Harry Belafonte

1. HARRY BELAFONTE
“An Iconic Artist of the Black Diaspora”

2. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“EARLY LIFE”
• Also Know As - Harold George Belafonte, Jr.
• Born March 1,1927 in New York City, New York
• An American singer, actor, producer, and activist.
• His parents were immigrants from the Caribbean islands
of Martinique and Jamaica.
• Mother – worked as a dressmaker & house cleaner.
• Father – served as a cook on merchant ships.
• He spent most of his early years with his mother in her
native country of Jamaica.
• He struggled with poverty and turbulent family life as a
child.

3. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“MARRIAGES”
• Currently resides in New York
City with his 3rd wife,
photographer Pamela Frank.
• 2nd Wife (Divorced) - Dancer Julie
Robinson
• 1st Wife (Divorced) - Marguerite
Byrd

4. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“CHILDREN”
Son – 1st Wife
• David Belafonte
Daughter – 1st Wife
• Gina Belafonte
Daughters – 2nd Wife
• Adrienne Belafonte
• Shari Belafonte

5. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“EARLY CAREER”
• 1944 - Dropped out of high school and enlisted in U.S.
Navy.
• Worked as janitor’s assistant in New York City.
• Volunteered and performed at the American Negro
Theater.
• Studied drama at the Dramatic Workshop run by Erwin
Piscator.
• Through music agent Monte Kay, he performed at jazz
club, “Royal Roost”.
• 1949 - Backed by musicians Charlie Parker and Miles
Davis, landed his first recording deal.
• 1950’s – Dropped popular music in favor of folk.

6. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“MOVIES”
“Carmen Jones”
A 1954 film adaptation of the
Broadway musical and Georges
Bizet opera.
“Uptown Saturday Night”
A 1974 film based on a rivalry
between two gangsters from a
robbery of a night club that
included a $50,000 lottery
ticket.
“White Man’s Burden”
A 1995 drama feature film
about racism in an alternative
America where black and white
Americans have reversed
cultural roles.

7. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“MUSIC”
“The Banana Boat” (Day-O)
A hug hit featuring Belafonte’s
take on traditional Caribbean
folk music. It’s about his father,
mother, uncles, men, and
women who toil in the banana
fields and cane fields of
Jamaica.
“Jamaica Farewell”
It is song about the beauties of
the West Indian Islands and his
sadness of departure of
Jamaica, the native country of
his descendants.
“Matilda”
"Matilda" is a song lamenting a
woman who took a man for all
he was worth.

8. PURPOSE OF HARRY BELAFONTE’S MUSIC
• He used the Arts to Fight Injustice
and Racism.
• He reminded us of our Caribbean
roots.
• He used the Arts and the power of
music to spur social change.
• He used the “Calypso” music as a
mark of representation of
America’s artistic, cultural and
historic treasures across the
African Diaspora.

9. HARRY BELAFONTE’S SONG
“THE BANANA BOAT”
• Rhetorical Tools: Logos, Pathos, Ethos, and
Kairos.
• Themes: Slavery, Racism, Injustice, Social
and Economic Change, Justice, Freedom,
African Roots, Culture, Art, History of
African Diaspora.
• Sounds: Beating of drums/bongos, loud
drawn-out scream, guitar, horn, saxophone,
trombone, steel drums, calypso, jazz scat
• Genre: Protest, Mento, Ska
• Messages: A slave Jamaican work song that
was sung by dock workers throughout their
long night shift in the 20th century when
the banana trade increased. The enslaved
were looking forward to daylight coming so
that they could go home and someday get
freedom.
• Visuals: African back-up singers
dancing/moving to the beat of the
instruments, interaction w/audience,
colorful background, island attire.

10. HARRY BELAFONTE’S SONG
“THE BANANA BOAT”
Similar to Reggae – Bob Marley
• Origin is Jamaica
• Mento style of music
• Social-political consciousness worldwide
• Pan-Africanism connection to Civil Rights
• Protest music
Different from Reggae – Bob Marley
• Calypso style
• Folk Music is a little faster
• More of a Ska style incorporated in music
• Structure of beats
• Style of clothing

11. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM”
• 1950’s – Harry Belafonte emerged with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and became
a strong voice for the Civil Rights Movement. He helped to organize the 1963
March on Washington.
• Mid 1960’s he met South African artist Miriam Makeba, known as “Mama
Africa” and helped to introduce her to international audiences and called
attention to life under apartheid in South Africa.
• 1980’s – He recorded “We Are the World” with many other celebrities to raise
funds for a famine relief in Ethiopia.
• He insulted General Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice referring to them as
“house slaves” because he felt that they were serving those who continue to
design our oppression.

12. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“AWARDS”
• Tony Awards (1953)
• Primetime Emmy Award (1960)
• Star on Walk of Fame (1960)
• Grammy Awards (1961, 1966)
• Kennedy Center Honors (1989)
• The National Medal of Arts (1994)
• New York Film Critics Circle Award (1996)
• Jamerican International Film Festival Lifetime
Achievement Award (1999)
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2000)
• BET Humanitarian Award (2006)
• BET Humanitarian Award (2006)
• Hollywood Film Award (2006)
• Berlin International Film Festival Award (2011)
• NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary
Work (2012)
• Lacarno International Film Festival: Career
Award (2012)
• Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (2014)
• Hollywood Film Festival (2014)
• Emmy Awards

13. HARRY BELAFONTE’S
“QUOTES”
• “You can cage the singer but not the song."
• "Bring it on. Dissent is central to any
democracy."
• "Movements don't die, because struggle
doesn't die."
• "Fascism is fascism. Terrorism is terrorism.
Oppression is oppression."
• "The pursuit of justice is all I have ever
known.“
• Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are
civilization’s anchor. We are the compass for
humanity’s conscience.

14. MY IMPRESSION
• I am thoroughly impressed by and a fan of
Harry Belafonte. He is truly a legendary and
multitalented artist and activist. His
involvement in the arts, music, entertainment,
and culture at large will continue to make
history and impact past, present, and future
generations.
• I love Calypso folk Caribbean music for it is
the cultural source to my African heritage.
When I hear the instruments, my body
automatically moves to the beat of the
Caribbean sounds.

15. SOURCES
Sources:
• YouTube – youtube.com (See Video’s on Music Slide)
• Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Belafonte
• Biography - https://www.biography.com/musician/harry-belafonte
• CNN Editorial Research - https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/us/harry-belafonte-fast-
facts/index.html
News Articles:
• People’s World - https://peoplesworld.org/article/the-sit-in-the-week-harry-belafonte-hosted-
the-tonight-show/
• Rolling Stone - https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/common-chuck-d-
belafonte-birthday-livestream-1128571/