Paul Robeson gave voice to the trees and forests By Henry Hagins posted on April 9, 2021 This article first appeared on Jan. 27, 2015. Robeson was born April 9, 1898 and died Jan. 23, 1976. If Paul Robeson were alive today, he’d be toasting and defending people’s hero Ramsey Orta (who filmed the police killing of Eric Garner) and roundly condemning the rigged-grand-jury decisions, escape hatching the police murderers of Garner, Tamir Rice and Mike Brown, in particular, and the countless others who indignantly join them. Caption: Paul Robeson, left, joins the picket line outside the American Theater on Jan. 25, 1947. He had performed the night before to an integrated audience at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis, Mo., but refused to play in segregated theaters. Credit: Amanda St. Amand