Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson

by Paul M. Buhle, Lawrence Ware, Sharon Rudahl (Illustrations)

The first-ever graphic biography of Paul Robeson, Ballad of an American, charts Robeson’s career as a singer, actor, scholar, athlete, and activist who achieved global fame. Through his films, concerts, and records, he became a potent symbol representing the promise of a multicultural, multiracial American democracy at a time when, despite his stardom, he was denied personal access to his many audiences.

Robeson was a major figure in the rise of anti-colonialism in Africa and elsewhere, and a tireless campaigner for internationalism, peace, and human rights. Later in life, he embraced the civil rights and antiwar movements with the hope that new generations would attain his ideals of a peaceful and abundant world. Ballad of an American features beautifully drawn chapters by artist Sharon Rudahl, a compelling narrative about his life, and an afterword on the lasting impact of Robeson’s work in both the arts and politics. This graphic biography will enable all kinds of readers—especially newer generations who may be unfamiliar with him—to understand his life’s story and everlasting global significance.

Ballad of an American: A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson is published in conjunction with Rutgers University’s centennial commemoration of Robeson’s 1919 graduation from the university.

View the blad for Ballad of an American.

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, African American, Biography, Politics, Comics

142 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2020

About the author

Now retired as Senior Lecturer at Brown University, Paul Merlyn Buhle is the author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't overly impressed with the writing and drawing -- it's one of those graphic novels where the text and art fight for space on the page, creating a cluttered effect -- but I found myself quite fascinated with Paul Robeson's life. I couldn't recall ever hearing of him before, but in looking for his music on YouTube, I at least recognized his clip of "Old Man River" from the Showboat musical.

He seems to have been an impressive athlete, singer, actor, and political activist. I can vouch for the singing, as I went ahead and bought one of his music compilations after I finished the book.

Robeson had some mental health issues late in life, and I was intrigued by the theory that he may have suffered CTE due to his early and rough football career at Rutgers University and the nascent NFL.

Unrelated to my rating, I find it odd that the male editors share nearly equal cover billing with the female writer/artist. They go so far as to list Buhle first on the "About the Authors Page." What are they communicating with this, intentionally and unintentionally?

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballad of an American is a great retelling of the incredible Paul Robeson, a giant of the 20th century who vanished from the popular memory by the Red Scare and then radical generation. The son of a freed enslaved man, Robeson was a tireless athlete (particularly football and boxing), actor (both plays and film), singer, and above all else militant activist radical. Because of the incredlble twin backlash of the 1950s Red Scare and then the 1960s radicals who wished to break from the Old Left, Paul Robeson's decades long outspokenness, especially in the 1930s and 1940s, in the "Popular Front" were largely destroyed. He was a man who could easily fill stadiums and was a world wide celebrity, yet is usually today just a footnote, a foil for anti-Communists or a sad tale of a fallen man. But he was so much more than that. Robeson was involved in so many different aspects of social justice struggles, either in personally knocking down racial barriers and lending his talent to other people's struggles, and only illness really silenced him. 

This graphic novel does a great service to him. Really engaging art that sums up the power of his voice and acting, as well as bringing in the various issues of the day. I enjoyed the newspaper headlines, which place Robeson's fame in the context of current events of the day. It's divided into 5 parts: "Son of a Slave/Star At Rutgers" about his father's background and his early life making it to Rutgers University on immense intellect and athletic talents; "First Steps On The Stage" on how he became a Shakesperian actor as well as many other singing roles; "He Finds His Voice" on how he became a world wide well known celebrity doing a host of other film and plays and song; "A World To Win" on Robeson's immersion into the Popular Front activism that allied radicals, labor, civil rights, and anti-fascism to win real gains and eventually defeat fascism in war, all while the FBI began to tail him; and finally, "Bloodied But Unbowed" on the intense anti-Communist attacks on Robeson that saw his records banned, his films blacklisted, and him unable to travel abroad until the late 1950s, and his eventual fall into a long illness that left him weak and isolated, living out his days in Philadelphia. The connection with all of his work with movements that came after him, up until the present, made me somewhat weepy, because he was caught up in the joy of the Popular Front and the tragedy of the Red Scare.

A couple of thoughts: The authors make an interesting point that Robeson was possibly destroyed mentally and physically by CTE, since he was a football player and boxer in his youth, and a lot of science has come out about the long term effects of repeated blows to the head in recent years. Secondly, though the authors do grapple with Robeson looking past the totalitarian nature of Stalinist Soviet Union, I would have liked to have seen his reaction to the invasion of Hungary and how that fit into his longer life. I recognize that Robeson was caught between a rock and a half place, but a lot of American Communists left the party or fell out of those circles after that event, while Robeson remained sympathetic to the Soviet Union. Anyway, maybe they had to choose what to include and what not to, and that might have been too specific. 

Fabulous. Pick this up.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen Robeson's movies from the Criterion boxset and read the accompanying booklet.
The art was not to my taste and the layouts could be confusing. Sometimes it seemed like the inking was off or maybe it was a production flaw?

[Meepelous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content notes for racist violence, blackface minstrelsy, wwII hate symbols, cheating and pressure to not divorce.

Keywords that came to mind reading this graphic biography are coming of age, talent, international solidarity, disability, class, hollywood, theatre, and red scare.

