Thank You, Harry Belafonte… Your Star Will Shine Forever
by Carolyn Lee Apr 25, 2023
“The pursuit of justice is all I’ve ever known… My activism always existed. My art gave me the platform to do something about my activism.” – Harry Belafonte.
Harry Belafonte died on 25 April 2023, aged 96. The Caribbean and the world have lost another legend, and although we mourn his passing, we celebrate his talent, contributions, and the inimitable legacy he leaves behind.
Many of us remember the legendary singer, political and human rights activist, and actor Harry Belafonte for his melliferous singing voice, “Jamaica Farewell, “Jump in the Line”, and the “Banana Boat” (Day O) songs that gained him fame in the 1950s. Yet, his activism made him an icon, an inspiration, and a powerhouse.
Born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr in Harlem, New York, on 1 March 1927, Mr Belafonte was a hugely successful Jamaican American star who popularised Jamaican mento folk songs. His album, Calypso (1956), made him a breakout artist and was the first LP by a single artist to sell over a million copies.
Although he was born in the US to a Scottish Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father, he lived in Jamaica with one of his grandmothers from 1932 to 1940, attending Wolmer’s High School before returning to the United States. Years later, he began his singing career as a club singer in New York to fund acting classes.
His music had a Trinbagonian Calypso musical style that resonated with an international audience in the 1950s. During this time, Paul Robeson, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and other civil rights icons inspired him to become an activist. He contributed to the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s and bailed Dr King out of the Birmingham, Alabama City Jail during the 1963 Birmingham Campaign. He also raised money to release other civil rights protesters and helped to organise the 1963 March on Washington.
Some of Mr Belafonte’s accomplishments include a Tony Award in 1954 (Supporting Actor in the musical John Murray Anderson’s Almanac), an Emmy Award in 1960 (Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Programme), and three Grammy Awards for Best Folk Performance (1960), and Best Folk Recording (1961 and 1965). He became a UNICEF Ambassador in 1987, received Kennedy Center Honours (1989), and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2014. Mr Belafonte was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category in 2022. He was the oldest living person to have received the honour, among other accomplishments.
Mr Belafonte has appeared in several movies and documentaries throughout his career. His film roles include Bright Road (1953), Carmen Jones (1954), Buck and the Preacher (1972), White Man’s Burden (1995), and BlacKkKlansman (2018). He published his memoir, My Song, in 2011 with Knopf Books.
Thank you, Mr Belafonte. Your passion for the pursuit of justice and legacy lives on.
Sources: NPS.Gov, Because of Them We Can, Black History, and Biography.