{"id":33903,"date":"2023-05-20T17:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T17:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=33903"},"modified":"2023-07-02T07:46:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T07:46:27","slug":"from-sit-ins-in-the-1960s-to-uprisings-in-the-new-millennium-harry-belafonte-served-as-a-champion-of-youth-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/from-sit-ins-in-the-1960s-to-uprisings-in-the-new-millennium-harry-belafonte-served-as-a-champion-of-youth-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"From sit-ins in the 1960s to uprisings in the new millennium, Harry Belafonte served as a champion of youth\u00a0activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jelani M. Favors<\/a>, North Carolina A&T State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the contributions for which Harry Belafonte will be remembered, perhaps none is more enduring than the celebrated entertainer\u2019s lifelong support for youth activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This support can be traced back to Belafonte\u2019s early involvement in the Black student-led protests of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, but it didn\u2019t end there. Using his social stature and personal wealth from a career that once made him the \u201cmost highly paid Black performer in history<\/a>,\u201d Belafonte also helped establish hip-hop<\/a> as a dominant cultural force in the 1980s and spoke out in support of Black uprisings against police brutality in the 2010s in cities such as Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a historian who has examined Black student activism from the civil rights era<\/a> to today, I see Belafonte, who passed away on April 25, 2023<\/a>, as one of America\u2019s preeminent \u201crace men<\/a>,\u201d social justice warriors and elder statesmen for youth-led racial justice movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in a new Black era<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in Harlem in 1927, Belafonte was immersed in the politics and art of the New Negro Era<\/a>, an era that gave birth to radically new interpretations of the Black aesthetic and launched new efforts toward Black liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the modern Civil Rights Movement unfolded in post-World War II America, Belafonte joined the ranks of Black entertainers who sought to use their platforms to advance the cause. But it was the direct-action phase of the movement, pioneered by Black college students throughout the South at the start of the 1960s, that elevated the movement to a more intense confrontation with Jim Crow America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sit-ins<\/a>, Freedom Rides<\/a> and jail-ins<\/a> orchestrated by organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee \u2013 or SNCC<\/a> \u2013 and the Congress of Racial Equality<\/a> brought Belafonte deeper into the orbit of the freedom struggle. Belafonte once said he admired the young activists for the \u201cpower of their independence<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A unifying force<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the tensest moments for the young activists was the Freedom Rides<\/a> that brought waves of young Black college students into the Deep South to challenge the legality of segregation in interstate busing. Many of them ended up as victims of police brutality in the infamous Parchman Farm Penitentiary<\/a> in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Not only did Belafonte make a generous donation to their cause, but his willingness to support the activists strengthened their admiration of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFolks were just overwhelmed,\u201d recalled civil rights organizer Kwame Ture<\/a>, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, \u201cand I believe that marked the beginning of Bro. Belafonte\u2019s long relationship \u2013 as adviser, benefactor, and big brother \u2013 to the young freedom-fighting organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Harry Belafonte being interviewed by a student at Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., year unknown. Thomas F. Holgate Library at Bennettt College<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As students courageously languished in Mississippi\u2019s sweltering prison, they converted Belafonte\u2019s signature song into a freedom anthem. The calypso singer\u2019s hit single \u201cDay-O (The Banana Boat Song)<\/a>\u201d echoed through Southern jails as students arrested for challenging Jim Crow laws repurposed the song with new lyrics:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, I took a little trip on a Greyhound bus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom comin\u2019 and it won\u2019t be long.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, to fight segregation this we must.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, Freedom comin\u2019 and it won\u2019t be long.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financed the SNCC retreat to Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The apex of Belafonte\u2019s involvement with the SNCC was his facilitation of a sojourn to the West African nation of Guinea in September of 1964<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sensing the burnout and frustration that was brewing within the organization due to its growing dissatisfaction with moderation and stall tactics<\/a> from both the liberal left and conservative right, Belafonte organized and paid for a three-week sabbatical. Eleven SNCC activists, including John Lewis<\/a>, Fannie Lou Hamer<\/a> and Stokely Carmichael, made the trip. Belafonte introduced them to Guinea\u2019s political dignitaries, including President Sekou Toure<\/a>. The trip proved critical in sharpening the SNCC\u2019s focus on the potential for Black empowerment back in the States \u2013 a revelation that would greatly shape the coming Black Power Movement that unfolded in 1966.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideological tensions concerning the direction of the Civil Rights Movement after 1965 pushed Belafonte closer<\/a> to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the politically conscious showman never turned his back on the youth activists who helped to define the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Harry
