RIP Harry Bellafonte

tempo_n_groove

I didn't see one for him so here it is.

Famous for his Banana Boat song or if you've ever seen Beetlejuice his Shake Senora in that is fantastic.  He was a stern political rights activist throughout his whole life.  He became more so after his award winning show was asked to stop showing white dancers with black and brown ones.  Tame stuff today and a show of how different the world was in such a short time.

RIP MR Bellafonte.  He had a different girl in every port in his songs...

brianlux

Thanks for posting this.  Yes, very sad news. My pop was a Belafonte fan and I remember how cool that was because I was into all those 60's band but not big (at the time) into any G.I. generation music, but Harry Belafonte was cool. What a great guy. I'm was very sad the other day to hear of his passing.
R.I.P. Mr. Harry Belafonte.

tempo_n_groove

brianlux said:

Thanks for posting this.  Yes, very sad news. My pop was a Belafonte fan and I remember how cool that was because I was into all those 60's band but not big (at the time) into any G.I. generation music, but Harry Belafonte was cool. What a great guy. I'm was very sad the other day to hear of his passing.
R.I.P. Mr. Harry Belafonte.

I learned about him through Sesame street, Beetlejuice and from there became a huge fan.  Later on learning about his role as an activist.

It was very interesting that he walked away from his career for a pursuit in equality.

ZoSoTim

I love the video from the recording of We Are The World when all of those great singers start singing the Banana Boat Song. At first it looks like Harry wasn't sure if they were mocking him or paying tribute. I think by the end he realizes it was done out of love & respect.

jerparker20

I’ve had the upmost respect for Mr Belafonte. A true giant of a man. His Live from Carnegie Hall release from the late 50s is one of my all time favorites.

Theres a documentary on Hulu or one of the streams about how Johnny Carson let Harry take over the Tonight Show for a week in 1968. Going to check it out this weekend.

Loujoe

ZoSoTim said:

I love the video from the recording of We Are The World when all of those great singers start singing the Banana Boat Song. At first it looks like Harry wasn't sure if they were mocking him or paying tribute. I think by the end he realizes it was done out of love & respect.

Daylight come and me wanna go home...great voice, relaxing, fun, meaningful. 
See his records all the time for less than a buck. Might be time to pick up one or two.

tempo_n_groove

jerparker20 said:

I’ve had the upmost respect for Mr Belafonte. A true giant of a man. His Live from Carnegie Hall release from the late 50s is one of my all time favorites.

Theres a documentary on Hulu or one of the streams about how Johnny Carson let Harry take over the Tonight Show for a week in 1968. Going to check it out this weekend.

I forgot about this and how ahead of his time Carson was.  Thanks for jogging my memory.

My favorite by him is when he sings Hole in the Bucket with Odetta.  She has some pipes too.

brianlux

Yesterday, my wife told me an interesting and inspiring story about Mr. Belafonte that is described here:

https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/harry-belafontes-upper-west-side-legacy/

In 1958, he was already an international star. In his 2012 memoir, “My Song,” written with Michael Schnayerson, Belafonte described the difficulties of finding a place to live that suited his family’s needs. Horrified to hear about the prejudice Belafonte was fighting in his apartment search, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her syndicated My Day column, “I am sure that every New Yorker was shocked the other day to read that Harry Belafonte and his charming wife and baby were finding it practically impossible to get an apartment in New York City except in what might be considered segregated areas or in a hotel. I have long been saying that in the North we have only one step to take to meet the Supreme Court order of non-segregation in schools, and that is non-segregation in housing. In New York State we have the laws necessary to achieve non-segregated housing if we saw that they were diligently respected.”

Belafonte settled upon an apartment at 300 West End Avenue and leased it for a year. Acutely aware of the common prejudice against renting to people of color, he made the deal through another person. After the family moved in, landlord Ramfis Trujillo, playboy son of Rafael Trujillo, Dominican Republic president and dictator until his assassination in 1961, learned that Belafonte was not white, and asked him to leave.

