Harry Belafonte, activist and entertainer, dies at 96
Published:Tuesday | April 25, 2023 | 9:14 AM
NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian, and conscience of the world, has died.
He was 96.
Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Paula M. Witt, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.
Belafonte, whose given name is Harold George Bellanfanti Jr., is of Jamaican parentage.
In 2018, he was bestowed with the Order of Merit (OM) by the Jamaican government for his outstanding contribution to culture.
The recognition is Jamaica's third-highest national honour.
To mark his 95th birthday last March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness indicated that a highway is to be named in honour of Belafonte.
With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” and its call of “Day-O! Daaaaay-O.”
But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson's decree that artists are “gatekeepers of truth.”
He stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist.
Few kept up with Belafonte's time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the civil rights movement.
Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts but helped organise and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially.
He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to meet their “social responsibilities,” and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others.
In Spike Lee's 2018 film “BlacKkKlansman,” he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country's past.
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