Singer Harry Belafonte waves to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., right, as he leaves the column of civil rights marchers in Montgomery, Ala., in 1965.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Supported hip-hop in its early years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It should not surprise anyone that a man who had a deep affinity for folk music and songs of the people gravitated toward hip-hop as it emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Belafonte saw hip-hop as a logical next step in the evolution of Black cultural expression and a vital space for Black militancy. In a 2006 interview, he declared<\/a>, \u201cWhen I hung out up in the South Bronx with Afrika Bambaataa<\/a> and Melle Mel<\/a>, and watched the dawning of the hip-hop culture, it brought to me a profound sense of a wonderful thing that was in our future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belafonte produced the 1984 film \u201cBeat Street<\/a>,\u201d a celebration of hip-hop that was critical in introducing the art form to wider audiences. One of the featured artists, Melle Mel of the pioneering hip-hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, recalled that he met with Belafonte<\/a> prior to penning his verse on the soundtrack\u2019s title song, \u201cBeat Street Breakdown<\/a>. His lyrics<\/a> reflected his exchange with the civil rights legend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peoples in terror, the leaders made a error And now they can\u2019t even look in the mirror Cause we gotta suffer while things get rougher And that\u2019s the reason why we got to get tougher<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belafonte intensified his backing of hip-hop in later years, whether it was encouraging Fidel Castro to carve out support for Cuban rappers in the 1990s<\/a>, or through various hip-hop summits that he hosted in an effort to prod and push hip-hop\u2019s most prominent entertainers to be more outspoken<\/a> on issues related to social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Harry Belafonte with 9th Wonder at one of Belafonte\u2019s hip hop-summits in June 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mentored young activists<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In his twilight years, Belafonte continued to mentor youth activists. In the aftermath of Trayvon Martin\u2019s<\/a> killing in 2013, Belafonte visited Tallahassee, Florida, to support the work of the Dream Defenders<\/a>, an organization founded by former students from Florida A&M University to, among other things, draw attention to the injustice of the Stand Your Ground<\/a> law that was used to justify Martin\u2019s fatal shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing with the students in solidarity, Belafonte told them<\/a>: “I\u2019m here because I am a part of your history. You called, and I\u2019m here to tell you that those of us who have been in this struggle for over a century are happy to be part of this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embraced Black Lives Matter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Belafonte\u2019s tireless devotion to human rights perfectly dovetailed into support for the Black Lives Matter movement<\/a> in the 2010s, as he continued to argue for disruption of political systems that upheld state-sanctioned violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belafonte\u2019s defiance and support for the movement was unwavering. \u201cRadical thought at its best is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable,\u201d Belafonte declared in 2015<\/a>. \u201cWe talk about the uprisings in communities like in St. Louis and Baltimore, and it is what protests are supposed to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 1960s until Belafonte\u2019s passing, young people across several generations sought him out for wisdom and guidance. His enduring commitment to youth and idealism always made him easy to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jelani M. Favors<\/a>, Professor of History, North Carolina A&T State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jelani M. Favors, North Carolina A&T State University Of all the contributions for which Harry Belafonte will be remembered, perhaps none is more enduring than the celebrated entertainer\u2019s lifelong support for youth activism. This support can be traced back to Belafonte\u2019s early involvement in the Black student-led protests of the Civil Rights Movement in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":33904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[2763,500,11106,15,14069,13962,1427,2367,4278],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33903"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34269,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903\/revisions\/34269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}