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Baritone Willard White (above) pays tribute to activist/musician Paul Robeson in a performance to

Politically outspoken musicians are always a cause for controversy. But if there was ever one American musician to represent the American ideal of achievement in the face of hardship and public condemnation, it would have been human rights activist and opera singer Paul Robeson, one of America’s most persecuted activists due to alleged ties to the Communist Party in the 1940s and ’50s.

But Jamaican bass baritone Willard White who will perform a tribute concert for Robeson this Thursday in Royce Hall prefers to see Robeson not as a controversial political activist, but as a fellow advocate and role model for equality.

“(Robeson) believed that there is a better way for our lives and that we can actually live in a better way with one another and not necessarily bow to the pressures of government, but respect the government and speak out about what you believe in,” White said.

Nonetheless, Robeson’s life was complicated. The son of an ex-slave, he lost his mother in a fire when he was very young and suffered from bouts of bipolar disorder.

At Rutgers University, Robeson displayed athletic prowess on the football, baseball, basketball and track teams, became a two-time All-American football player, and won 14 varsity letters.

Robeson was valedictorian of his class, a member of national honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, and was fluent in 20 languages. In 1923, he received a law degree from Columbia Law School.

Afterward, Robeson pursued a career in music and theater and starred as Shakespeare’s “Othello” in London and on Broadway. Robeson eventually received universal acclaim for his performance of “Ol’ Man River” in the musical, “Showboat.” This performance later hit the silver screen and Robeson became the first prominent black film star, eventually garnering global fame.

“In the ’30s and ’40s, next to President Roosevelt, he might have been the most widely recognized American throughout the world,” African American studies lecturer, Paul Von Blum said.

Part of his fame came not from the silver screen and stage, but through his political involvement.

“Despite his very strong identity as an African American, he actually had a much deeper vision of a non-racist society,” Von Blum said. “He really believed that all people were brothers and sisters under the skin.”

Robeson sought to promote anti-lynching and fair employment laws and fought for the entrance of blacks into major league baseball in the early 1940s.

But his work for promoting race equality soon led to suspicion among authorities. In the middle of McCarthyism, Robeson became one of America’s most blacklisted political activists because of alleged ties to communism. Even Jackie Robinson criticized him in testimony before a congressional committee in 1948. In 1950, Robeson’s passport was revoked and he was unable to leave the country for several years. Robeson also underwent surveillance by the FBI and was denounced by the NAACP after having received the Spingarn Medal, the organization’s highest honor for achievement among blacks.

But it is Robeson’s message of peace, unity and forgiveness – not politics and persecution – which both White and accompanying pianist Neal Thornton hope to emphasize in tonight’s performance.

“I can’t stress too strongly that the Paul Robeson story that we’re putting over is not really a political story as such,” Thornton said. “(The) human race is one soul and that’s what the show is about.”

Many of the songs White will perform are American spirituals, but the program also includes folk songs from England, Scotland, Russia, and a Spanish Civil War song to emphasize Robeson’s vision of universal brotherhood.

“Robeson realized his race was not the only downtrodden one,” White said. “He believed in the championing of any group of people that are downtrodden.”

The hardship Robeson faced has likely contributed to White’s own take-nothing-for-granted view on life.

“I breathe when I go to sleep. That’s magic!” White said. “My heart still beats and my digestion continues and there’s a great diversity of organs and a fantastic coordination of nervous system. I now look at my body as a complete love in action.”

And it is likely that through Robeson’s example White has learned that racial equality and happiness in general are ultimately reached only after conquering challenges and hardship.

“No one can make me happy,” White said. “Yes, I can be influenced by others, but the experience and happiness is up to the choice that I make to respond to whatever situation I’m in.”