Paul Robeson burying the McCarthyite House Un-American Activities Committee:
‘Wherever I’ve been in the world, the first to die in the struggle against fascism were the communists. I laid many wreaths on the graves of communists. That is not criminal.
The reason I am here today, from the mouth of the State Department itself, is I should not be allowed to travel because I have struggled for the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa.
The other reason I’m here today is because when I’m abroad, I speak out against injustices against the Negro people in this land. That is why I am here. I’m not being tried for whether I am a communist. I’m being tried for fighting for the rights of my people.’