Paul Robeson (98 page)

No one saw more of Robeson in these months than Harry Francis, the left-wing assistant secretary of the musicians' union, who had become a friend and an intermediary. Francis told Paul, Jr., twenty years later that his father had returned from the Australian trip so depressed that he took to lying on the bed in a darkened room with the curtains drawn. Francis dropped in frequently, and also brought over Harry Pollitt's (the leader of
the British Communist Party) bodyguard, who played pinochle with Robeson by the hour. During one of Harry Francis's visits, the phone rang and he answered it. Fidel Castro—so Francis tells it—was on the other end, calling from Havana, asking to talk with Paul Robeson. As the FBI was well aware, Robeson had been giving thought to a trip to Cuba (and to China and Africa as well); indeed, his uncertainty about whether to undertake another strenuous journey had contributed to his debilitating anxiety. He told Francis to explain to Castro that he couldn't come to the phone at the moment. Only a few weeks later, anti-Castro forces, mobilized by the government of the United States, made their landing at the Bay of Pigs.
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In early January, Essie and Paul gradually started to get around socially again, spending evenings at the Soviet and East European embassies, attending the Oistrakh (father and son) concert at the Albert Hall as guests of the Soviet Ambassador, and having a private hour-long visit with Kwame Nkrumah, the President of Ghana, who was in London for a Commonwealth prime-ministers' conference (Essie did a series of articles on the conference for the Associated Negro Press). In addition, Paul put in an appearance on the television program “This Is Your Life” to honor his old acting partner Flora Robson (“… myself in Person very dignified,” he wrote self-mockingly to Clara Rockmore; thanking him for appearing on the show, Flora Robson wrote, “It was
you
who taught me to be kind”). He closely followed political events, watching in alarm as President-elect Kennedy tried to justify American involvement in Laos, reacting with fury to Lumumba's assassination in the Congo, protesting vigorously against the continued imprisonment of his old friend Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya (“Let him be free,
NOW, AT ONCE,”
Paul wrote, “to take his rightful and dearly-won place; to give his courage, knowledge and perception to his too long-suffering folk”).
⁶⁷

Deciding on plans for the future entailed additional strain. Essie was against traveling to regions restricted for U.S. citizens for fear Paul would lose his passport and they would be forced to leave England, where she preferred to live. Attractive offers arrived in abundance but had to be sifted through with one eye aimed at conserving energy and the other at fulfilling political obligations that might, ideally, combine with plausible career opportunities. Paul toyed with the idea of accepting an invitation to return to Australia in
Othello
, and he waited to see if Herbert Marshall, his colleague from Unity Theatre days, would be able to bring off a Russian film on the life of Ira Aldridge (for which Robeson would do the narration, not play the lead)—but he immediately turned down a proposal from the British producer Oscar Lewenstein that he appear as Archibald in Jean Genet's
The Blacks;
returning the script, Essie wrote Lewenstein, “I'm sorry neither Paul nor I like it at all.”
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Within a few months of having returned to London from Australia, the Robesons had consolidated their plans for the rest of the year. Paul would
go alone to Moscow for a visit in late March; in April he would attend the Scottish Miners' Gala in Edinburgh; late May and part of June would be given over to the Prague Music Festival, with a return in between to participate in the Welsh Miners' Gala in Cardiff; part of July would be spent in East Berlin; August was reserved for a much-delayed trip to Ghana; and then, in the fall, there would be return visits to Rumania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the U.S.S.R. It was a full schedule but, given its emphasis on visits rather than concerts, seemed not overly exhausting. In a letter to Clara Rockmore, of uncommon length and explicitness, Paul explained that he had changed “a great deal,” had had a chance “to find out ‘
who
' was
‘who'
—to see some of the way things work”:

In those years, [late fifties] I came very close to many of the Negro
People
—not “generally” only—but felt their warmth & generosity. I'm talking of the simple folk on the [West] Coast—etc.—not the “big shots.”

