Let’s be honest; the words “legend” and “icon” are overused; far too often describing individuals who don’t really measure up to the hype. But in the case of Harry Belafonte, neither word (“legend” nor “icon”) is big enough to capture all that Belafonte meant to Black people, to the culture and to the world.
By now, you have more than likely heard the news that the legendary artist, activist and icon Belafonte died. He was 96 at his passing; truly a ripe old age. However, even as a young man, Belafonte was wise beyond his years — an old soul in the body of a Black man who carried with him a youthful and self-determined spirit that refused to allow him to ever be comfortable with society’s attempts to treat him like a second-class citizen.
Hell, American citizenship alone wasn’t big enough to define this Harlem-born brother who was raised for a good deal of his young life in Jamaica. Belafonte was always a world citizen, and as such, America’s brand of “world superpower” racism was never powerful enough, try as it might, to get the singer/actor/director to ever believe he was second-class to anyone.
A rep for Belafonte confirmed that the legendary singer and member of the exclusive EGOT club passed away due to congestive heart failure at his New York home. But I dare say, Belafonte’s heart for justice and equality continues to beat, and will never be silenced.
What makes Belafonte’s passing so jarring, especially for Blackfolk who are Generation X and older, is we saw the many layers of this freedom fighter. We got to see him as an influential figure within both the world of the arts and the global space of civil and human rights.
Had Belafonte ended his contributions to society with his barrier-breaking work in Hollywood in the 1950s and ’60s, becoming one of the first and most charismatic Black leading men, he would deserve our accolades. But he didn’t stop there.
Belafonte tells the story, in multiple documentaries, about the leading man roles he turned down because they sought to display Black people, and Black manhood in particular, in a light that was beneath his dignity. He even turned down roles that respected Black manhood, but that, in his eyes, didn’t make sense in the context of the 1950s and ’60s Black reality.
What I’m trying to say is, long before Belafonte became known for his work as an activist, he was already an activist, advocating for Black peoplehood.
But if you just check out his movie credits alone, it makes for a groundbreaking career.
We, of this current moment in time, view the 2018 movie “Black Panther” as a powerful moment for the culture that reverberated beyond movie theaters. And it certainly was. But it wasn’t the only one ever.
Belafonte was one of the headlining actors in one of those past moments when he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in “Carmen Jones” (1954) — a classic, still.
And during that 1950s-60s decade, Belafonte starred in other provocative and progressive movies like “Island in the Sun” (1957) and “The World, the Flesh and the Devil” (1959).
And when Hollywood would not allow Belafonte to star in and direct the kinds of films he believed reflected Black excellence, he gave his acting career the “deuces” and toured the globe as one of the biggest, most in-demand singer/musician/entertainers on the planet.
In so doing, Belafonte again unashamedly celebrated his Blackness, putting the music of Africa and Calypso music front and center. And if you want some context for his impact in the music world, Belafonte earned the first gold record in history after selling over 1 million LPs for his 1956 album “Calypso,” a piece of work that remained on the Billboard Top Pop Album charts for 31 weeks.
After roughly a decade of retirement from acting, Belafonte returned to the silver screen in a big way. In 1970, he starred in the movie “The Angel Levine,” playing an angel when many in white society were still arguing that Blacks were sub-human. Interestingly enough, the promotional tagline for that movie was “If he’s an angel, imagine what God is like.” I have no proof that Belafonte had something to do with writing that line, but I sho-nuf wouldn’t doubt that he did.
Belafonte also starred in “Buck and the Preacher,” a Black western co-starring his friend, the late Sidney Poitier, and the hit “Uptown Saturday Night” where he played the iconic character Geechie Dan as a member of a star-studded cast (Poitier, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Rosalind Cash, Paula Kelly, Flip Wilson, Calvin Lockhart and more).
But it was Belafonte’s work in the ’60s, during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and his continuing advocacy for Pan-African rights, a battlefield he occupied until his final day, that cemented his position as an African ancestor on par with the greatest of our people.
Belafonte was a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who supported King, the SCLC and various movement activities. He was even one of the organizers for the historic 1963 March on Washington and provided much-needed funds that kept the Civil Rights Movement moving (including the Freedom Rides and more).
Belafonte’s influence was so powerful, he was able to get other entertainers to publicly support the March on Washington and other movement actions. At the March on Washington, for example, Belafonte was joined by fellow giants in the arts and humanitarian spaces such as Poitier, James Baldwin, Diahann Carrol, Sammy Davis Jr., Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and others.
And FYI, if you’re on Instagram, please check out Michael Harriot’s post, “Top 10 CRAZY stories about Harry Belafonte.” It provides background on stories like when Belafonte, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the white domestic terrorism that was aimed at movement participants, carried a bag filled with $70K to deliver it to the Mississippi Freedom School, and had to literally dodge the KKK to safeguard both his life and those funds, to complete his mission. And that’s not even the craziest story!
Belafonte also helped organize the USA for Africa project (1985), an effort that gave life to the song “We Are the World.”
It is probably easier to list the movements Belafonte wasn’t involved in, because wherever there was a fight for human rights, he was there, lending his voice, support and presence. He gave countless scheduled and impromptu talks with young people (high school and college students, and community center youth), sharing his wisdom and life lessons similar to what he did in his final movie role in the Spike Lee directed “BlacKkKlansman.”
A 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Belafonte garnered countless awards for his artistry and activism. Some of those awards include a Kennedy Center Honors for excellence in the performing arts; the Nelson Mandela Courage Award and the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton; the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Medal; and Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the Republic of France, the highest award bestowed by the French government.
Belafonte is survived by his wife Pamela, four children, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren. And he’s also survived by generations of members of the Pan-African family who have directly and/or indirectly benefitted from his commitment to art, activism, justice, the people of the Pan-African diaspora and the planet.
