Tributes

Fidel Castro

"It gives us particular pleasure to join in the commemoration, under the auspices of the Special Committee against Apartheid, of the eightieth anniversary of the birth of Paul Robeson. The life and artistic work of Paul Robeson constitute in themselves a response to the brutality of discrimination, of which, in our times, apartheid is perhaps the most repugnant form. 

Paul Robeson dedicated the greater part of his activities to the struggle for the equality of all men, the rights of black people in the United States - of whom he was one - the cause of countries suffering from imperialist oppression and the struggle against fascism, and to protesting the plight of the American masses, white and black, for whom human rights have never been anything more than a promise by the founders of the United States and a term used in the United States Constitution.

The name of Paul Robeson will be remembered by all who believe in the necessity and urgency of freeing mankind from inequali ty, discrimination, national oppression arid apartheid. We therefore associate ourselves not only with this tribute to the great representative of progressive forces and of the black people of the United States, the great fighter who expressed his international solidarity during the decisive days of the struggle of the Spanish people against the Falangist movement and racism, but also with the spirit Which presides over this act of commemoration.