He also recalled with affection “great sections of the American Jewish community who not only were close in many phases of the Peace struggle, etc. but also … were very warm & human.” Still, at this point he felt “completely desolate.” Summarizing his current mood, he explained to Clara why, despite his homesickness, he had no immediate plans to come home:

I'm convinced that if I should return to America—I'd never get out again—within any time that was pertinent. Even that would be thinkable—in the light of the way I felt—but I'm also convinced they'll not rest until they've gone much further. In one way I would welcome the struggle, if my closest allies could understand my point of view.

For I'll get off the plane calling the Pentagon, etc. the
bastards
they are—the upholders of Fascism & Nazism the world over—and dangerous to all of human-kind. If that's Treason—let's have it out.

But I'm
not
prepared to come back to “retire” from the scene & keep my mouth shut, etc.

If there's any crowd I can't take its those guys who gave me such a bad time over all those years—and my very pride would never let them get hold of me again.

For I'm one Negro, who means to take some
one
or I hope “
some over
” with
me
of the “
enemy
” if I must go.

Sounds a little “cloak & dagger”—but really—the “double talk” about the Negro question in America—and the way its “
swallowed
” by Negroes themselves—is just too awful to behold.

So feeling that way where can one go—I still play with Canada [but he feared, as he had written Clara earlier, that HUAC “might try to reach into Canada” after him]—they might refuse me entry or demand I do concerts under a regular Impresario.… The West Indies seems to be out. They're making a deal with the “Big Boys” in Washington & wouldn't trust them.

Maybe Cuba will be in the picture once the relations are again normalized—I shall certainly get there at some time—normal relations or not.

But Canada seems the best bet.…

Am planning to work at television, recordings etc—but with no heart in it. But I'll work—because the money is there—and I'm sure I'll need it.

Sure all will go well because I've really turned into a “
Pro
” and if it must be done—it must be done.… Will come up into the “World” again & start swinging—

In two follow-up letters he reassured Clara that he was feeling “much better” and cautioned her not to take his earlier, “very discouraging epistle too literally”; he even felt more optimistic politically: “Kennedy seems to be at least realistic and some of the people around him
are
decent. Let's hope.”
⁶⁹

Clara took Paul's reassurances in stride, but Helen Rosen did not. She, too, received an uncharacteristically lengthy letter from Paul, ten days after the one he had written to Clara:

I've been feeling very “down” but feel much better now and see some daylight.… From television (we get Kennedy's television interviews etc.) things seem to have taken not a bad turn. No one can be too optimistic but someone's got to face reality.… The Negro group seems to be moving way ahead according to their own light. Revels sent me a marvellous tape of a Negro gathering or conference of … middle-class Negroes on the Coast.

The conference treated … questions precisely from that point of view. “We are middle class trying to integrate—and all must aid us—as for these ‘Peasants' from the South—They embarrass us—but we must get them to understand that this is
our
not their day.”

As Revels said on the tape—nothing could be franker.

As a matter of fact—this seems to me most “American” at this juncture.… It's not easy to see this firm
basic
turn in Negro life—which is clearest to me.

They see themselves as Ambassadors to Africa etc.—and helping America win “cold war”—& minds of men etc. And there
seems no way to really function in the Negro Community without real “Red-Baiting”—even now. If not “baiting” a deep refusal to be caught anywhere in the deep “
left
.”

Weaver (Housing) case is typical [Robert C. Weaver; under Kennedy, he became the first black to head a major federal agency, Housing and Home Finance].

And of course this is so more or less for the whole country. Castro & Cuba seem to have “cut across” some areas—But again that's across the Borders.

This makes difficult the “coming over for a time” which might be possible in a truly “artistic” setting or at least if one would or could “pipe down” for a while.

Quite frankly—the day is long gone for any quiet “double-talk” or reticence, I feel—so being as realistic as possible—I see hanging in for a while here but eventually looking Eastward near & far. We'll see.

If the tension subsides as well it might—then there's a different story. Hope so.

