Susan Robeson, Granddaughter of Artist and Activist Paul Robeson, to Speak at Adelphi

Susan Robeson, a producer, documentary filmmaker, writer, consultant and granddaughter of Paul Robeson, will speak at the Ruth S. Harley University Center, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. The lecture, co-sponsored by the Adelphi University Center for African, Black, and Caribbean Studies and the Collaboration Project, is free and open to the public.  She will speak about her grandfather’s vision of world peace and how it still is important today. This lecture is part of the ongoing Changing Nature of War and Peace initiative at Adelphi University.

Her grandfather, Paul Robeson, was a singer, actor, All-American athlete and advocate of the Civil Rights Movement. As an actor, Paul Robeson is known for playing many strong roles, such as Othello.  Due to his criticism of the United States government and promotion of ideas deemed to be against the mission of the United States, Mr. Robeson was blacklisted during his career.  Until his death, in 1976, he continually pushed for equal rights for African Americans.

Susan Robeson always looked up to her grandfather’s accomplishments.  It was through him that she felt a calling to pursue a career in media.  She aimed to use mediums, such as film, to give a voice to those inadequately heard. Influenced by her grandfather, she not only brings awareness to issues regarding race and other intolerances, but also contextualizing the past to help us, as a nation and world, to learn from past mistakes and injustices.

Susan Robeson is also the author of a pictorial biography of her grandfather called The Whole World in His Hands.  Still very interested in how her grandfather affected the times that he lived in, she has even taught classes on Paul Robeson and the 20th century at Macalester College, Carleton College, and Colorado College where she also has taught classes on documentary film.  She is continuously inspired by what Paul Robeson accomplished and wants to continue where he left off as she advocates through her own work.

For further information, visit http://global.adelphi.edu/newsevent/paul-robeson/.

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