as the most unheralded, underappreciated, undervalued, unsung, the renaissance man on stage. >> paul robeson, one of the great -- >> best -- >> african-american singers, actors. >> lawyer, rhodes scholar, football play, all american. >> player othello, broke every barrier can became a communist. you're coming out of a bad time in black america, of course. i get it. i get it. and i knew, he was a friend of my aunt's, the lawyer who said, paul, go out there and tell them you're a communist. at the height of his life he said, i'm a communist. guess what? threw him out of america. terrible, terrible, terrible. and by the time they brought him back, he was very old. very sad. >> your mother took you to see him. >> took me to see him. >> when you were a kid. >> yeah. >> what did that experience do for you? >> he was amazing. i went again into his dressing room and smelling the smells and seeing the backstage and being part of that, i knew this where i belonged. no question, this is where i have to be. >> people are discovering in part because of your book and the wonderful documentary. >> i had no