Doing battle for causes -- sometimes controversial -- has been a lifelong dedication for Belafonte. His career as an entertainer still thrives, after more than forty years. His great fame is the result of a unique talent and artistry that continues to move his worldwide audience. But his dedication to uniting people and his skill as a humanitarian have only now begun to receive the acclaim they also deserve.
In 1960, President John F. Kennedy named Belafonte as cultural advisor to the Peace Corps. In his five years of service, he went to many of the world's developing countries; a long and passionate bond with Africa was created. But the civil rights struggle in America became his greatest commitment.
Belafonte was the driving force uniting America's cultural community behind the needs of the civil rights movement. The success of this mobilization was seen in the overwhelming presence of people of the arts in the marches from Selma to Montgomery and the protests in Birmingham, Alabama. He helped organize and was in the front ranks of the Freedom March in Washington, DC in 1963.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Belafonte became friends in the early 1950s. They worked side by side to spread the word and to raise funds for civil rights. In 1960, they concluded that the movement should take flight beyond America.
Belafonte began uniting the cultural forces of Europe. Working with Yves Montand and Simon Signoret, he gave major concerts in Paris. With the King of Sweden as patron and the Prime Minister as chairperson - and with a remarkable cast of artists from pop music and classical culture - Belafonte produced and performed in a telecast. This effort was seen in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Funds were raised. And Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke for the first time to European and Scandinavian audiences.
Belafonte was named to the board of directors of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Later, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed him chairman of the New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission.
Among the many organization to bestow honors on Belafonte are: The American Jewish Congress; The NAACP; the City of Hope; Fight for Sight; The Urban League; The National Conference of Black Mayors; the Anti-Defamation League of B'nair B'rith; the American Civil Liberties Union; the Peace Corps, and the Boy Scouts of America.
Yeshiva University gave Belafonte their Albert Einstein Award. He has the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize. In 1989 he received the Kennedy Center Honor for excellence in the performing arts. Bronx College gave him their Acorn Award for his work with children. He was the first recipient of the Nelson Mandela Courage Award.
In 1994, President Clinton gave him the National Medal of Arts for his contributions to America's cultural life.
In 1987, Belafonte became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. He shares his task of tending to the needs of the children of the world with Liv Ullman of Norway, Sir Peter Ustinov, Lord Richard Attenborough, and Roger Moore of the United Kingdom. And, until her death, with his close friend, Audrey Hepburn.
Belafonte's career as a performing artist has been going full force since the 1950s. His breakthrough at the Village Vanguard, singing an artful mix of Caribbean and folk music, was a sensation. Nightclubs lead to Broadway. His third recorded album, "Calypso," became the first ever to sell over a million copies. He was a leading man in the first of his many films. He seized his moment in entertainment history by conquering television. The critics gave astounding reviews to "Tonight with Harry Belafonte" and he received an Emmy Award. His worldwide concert tours sell out to this day.
Eleanor Roosevelt introduced Belafonte to the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Yorktown, New York. His long association with the school included donating the proceeds from his 1959 album, "Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall." It held the record as the longest best selling album in the top ten of the music charts until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" edged it out.
Harry Belafonte says: "My social and political interests are part of my career. I cannot separate them. My songs reflect the human condition. The role of art isn't just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be." And when asked where he finds time to do all that he does, he answers, "No matter what goes on, there will always be time for another song to be sung somewhere in this precious world."
On Tuesday evening, May 19, at The Pierre in New York City, Harry Belafonte was installed in CR&T's Cancer Survivors Hall of Fame.
Harry
Belafonte Named to Cancer Survivors Hall of Fame Harry Belafonte is
forthright in speaking about his battle with prostate cancer. In October 1996
he appeared with Sam Donaldson -- also a cancer survivor -- on ABC News
Primetime Live. Their commonality and candor about the disease produced
a watershed in honest television broadcasting. Belafonte is also a spokesman
for Cap CURE, the Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate.