Gruff from the Bring Out Your Dead Podcast takes us through the trials and tribulations of Paul Robeson's peak.

We learn about his acting in Hollywood films and his bitter disappointment with racist editing and production. We look at how his revolutionary beliefs were formed, how he deepened his links with Wales, his support for our miners and their support for him in return when the CIA, the House of Un-American Activity and even the NAACP hound him out of public life. We hear about the terrifying treatment, akin to torture, he received in the Priory in England, which medical doctors in Germany said was not medically justified at all.

He was a proud communist, anti-colonialist, Marxist-Leninist and civil rights activist. These beliefs led to extreme persecution, pariah-hood and awful health issues. The good he did and the hand of solidarity which he offered to all the oppressed peoples of the world are still celebrated today but people skim over his radical politics. We must remember that he did so much good precisely because he was a communist, not in spite of it.

I Want to be African - Essay by Paul Robeson, along with other writings are available here: https://www.vbjournal.org/blog/selection-of-essays-by-paul-robeson

Content warning: Suicide and mental health difficulties are discussed.

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Follow the journey of Paul Robeson from humble beginnings through college, professional sports, law school, acting and all the way across the Atlantic. Explore his incredible story with our special guest Gruff, a Welshman living in Mexico, and host of the incredible podcast Bring Out Your Dead (available wherever you get your podcasts).

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On our debut episode, we sit down with a local Merthyr lad to speak about a little event that happened 193 years ago - the first working-class revolution of Wales. Merthyr Rising, famed for being where the red flag first flew over the heads of the working classes, is purposefully misunderstood and sanitised in our history books.

We're here to give you the full story, this wasn't a simple riot, the workers of Merthyr and the surrounding towns formed working-class revolutionary councils, seized weapons from the state and declared themselves independent of the bosses.

Listen to find out more.

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