Harry Belafonte, the superstar entertainer who introduced a Caribbean flair to mainstream US music and became well known for his deep personal investment in civil rights, died Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 96. The barrier-breaking artist-activist died of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his publicist said in a statement.
Born in Harlem to a Jamaican mother and a father from the French territory of Martinique, the calypso singer and actor spent part of his childhood in Jamaica before returning to New York — a binational upbringing that shaped his musical and political outlooks, and saw him campaign tirelessly for racial equality.
Belafonte’s calypso, the genre of Caribbean music that drew from West African and French influences, saw him skyrocket to fame in the midst of post-World War II prosperity and suburbanization. His third album, entitled “Calypso” and released in 1956, became the first LP to sell more than one million copies in the United States.
The album featured what would become Belafonte’s signature song, “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” — he scoffed at the idea it was simply feel-good dance music, calling the track a rebellious take on workers demanding fair wages.
Belafonte “used his platform in almost a subversive way because he would sneak messages in there, revolutionary messages,” crooner John Legend said Tuesday at a Time magazine event.
“When people just thought he was singing about good times and the islands, he was always infusing messages of protest and revolution in everything he did. When people think of activism, they always think some sacrifice is involved, but I’ve always considered it a privilege and an opportunity,” he said in a 2004 speech at Emory University.
He opened his own coffers to back the civil rights movement, becoming close with Martin Luther King Jr.
Belafonte brought the civil rights leader along with the Birmingham, Alabama pastor Fred Shuttlesworth to his New York apartment to plan out the 1963 campaign to integrate the notoriously racist southern city.
When King was thrown into a Birmingham jail, Belafonte raised $50,000 — nearly $500,000 in current value — to post his bail.
“Belafonte’s global popularity and his commitment to our cause is a key ingredient to the global struggle for freedom and a powerful tactical weapon in the civil rights movement here in America,” King once said.
King’s daughter Bernice on Tuesday posted a photo of a crying Belafonte seated with her mother Coretta at the slain activist’s funeral.
“When I was a child, #HarryBelafonte showed up for my family in very compassionate ways,” she wrote. I won’t forget…Rest well, sir.” Harold George Bellanfanti Jr was born on March 1, 1927, in New York’s Harlem.
As a child, he moved to Jamaica with his mother and younger brother and described his Jamaican roots as shaping “almost everything” in his life. Belafonte did not grow up believing he would enjoy a promising career.
He had vocal gifts and striking good looks but suffered from dyslexia and dropped out of high school to serve in the US Navy during World War II. When he returned, he worked as a janitor.
Source: eNCA
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