The Artist Must Elect To Fight For

In Fact, Because Of This Deep Desire For Peace, The Ruling Class Leaders Of This Land, From 1945 On, Stepped Up The Hysteria And Propaganda To Drive Into American Minds The False Notion That Danger Threatened Them From The East.

I Found A Special Eagerness Among The Younger, And I Am Sorry To Say, The More Intelligent Negroes, To Dismiss The Spiritual As Something Beneath Their New Pride In Their Race. It Is As If They Wanted To Put It Behind Them As Something To Be Ashamed Of.

Through The Years I Have Received My Share Of Recognition For Efforts In The Fields Of Sports, The Arts, The Struggle For Full Citizenship For The Negro People, Labor's Rights And The Fight For Peace.

Through My Singing And Acting And Speaking, I Want To Make Freedom Ring. Maybe I Can Touch People's Hearts Better Than I Can Their Minds, With The Common Struggle Of The Common Man.

I Do Not Hesitate One Second To State Clearly And Unmistakably: I Belong To The American Resistance Movement Which Fights Against American Imperialism, Just As The Resistance Movement Fought Against Hitler.