Everything Man

“Formally challenging and beautifully conceived, Everything Man is a model for scholarship and thinking as well as a powerful addition to the body of work on Paul Robeson, freedom movements, sound studies, music, and beyond. It will make a tremendous impact.” — Christina Sharpe, author of In the Wake

"Shana Redmond’s ingenious reframing of Paul Robeson as Afrofuturist media artist is but one quality marking Everything Man as a milestone contribution to Robeson scholarship. Redmond compels readers to reconsider Robeson as a radical modernist—one whose innovative embrace of electronic media technology (film, sound recording, telegraph) transforms our understanding of him from remote Black Communist icon to protean, creative contemporary. In lucid and evocative prose Redmond narrates how Robeson democratized sonic and visual modernity while engaged in anticapitalist justice work. Redmond illuminates the afterlife of Robeson’s voice and presence too—his appearances in postmodern art practices and the many places Robeson’s footpaths took Redmond where she discovered he was still revered by the far-flung descendants of the man's midcentury comrades and congregants.” — Greg Tate, author of Flyboy 2

"[A] deeply innovative exploration of the cultural resonances of the titanic – yet often now overlooked African American song interpreter, actor, athlete and Freedom Fighter Paul Robeson. . . .  Redmond returns Robeson to his rightful place at the center of the American conversation." — Ann Powers, NPR's Best Books of 2020