Darryl Maximilian Robinson Invites You To Imagine The Life And Legacy Of The Illustrious Ira Aldridge

YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT IN THE THEATRE, DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON OF THE EXCALIBER SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO ADDRESS THE LEGACY OF THE GREATEST BLACK SHAKESPEAREAN ACTOR EVER, MR. IRA ALDRIDGE.

As I may have mentioned in articles about other great artists I have homaged in recent months, it is not always easy or enjoyable or fun TO BE THE FIRST. For a human being, particularly A BLACK HUMAN BEING FACED WITH CLEAR SYSTEMIC RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION, being the first can not only be a personal nightmare, but, on occasion, dangerous as well. And, sometimes, in order to make your true artistic aspiration HAPPEN, you have to give up everything you know, everything you have, even, EVERYTHING YOU LOVE, to achieve your highest goals and fulfill your dreams.

And to put this person who lived and died in the 19th-century in a context that a citizen of the 21st-century can possibly understand, imagine what the late, great 20th-century African-American baseball legend Jackie Robinson went through when he was hired by The Brooklyn Dodgers as the very first black player to play Major League Baseball with an all-white team ( some of whose members hated blacks and felt they were ignorant and inferior ) against other all-white teams ( whose members did everything they could from racial taunts to veiled, physical assaults to death threats to stop this social and cultural progess from occurring ). And throughout his initiation into "The Pros" the white press, the white media, the white reporters of the sports industry express nothing but doubts and concerns about even allowing A BLACK MAN TO PLAY.

IMAGINE WHAT BASEBALL HALL OF FAME BLACK AMERICAN PLAYER JACKIE ROBINSON MUST HAVE ENDURED AND FELT AND WENT THROUGH.

NOW...DOUBLE THAT! DOUBLE THAT UNDERSTANDING OF HIS FEELINGS AND WHAT HE ENDURED AND WHAT HE WENT THROUGH...AND IMAGINE A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF PLAYER. AND IMAGINE BEING THAT DIFFERENT KIND OF PLAYER AT LEAST 120 YEARS BEFORE.

Imagine being A BLACK MAN whose greatest wish and most passionate dream is to be THE GREATEST SHAKESPEAREAN ACTOR WHO EVER PLAYED THE LEAD ROLES IN THE IMMORTAL BARD'S WORKS!

IMAGINE BECAUSE OF THE DAILY RACISM AND CONTEMPT AND DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE ( BY BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES ) EXPRESSED TOWARDS YOU AND YOUR FELLOW YOUNG BLACK ACTORS ( OF THE AFRICAN GROVE COMPANY ) IN YOUR HOME TOWN OF NEW YORK, A CITY WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW BLACK ACTORS TO BE SEEN ON ITS LEGITIMATE STAGES, THAT YOU DECIDE TO MOVE TO ANOTHER ENTIRE COUNTRY WHERE SLAVERY IS NOT LEGAL ( WELL, AT LEAST NOT ON ITS CENTRAL ISLE ).

Imagine that as a very young, free-born, Black American you buy a ticket on a ship for passage to England.

Imagine you audition for a Shakespearean role in a small English town's theatre and you get the part. ( And will later, become the actor-manager, the very first African-American actor-manager, of that very same English theatre ).

Imagine that you ( born in New York City in America in 1807 ) are now 17 years old and ( very soon ) will become the first and only Black actor you know who has ever played the leading Shakespearan role of Othello in Great Britain...EVER.

Imagine the year is 1824.

IMAGINE THAT YOUR NAME IS IRA FREDERICK ALDRIDGE.

And imagine, that depite all the racist and White Supremacist bile being written and printed about you in The British Press at the beginning of your professional acting career in England ( because not only are white English theatre critics dismissive and downright hateful and make sport of you and members of your race, the Slave Trade still exists in certain British colonies and your very existence as an intelligent, well-spoken, Black theatrical artist IS A THREAT TO THEIR VILE BUSINESS, and your post-performance ABOLITIONIST speeches are a huge irritant ), as you polish and perfect your craft IN THE GREAT LEADING SHAKESPEAREAN ROLES ( Macbeth, King Lear, Richard III, Othello, Romeo, Aaron, Shylock, among others ), as Shakespearean actors Edmund and Charles Kean become your friends and supporters, as some of the same white English critics who initially HATED YOUR WORK EARLIER, NOW SUDDENLY BEGIN SINGING YOUR PRAISES, you will become renowned, you will become acclaimed, you will tour throughout The European Continent ( and will be bestowed awards and honors internationally by multiple members of The Royal Houses and Heads of State, including being given A KNIGHTHOOD! ) and you will be accepted as one of THE GREATEST SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN!

But to be THE FIRST Black American to do this..IRA ALDRIDGE HAD TO LEAVE AND GIVE UP HIS LIFE IN AMERICA.

And, despite plans just before his passing to play Shakespeare in POST-CIVIL WAR America, with 100 performance dates contracted and arranged, Chevalier Ira Aldridge, Knight of Saxony ( an honor bestowed by a German Duke ), while touring with his company, suddenly became fatally ill and died at the age of 60 in Lodz, Poland in 1867.

And, yes, having seen him act, The Polish People gave Ira Aldridge A FUNERAL BEFITTING A REVERED AND RESPECTED KNIGHT!

And, for all the future generations of young American school students in our public schools who will never, ever get to read of or even hear about THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF IRA FREDERICK ALDRIDGE, because ALL BLACK AMERICAN HISTORY HAS RECENTLY BEEN UNJUSTLY AND INCORRECTLY LABELED AS CRITICAL RACE THEORY, please accept this more than reasonable comparision!

IMAGINE...THAT IRA FREDERICK ALDRIDGE DID FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND BLACK BRITISH ACTORS IN THE WORLD OF SHAKESPEAREAN THEATRE IN THE 19TH CENTURY, WHAT JACKIE ROBINSON DID FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATHLETES IN PROFESSIONAL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IN THE 20TH CENTURY! With grace, skill, diplomacy and sheer talent, he changed hearts and minds and was a true and driving force in the racial integration of one of the highest of professions!

For more than a century-and-a-half, acting troupes, arts organizations and live theatres across America have been named in his memory and honor, including, in this commentator's hometown of the Windy City, known as The Annual Chicago Black Theatre Alliance / Ira Aldridge Awards.

Included in this article are various noted and acclaimed paintings and images of the greatest African-American and British Black Shakespearean actor of the 19th-century, the illustrious Ira Aldridge. I hope they are appreciated

IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY BEING THE FIRST! BUT, CHEVALIER IRA ALDRIDGE, KNIGHT OF SAXONY, "THE AFRICAN ROSCIUS" ACHIEVED HIS DREAM!

Blessings, Sir Ira.