Paul Robeson in Northern Africa
Filed under:
race,
anti-colonialism
A musical scene from Jericho
- from Jericho (1937)
- Creator: Thornton Freeland
- Distributor: Cascadia Entertainment
- Posted by Curtis Marez
- Keywords
- Options
Commentaries on this Media!
Paul Robeson in Northern Africa
by Curtis MarezIn the wake of fascist Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia and his staring role as Toussaint L'ouverture in a London play written by CLR James, Paul Robeson made Jericho (1937), in which he plays a medical student named Jericho Jackson who is drafted into the US Army during WWI but deserts when he is unjustly accused of murder. Jericho escapes to the Sahara desert where he joins a group of Tuaregs, a nomadic Berber people. Here, he sings “Deep Desert,” a sort of Northern African, anti-colonial counterpoint to “Old Man River.”
Other media by this contributor
Ricardo Dominguez Performs Cesar Chavez
Race and Gender in a Los Angeles College Film
Si Se Puede
The Joads arrive in California's San Joaquin Valley
Dystopian SF and Public Institutions: The Running Man
The Joads arrive in an oppressive labor camp.
Students and a Professor Discuss How to Use Education
Luke's identity as a farm boy is established
La Bamba and the Farm Worker Origins of Rock and Roll
Intersectional Spaces of Union Audience Formation
Professor Hesse Defends his “Research”: Junior
Writing a College Paper: Higher Learning
A Dream about Public Education: Junior
A migrant worker attempts to escape forced labor in a meth-making camp.
Imagining Mexican audiences in Break of Dawn