(1898 – 1976) Landmark African American athlete, singer, actor and activist, Robeson also epitomized the complexity of black elites in the late twentieth century. A preacher’s son, he emerged as a scholarathlete at Rutgers, and combined acting with his work at Columbia Law School. Becoming famous on stage and screen, he also became involved with leftist and Africanist causes from the 1930s onwards. This led to red-baiting in the 1940s and 1950s, including suspension of his passport (Robeson sued and won). In the 1960s, he became honored as an international leftist and paterfamilias of the Civil Rights movement.