Opinion by Michele L. Norris: Throughout Belafonte’s life, as he used his celebrity to turn the spotlight on injustice, didn’t he make it seem like his heart was full of joy?
In a highly segregated America, Belafonte was a crossover icon, and Jones said that as he became increasingly active in the civil rights movement, promoters and advisers urged him to pull back. “Harry Belafonte provided a bridge to enable America to cross comfortably to the Black community,” Jones said. “He was willing to risk all of that.”
Belafonte was a key figure, for instance, in organizing a gaggle of Hollywood stars who attended the March on Washington in 1963, including Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, Rita Moreno, Paul Newman, Sammy Davis Jr., Marlon Brando, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. In fact, Jones said, Belafonte choreographed the arrival, timing and placement of the Hollywood delegation so it would be seated directly in the path of TV cameras and photographers.
Belafonte also lost friends for supporting leaders and causes that some saw as too strident or radical. In his memoir, he writes about the pain of beingCoretta Scott King’s funeral, despite his longtime bond with her family. The current and former U.S. presidents had been invited, and his open support for Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez was deemed problematic. Belafonte watched the service on television.
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