From the booklet for my Criterion DVD collection of Paul Robeson films, a letter from Pete Seeger: “with great regret I have to write that at age 87 I am unable to write the essay you request of me. Paul Robeson was one of the greatest human beings of all time, and the way he was cut down and his life shortened will go down in history, to the shame of the government of the United States of America.” (For work, I’m writing about a Paul Robeson film available on Hulu - there are a bunch now, FYI. Nobody else comes close to this guy as a Renaissance man.)