As far as our conversation [Helen had been in London briefly in early February to recuperate from an illness she contracted while in Africa], you have a right, certainly to see things as you always do—very realistically—But there are others who will for better or for worse pursue their lifelong direction—especially at this historic moment of Real Triumph over much of the World whatever the domestic Picture.

And the whole history of America—certainly testifies to the need of that advanced group—whatever the difficulties involved.

It remains a source of deep wonder to me that these folk are there—in every corner of the world—and in much worse conditions than the U. States. But there they are—and when a Cuba suddenly?? erupts—the Patience & Labor seem well worth the effort.

However one individual or the other views these things—modern history has evolved this ideology and that group to actualize the theory. And pretty well they're doing as I said before.
⁷⁰

Paul's political comments, though in spots even more enigmatic than usual, didn't seem any cause for alarm to Helen (much as she regretted his seeming change of mind about coming home, as she had long advised and as he had seemed on the verge of doing). But the comments he made, both in the long letter and in shorter follow-up notes, on his emotional state did arouse her active concern. “Terribly lonely,” he wrote, “but just doing the best I can. Have altogether failed to find friends over here. Guess I'm to blame—but also a little ‘
set
' in ‘
ways
' I guess.” Soon after that downcast
note, he wrote twice in one day to reassure her (as he had Clara) that he was “feeling fine” again; since he rarely wrote at all, this heightened rather than diminished Helen's concern, especially since he added: “I can't wait to see Sam again. He's so sweet about me—and so disturbed when I'm raging and ranting. Both he and you are right—It means some ‘
inner
' disturbance—But know that I ‘dig' into it without ‘mercy'—and come up at last with the ‘
needed
' adjustment.” He closed a note of February 24 with words that sounded suspiciously manic, however tender: “‘Thank you Lord.' Thank you! … Thank you Lord! for such a lovely family [the Rosens] and you thank them too for taking me in.… I
do
love you—
adore
you—
cherish
you—”
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Relying on her own well-honed instincts, Helen concluded that Paul was in emotional trouble. She first told her fears to Sam, and then the two of them contacted Paul, Jr., and also Ed Barsky, the left-wing doctor whose medical partner, Morris Perlmutter, had treated both Essie and Paul. The four of them huddled. Helen explained her strong conviction that Paul was having serious difficulty and should come home, and it was decided she should go over to London and check on his state of mind firsthand. She did, a few weeks later, and seeing him convinced her more than ever that in fact he did desperately want to return to the States but did not feel well enough. She did everything she could to persuade him to follow his inclinations. Essie, however, was adamantly opposed to a return and, realizing the purpose of Helen's mission, did her considerable best to keep them apart. They managed, toward the end of Helen's visit, to spend an afternoon alone together in the apartment of Andy (Robeson's valet and friend). The next day Helen arrived at the Connaught Street flat by prearrangement for lunch, only to be told that Paul had left by plane for Moscow. Essie was “jubilant” and Helen “stunned”—to this day, she says, she “doesn't understand what happened,” doesn't know whether Paul, on sudden impulse, took off for his planned trip to Moscow earlier than he had originally intended, whether Essie played any role in encouraging that impulse (and, if so, how—by getting some of his Moscow friends, like Boris Polevoi or Mikhail Kotov of the Soviet Peace Committee to call? by promising a return to the States after the Moscow trip?).
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On Paul's arrival in Moscow, the Soviet press reported him busy and happy (“The telephone rang constantly.… Robeson smiled and clapped his hands in astonishment. He wanted to be everywhere”). The editorial staff of
Izvestia
consulted with him; he dined at the Grand Hotel; he conferred about radio and TV appearances; Georgi Zhukov, chairman of the State Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, welcomed him on a visit to the Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, and Zavadsky of the Mossovet Theater invited him to play Othello. On the night of March 23 Paul and Essie talked by phone. They chatted about plans and friends: Essie reported that Peggy Ashcroft was asking if he would be
available for a poetry reading with her; Paul reported that Galya and Boris Lifanov's baby had been ill. Essie wrote him the next day to say how pleased she was that he “sounded so happy on the telephone, it must be good news all round.”
⁷³