Looking at the art and page layouts, Rudahl's style is extremely dense and it sometimes can feel a bit overwhelming. This wouldn't always be my thing, so perhaps I'm being a bit hypocritical, but the way Rudahl does it feels like it's just part of her style. It's maximalist and she pulls it off well.

Writing wise I thought that Rudahl did something really interesting in not only fully profiling Robeson and not just hitting the highlights, I also appreciated how this book reflected Robeson's goal to build solidarity across lines like race and country. Which were and is a big deal.

I also appreciated the way that Rudahl didn't gloss over the health and mental health related struggles Paul Robeson, particularly at the end of his life, faced. Although they probably warranted a bit more discussion and that is one of the shortcomings of trying to organize the book as just a reportage of the facts with little analysis.

Reading Ballad of an American I couldn't help but harken back to Knock Out!: The True Story of Emile Griffith. A translated graphic biography originally published in French. As well as Red Rosa: A Graphic Biography of Rosa Luxemburg by Kate Evans and Ginger Goodwin: A Worker's Friend by Laura Ellyn. Or at least I feel like these different graphic biographies provide a really interesting perspective on (albeit largely so called north american) history of the early 1900s. There are of course also a rising number of pieces on Robeson himself in various different mediums including podcasts, video documentaries, books and now graphic novels.

Looking at gender and sexuality, I wasn't too surprised to come across fairly dated ideas and behavior when it came to relationships. And I do think it's important not to gloss over when people from the past that we admire did shitty things to people close to them.

And as usual I would like to asterix that queer people have lived and loved in a multitude of ways throughout all space and time. Even if we are not always represented as such.

Race, cross racial solidarity and class seem to have been fairly central to Paul Robeson's heart and mind. A fairly unique individual, Robeson's perspective and actions can be pretty inspiring in my opinion. Robeson's life as a performer also ties in themes of having our bread and our roses, which is certainly an oft overlooked aspect of things.

To conclude, far from biased myself I would say that Paul Robeson being himself gets at least a star for existing and, of course, for not letting him be forgotten. Otherwise I do think this is a really interesting and well done graphic biography, which I would rate five stars. I hope there will be more, or at least that he will show up in more nonfiction graphic novels; not because I don't think this book does him justice, but just because I appreciate having a diversity of perspectives.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography into an individual I sadly did not know much about. The origin story of Paul Robeson makes him seem larger than life, with great memory, academic prowess, an awesome voice, and an excellent athlete. He parlayed all his skills into arenas that were very difficult for Black people. Sadly, many of his early roles limited him to the vaudeville tropes and stereotypes of the day, but he was able to earn greater parts and better representation for himself, if not other minority castmates.

His political journey is very fascinating, as he traveled around the world performing and even spent a fair amount of time in the Soviet Union. Some of these connections led to horrible repercussions, and he could not travel freely in some of his later years due to perceived Communist sympathies and his work for civil rights. He seemed to be a very complicated character, and this book offers a quick glimpse into why, but I imagine a full length biography could delve into his conflicting emotions over certain roles and balances being a working artist versus finding roles that were worthy of him. Similarly his activism is great fodder for figuring out how he balanced working for a revolution in civil rights versus making slow gradual gains.

[David Orenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent graphic presentation of the highlights of Paul Robeson's life and career. (It's unclear to me why Goodreads lists this as "by" Paul Buhle, while the cover credits Sharon Rudahl with "art and text," and lists Paul Buhle as one of two editors... but)... This slim volume makes this giant of American musical, theater, and political history very accessible. The story is compelling, and prompted me to go back and listen to some of my favorite songs sung by this master (my favorite is probably "A Balm in Gilead"). The odds and villains he faced, as a Black man, including racism, McCarthyism, and on and on, in America of the ought teens through the early 1970s were daunting, and yet he triumphed over many. As a New Jersey boy, I was delighted to be reminded that he was, too, partly: voted valedictorian of the 1919 graduating class at Rutgers. I also had forgotten that he was a law school graduate, although he didn't practice law for more than a year or two. He was and remains a towering figure of the theater, the fight for rights, and -- to this day -- of music, with his astounding bass voice... This is a fitting tribute to a giant of an American ...

[Donna Charlevoix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting content and the graphic novel is a unique way to present the information.
This being said, I found it hard to follow (skipped around time-wise, was not chronological). I also found that some elements of Robeson's life were presented in excruciating detail, so much that I found myself skimming over sections.

[Rohith Chandramouli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good summation of Paul Robeson and his extraordinary life.

Goes into digressions at times that might've worked better in a written biography, and the art might've been great in color, but it is a good entry point for Robeson's life.

[Kiely · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book made me quite emotional in the end!! it's a very well-put-together graphic nonfiction story, slotting the athlete, actor, and singer Paul Robeson (a New Jersey native and Rutgers graduate!) into his rightful spot in American cultural & political history.

[Lewis Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful graphic novel. Covers major events of Paul Robeson's life along with his understanding of the world he lived. Certainly not definitive, but it lists the biographies on Paul Robeson.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant depiction of the multifaceted life of the football hero/lawyer/folksinger/theatre and filmstar/political activist, who cast such a long shadow over the 20th century.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be as informative as it was entertaining. I learned a great deal about Paul Robeson and the history of is era.

[Lenni Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to have this resource that allows me to learn more about Paul Robeson! I had no idea how influential and accomplished he was.

[Andréa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.