Harry Belafonte, African-American singer and film superstar of Caribbean origins and tireless fighter for human rights in the United States and abroad, died Tuesday in New York at the age of 96.
“Renowned singer, actor, (…), legendary figure of civil rights, Harry Belafonte died this morning of heart failure at his home in New York”, his wife Pamela by his side, announced his agent in a communicated.
Immediately, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, via a press release from his spokesperson, paid tribute to this UNICEF goodwill ambassador: “In addition to reaching millions of people thanks to his inimitable charm and his charisma in music, film and theatre, Mr. Balafonte has dedicated his life to fighting for human rights and against injustice in all its forms”.
UNICEF director Catherine Russell bowed in a statement to “one of the greatest actors, singers, producers and champions of human rights, especially for children”.
For his part, the senator, figure of the American left, Bernie Sanders, saw in “Harry Belafonte not only a great entertainer, but a courageous leader in the fight against racism and the oppression of workers”.
Even his heirs in music, such as artist John Legend, underlined on Tuesday the “subversive” and “revolutionary” dimension of the “messages” contained in Belafonte’s songs.
Born in Harlem in 1927 to a Jamaican mother and a Martinican father, he had grown up partly in Jamaica before settling in New York, a childhood of mixed influences that he had integrated into his music, which meets a huge success in the prosperous America of the 1950s.
In 1956, his album “Calypso” became the first in history to sell over a million copies.
As a singer, he filled the halls and his recordings, including six gold records, were a worldwide success and earned him several Grammy Awards in 1960.
At the same time, at the cinema, Belafonte played in Otto Preminger’s “Carmen Jones” (1954), “The Staircase” (Robert Wise, 1959), “Kansas City” by Robert Altman (1996), “Buck and his accomplice”, by and with Sidney Poitier (1972) and “Bobby” (Emilio Estevez, 2006) on the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, the brother of John F. Kennedy.
It was later, when the fight for racial equality became central in the United States, that the singer, who had become an actor, became closer to the political fights of the left and bonded with the icon Martin Luther King, that he supports financially.
He will also be close to President Kennedy.
Until the 2000s, he continued his battles, opposing the war in Iraq led by Republican President George W. Bush, whom he accused of being a “terrorist”.
He was also an activist against apartheid in South Africa, against AIDS and an admirer of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The dyslexic artist, who did not expect success after dropping out of high school, enlisting for a time in the army or working as a janitor, was crowned with prestigious awards at the end of his life.
Thus, in 2014, he received an honorary Oscar because “from the start of his career, he chose projects highlighting racism and inequalities”.
In December 2021, he was awarded the title of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the hands of the French ambassador to the United States.
04/25/2023 19:34:03 – New York (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
