Nicole Hill

Now, Paul at this point is so wildly famous.

I saw this quote that said that he was as well known during his lifetime as Abraham Lincoln.

Essie, meanwhile, is still managing Paul, which is just like amazing.

She's killing it.

But she's decided that she's going to go back to school for anthropology.

She wants her own outlet.

And then Paul gets this invite to go to Moscow.

And he and Essie are like, you know what?

Let's do it.

We've been curious about Russia since way back in the day.

Let's go.

So the Robesons arrive in Moscow around Christmas time.

They receive the red carpet treatment.

It's all the best this, it's state-of-the-art that.

Paul performs Negro spirituals for huge crowds, and you have to picture this.

He is the son of a slave, singing the plantation songs of his parents to the children of serfs, whose parents had their own versions of plantation songs and similar struggles.

So they're listening and they're vibing.

And then he sings the songs again, but in Russian, because he's fluent now.

They adore him.

The Robesons are part of a whole wave of Black intellectuals that are visiting the USSR at this time.