此就不会因类似保罗.罗伯逊的情景而被禁止出境或演出什么的，这就做使更多的人获得了更广泛的自由。

一个社会、一个环境，需要什么样的自由，谁说了算？应该由生活在这个社会或这个环境的所有人说了算。所有人怎么说了算？在充分表达意见的情况下，通过自由投票，少数服从多数来决定。

Paul Robeson, 1898-1976: He Traveled the World Singing Songs to Support Peace and Equal Rights for Black Americans 

Today, we finish the story of the life of Paul Robeson. He was a singer and international political activist. 

By the late nineteen twenties, Paul Robeson had become the most highly praised black actor and singer of the time. During the nineteen thirties, he became involved in national and international movements for peace, equal rights for black Americans, and better labor conditions. He traveled around the world singing his songs to support these struggles. However, his friendship with the Soviet Union brought strong opposition from conservative groups in the United States. Many people in the United States opposed Robeson's political beliefs as too liberal or extreme. As early as nineteen forty-one, American government agencies, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, reportedly had targeted him as dangerous. They considered his political activism to be against the best interests of the American government. 

During World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies fighting against Nazi Germany. Robeson recorded several Russian songs to honor the Soviet people's defense of their land against the Nazi invasion. These recordings were broadcast in the Soviet Union.  Many Soviet soldiers were said to have heard Paul Robeson's voice before going into battle. This is one of those songs. It is called "Native Land." 

After World War Two, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union became tense. In the late nineteen forties, Americans feared communism as a threat to their way of life. The people in the Soviet Union were denied the freedoms that Americans enjoyed. The United States joined with other nations to try to halt the spread of communism around the world.  In addition, the crimes of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin became public. These included the killing of millions of people in the Soviet Union who opposed his policies. As a result, many former American supporters of communism stopped supporting the Soviet Union. 

Robeson, however, continued to support the Soviet Union. He still believed in the idea of communism. And he believed in friendship between the United States and the Soviet Union. A congressional committee began investigating Americans who supported communism or who were friends of people who supported it. The committee questioned Robeson. He refused to say if he was a communist. Robeson saw the questioning as an attack on the democratic rights of everyone who worked for international friendship and for equality.

Robeson also was condemned in the United States because of his criticism of the United States government. He spoke at the World Peace Conference in Paris in April, nineteen forty-nine. He was reported to have said he did not believe black Americans would fight for the American government that oppressed them against the Soviet Union.  This statement brought a strong reaction against him from some people in the American press, government and public. It led to rioting at a concert in New York State where Robeson was to appear. Hundreds of people were injured when crowds threw stones at people attending the concert. 

In nineteen fifty, the American State Department withdrew Robeson's travel document because of the political ideas he expressed. This prevented him from leaving the United States to perform in other countries. The State Department said his travel to other countries would not be in the best interest of the United States.  Robeson also was barred from performing in many places in the United States. His concerts were canceled. His records were withdrawn from stores. Record companies refused to produce new recordings of his songs. Robeson said the actions against him were attempts to silence artistic expression_r. He said they were attempts to control whom people could hear and what they could hear. 

In nineteen fifty-two, the Mine, Mill and Smelters Workers Union of British Columbia, Canada, invited Robeson to attend its yearly meeting. Americans do not need a passport to enter Canada. But the United States government barred him from entering Canada anyway. So the union invited him to sing at an outdoor concert in the United States.  The concert was held at Peace Arch Park. The park is in the northwestern state of Washington, on the border between the United States and Canada. Robeson sang to more than thirty thousand people in both countries. Here is a recording from that concert. Robeson sang a famous labor union song called "Joe Hill." 

Robeson performed at another outdoor concert at Peace Arch Park the following year. At the end of the program, Robeson spoke to the thousands of people attending. He promised to continue the fight for freedom as long as he could. Here is part of that speech。

Nineteen fifty-eight was an important year for Paul Robeson. His regained his passport that year after a Supreme Court ruling on a similar case. The Supreme Court ruled that the State Department could not withhold passports of American citizens because of their suspected beliefs or the groups they joined. A book he wrote about his life, "Here I Stand," also was published. And, that same year, he performed in a concert at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York. It was his first appearance there in eleven years. Every seat in the hall was filled. Paul Robeson sang an African American spiritual called "Didn't My Lord Deliver." Here is a recording from that concert.

Paul Robeson and his wife Essie moved to London where he continued to sing and act. They also visited the Soviet Union often. In nineteen sixty-three, they returned to the United States. Paul Robeson was suffering from physical and mental problems. He retired from public life because of his bad health. Paul Robeson died in nineteen seventy-six, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In nineteen forty-nine, Paul Robeson had written these words: "I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom or the words that might inspire hope...in the face of...fear. My weapons are peaceful, for it is only by peace that peace can be attained. The song of freedom must prevail." 

http://www.wwenglish.com/m09/voa/spec/2008/11/wwenglish.com_pia081102.mp3