Belafonte wrote in his memoir that he was furious at the landlord’s rejection. He famously responded by purchasing the building with partners through a separate corporate entity. He then encouraged friends to purchase apartments in what Belafonte and a number of other tenants turned into a co-op. Herman and Lenore Rottenberg were among those who worked with Belafonte to make all this happen.

JH6056

brianlux said:

Yesterday, my wife told me an interesting and inspiring story about Mr. Belafonte that is described here:

https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/harry-belafontes-upper-west-side-legacy/

In 1958, he was already an international star. In his 2012 memoir, “My Song,” written with Michael Schnayerson, Belafonte described the difficulties of finding a place to live that suited his family’s needs. Horrified to hear about the prejudice Belafonte was fighting in his apartment search, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her syndicated My Day column, “I am sure that every New Yorker was shocked the other day to read that Harry Belafonte and his charming wife and baby were finding it practically impossible to get an apartment in New York City except in what might be considered segregated areas or in a hotel. I have long been saying that in the North we have only one step to take to meet the Supreme Court order of non-segregation in schools, and that is non-segregation in housing. In New York State we have the laws necessary to achieve non-segregated housing if we saw that they were diligently respected.”

Belafonte settled upon an apartment at 300 West End Avenue and leased it for a year. Acutely aware of the common prejudice against renting to people of color, he made the deal through another person. After the family moved in, landlord Ramfis Trujillo, playboy son of Rafael Trujillo, Dominican Republic president and dictator until his assassination in 1961, learned that Belafonte was not white, and asked him to leave.

Belafonte wrote in his memoir that he was furious at the landlord’s rejection. He famously responded by purchasing the building with partners through a separate corporate entity. He then encouraged friends to purchase apartments in what Belafonte and a number of other tenants turned into a co-op. Herman and Lenore Rottenberg were among those who worked with Belafonte to make all this happen.

That is a super cool story! I always knew he was an activist and amazingly talented artist, but as happens so often, I am learning so much more about just HOW amazing a human he was now that he's gone, which feels sad.  But what a life, hopefully he felt great about how he spent it because it seems like he was extraordinarily accomplished. 

Rest in Power Mr. Belafonte

brianlux

JH6056 said:

brianlux said:

Yesterday, my wife told me an interesting and inspiring story about Mr. Belafonte that is described here:

https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/harry-belafontes-upper-west-side-legacy/

In 1958, he was already an international star. In his 2012 memoir, “My Song,” written with Michael Schnayerson, Belafonte described the difficulties of finding a place to live that suited his family’s needs. Horrified to hear about the prejudice Belafonte was fighting in his apartment search, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her syndicated My Day column, “I am sure that every New Yorker was shocked the other day to read that Harry Belafonte and his charming wife and baby were finding it practically impossible to get an apartment in New York City except in what might be considered segregated areas or in a hotel. I have long been saying that in the North we have only one step to take to meet the Supreme Court order of non-segregation in schools, and that is non-segregation in housing. In New York State we have the laws necessary to achieve non-segregated housing if we saw that they were diligently respected.”

Belafonte settled upon an apartment at 300 West End Avenue and leased it for a year. Acutely aware of the common prejudice against renting to people of color, he made the deal through another person. After the family moved in, landlord Ramfis Trujillo, playboy son of Rafael Trujillo, Dominican Republic president and dictator until his assassination in 1961, learned that Belafonte was not white, and asked him to leave.

Belafonte wrote in his memoir that he was furious at the landlord’s rejection. He famously responded by purchasing the building with partners through a separate corporate entity. He then encouraged friends to purchase apartments in what Belafonte and a number of other tenants turned into a co-op. Herman and Lenore Rottenberg were among those who worked with Belafonte to make all this happen.

That is a super cool story! I always knew he was an activist and amazingly talented artist, but as happens so often, I am learning so much more about just HOW amazing a human he was now that he's gone, which feels sad.  But what a life, hopefully he felt great about how he spent it because it seems like he was extraordinarily accomplished. 

Rest in Power Mr. Belafonte

You are super cool to , JH! 👍