Legacy of Harry Belafonte (1927-2023): Civil rights & cultural icon 'elevated substance over style'
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Let's move on to some sad news coming out of the United States. Harry Belafonte,
00:04 entertainer, civil rights campaigner, he's died. He was 96 years old but what a life he lived.
00:09 He made his name as a singer. Let's listen.
00:11 [Music]
00:32 Absolutely splendid voice. He stands as a model though for the celebrity activist,
00:36 friend and contemporary of Dr Martin Luther King, Belafonte's sacrifice riches many said
00:40 in order to make a stand for truth and justice. So a remarkable person. Let's get some analysis
00:45 on just how important Harry Belafonte was beyond what he became known for. Nikki Brown joins us,
00:51 professor of American and African American history at the University of Kentucky. Nikki,
00:55 always a pleasure to have you on France 24. Thank you for joining us. What does Harry Belafonte
01:00 mean from your perspective? Well, thank you for having me here and thank you for having me
01:06 be part of this really important discussion. I think that Harry Belafonte, his legacy will be
01:13 how Hollywood celebrities can use their wealth and their fame and their resources to advance
01:23 important human rights causes and civil rights causes. I think he was an early template that
01:31 he developed a formula for activism that people in the 21st century can follow today.
01:38 One of these people who thought that the cause and justice was actually more important than the
01:45 fact that he could earn money in other ways. Someone who was willing to actually sort of
01:49 pay literally for the sacrifices he was making. Absolutely. You know, Harry Belafonte elevated
01:57 substance over style. You know, he could have. He was already in the inner circle,
02:05 the rarified space of Hollywood superstardom. He was a gifted entertainer. At one point,
02:13 he was more popular than Elvis Presley. And he was the first Black man to win a Tony Award.
02:20 He was the first Black producer to produce an Emmy Award winning show.
02:26 And had he stayed there in the realm of entertainment,
02:29 he would still be beloved. But he went above that. And he entered the stratosphere of activism. And I
02:40 think that his contributions make him as important as Rosa Parks, as Martin Luther King, as other
02:51 people who supported nonviolent direct action. Nikki, that is a remarkable tribute you just
02:57 paid that to Harry Belafonte. I'm wondering if he, I presume he did come up against the kind
03:04 of racism that we hear about in places like Hollywood, those kind of things,
03:08 kind of maybe reinforced by the fact that he was willing to speak out.
03:13 Yeah, yeah. I think early in his career, I think he starred in a movie with a white actress,
03:22 and he encountered a great deal of hostility due to that movie. And yet, I think he really thought
03:29 that his purpose in life was to be more than just an entertainer. He said, he liked to say,
03:36 that he wasn't an actor who became an activist. He was an activist who became an actor.
03:43 And personally speaking, I would say that I was first introduced to Harry Belafonte in 1985,
03:50 when he produced and sung in We Are the World. And if we remember, if we can remember back that far,
03:57 there was a time when every radio station in the United States played We Are the World
04:03 at the same time. So it didn't matter the genre of music. I think that that's the type of
04:09 impact that he had. And that's one of the things he'll be remembered for.
04:12 It is a remarkable career that he's had, isn't it? And to think that it began at a time when
04:17 the prejudice and the barriers stopping Black people advancing were even higher than they are
04:23 today. Truly, this man is, and it's not an exaggeration, a real giant of every field in
04:29 which he chose to walk. Absolutely. And, you know, he took a lot of
04:35 heat for the choices he made. At one point, he had befriended Fidel Castro, and he had met with
04:43 Hugo Chavez. And he had called, I remember, Colin Powell, had used some language that likened him
04:51 to a house slave. And he got a lot of flack for that. But, you know, he was also a man who stood
04:58 by his convictions. And really, his civil rights gravitas is what people will remember him for.
05:05 You know, the other stuff he can be legitimately criticized for. But in the end, he devoted his
05:12 life to human rights and civil rights. And he was there in the thick of it. Like you said at
05:19 the beginning, he used his wealth to advance causes like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
05:25 Committee. He allowed his Manhattan apartment to be the headquarters of the civil rights movement
05:32 at one point. The Justice Department and King would meet in his Manhattan apartment. He really
05:38 did give everything he could to this movement. He could have stopped at being a superstar,
05:44 but he decided that there was a higher purpose. And I think that that's really a model that we
05:51 can follow in the 21st century. There has to be a movie of the life. I sense that is something
05:55 that has to come because it would be compulsive viewing, wouldn't it? Fantastic stuff.
06:02 You mentioned about the template for others to follow. Clearly, the activists we see today,
06:06 who are celebrities, following on that work. So basically, the importance of Harry Belafonte will
06:13 continue. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, he was 96 years old, and he lived a good long life. But
06:23 I was just thinking about something earlier in your news broadcast. I mean, in comparison,
06:29 Joe Biden is a youthful 80 years old. And Harry Belafonte was active, I think, up until he was
06:37 like 94, 95 years old. So all I'm saying is, don't sleep on the 80-year-olds. And don't sleep,
06:46 and don't sort of limit yourself to the lane that you think that you've been given in life. I mean,
06:51 he was given the lane of being an entertainer, but he elevated that because of the causes of the
06:58 things that he believed in. So two takeaways, don't sleep on the 80-year-olds. And think of
07:04 yourself much more than the lane you've been given. Beautiful words, as always, Professor
07:10 Nikki Brown. Thank you. It's always illuminating speaking to you. It's a great pleasure to have
07:14 you on our channel. We are blessed by your presence. Thank you very much, indeed. Professor
07:18 Nikki Brown, who is a professor of American and African American history at the University of
07:23 Kentucky. Thank you, Nikki, very much, indeed. Paying tribute to Harry Belafonte, singer, actor,
07:30 activist, legend, who's passed away at the age of 96. Our thoughts, commiserations with his family,
07:37 but of course, the great template, as Nikki was just saying, that he has left for other activists
07:42 and celebrities to follow is immense. A huge, hugely important man in many domains.