PAUL ROBESON STAMP CAMPAIGN

Robeson Stamp Rejected for 1998

The Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee announced December 9, 1997 that the request for a Paul Robeson postage stamp has been denied for 1998. We are extremely disappointed by this decision. Nearly 90,000 letters and signatures were submitted urging that a stamp be issued in 1998, the 100th anniversary of Robeson's birth.
However, this is only the beginning!

Let's Keep the Campaign Going!

The stamp campaign will be intensified, and we will aim to gather 250,000 signatures around centennial celebrations. A stamp would be a fitting tribute to this great athlete, singer, actor, linguist, lawyer, and fighter for civil rights, peace and justice. He would be joining other great African-American leaders who have been honored with stamps, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois.

You can help:: by adding your name to the signature campaign,; or, even better, by asking others to sign too; by getting your church, union, city, etc. to pass a resolution; such as this Pittsburgh one
The most crucial issue, however, is not the stamp itself, but raising awareness about Paul Robeson's life, work, and ideas.
Become involved in the centennial celebrations in your own community.
Help us reclaim Paul Robeson's life!

If you don't have petitions call us and we will send out a petition for you to duplicate or feel free to write your own. Petitions are available in several formats: browsable as html and downloadable as MS-word or RTF.

Please take a petition to concerts, festivals meetings -- every where and bring plenty of blank copies to hand out as well. Please send signed petitions direct to the stamp committee in Washington D.C.

United States Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Room 4485
Washington D.C. 20260-6750

(We are enclosing the kind of message that the Advisory Committee needs to receive -- a copy of the letter sent to them by the internationally loved and respected folk singer, Pete Seeger.)

Let Us Know How You Did!

It's difficult to know exactly how many signatures and letters are being mailed to Washington, so we're asking all those involved to let us know how many names your group turned in.

Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration: E-mail to: robeson.centennial@pobox.com; (please also include your postal address); Web site: http://pobox.com/~robeson/