[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 102 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       HARRY BELAFONTE: ACTOR, SINGER, ACTIVIST, AND HUMANITARIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Harold George 
Belafonte, the acknowledged ``King of Calypso,'' and one of the most 
successful African American pop stars in history. His ingenious 
assimilation of folk and jazz, with an emphasis on African rhythms and 
third world theme allowed him to rise to unheard of popularity in the 
days before the advent of the civil rights era. His album ``Calypso'' 
was the first recording in the music industry to sell over one million 
copies. It set the standards and laid the groundwork that led to his 
winning the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
  The son of Jamaican-born immigrants, Harry Belafonte was born on 
March 1, 1927, in Harlem, New York. Soon afterwards, his mother sent 
him home to Jamaica, where he spent his formative years and early 
adolescence. His exposure to life on the island and all its variety has 
been a constant inspiration to him and became the reservoir of his 
cultural and artistic expression.
  After serving in World War II, he returned to New York and became 
involved in the theater community of New York. His first Broadway 
musical, John Murray Anderson's ``Almanac'', won him the coveted Tony 
Award. The overwhelming success of Carmen Jones, the Oscar Hammerstein 
adaptation of Bizet's opera ``Carmen'', made him one of the most sought 
after African American actors in the history of Hollywood.
  He won the Emmy Award for his performance in the television musical 
epic ``Tonight with Belafonte.'' He is one of the nine winners of the 
2006 Impact Award recipients by the AARP magazine. He was the first 
recipient of the Marcus Garvey Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2000, 
which created the tradition of honoring humanitarians in the Jamerican 
Film and Music Festival in the subsequent years. He was also the first 
to receive the Nelson Mandela Courage Award and was honored with the 
1994 National Medal of Arts from President Clinton, as well as numerous 
other awards and honors. I am awed by the talent of this remarkable 
man. His success continues to be a great inspiration for African 
American artists.
  Harry Belafonte is a pioneer as an actor and musician and he is 
equally a committed social activist. A close friend and confidante of 
Martin Luther King Jr., he was the driving force who mobilized the 
cultural and artistic community in support of Dr. King's work, leading 
to their financial support and their personal identification with the 
needs of the Civil Rights movement. Dr. King himself acknowledged 
Belafonte's contribution, ``Belafonte's global popularity and his 
commitment to our cause is a key ingredient to the global struggle for 
freedom and a powerful tactical weapon in the civil rights movement 
here in America.''
  In 1987, he accepted the appointment as UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador. 
The second American to hold this title, he continues to play a vital 
role in holding special concerts to raise funds and gamer support for 
UNICEF programs, along with his assignments to UNICEF missions. In 
1985, he assembled 45 top performers to record the song ``We Are the 
World,'' raising millions of dollars for emergency aid in Africa.
  In 1987, he created a historic symposium in Dakar, Senegal for the 
immunization of African children, the positive response to which has 
lead to a successful campaign for the eradication of curable diseases 
among African children. In 1988, he performed a concert in Harare, 
Zimbabwe, to focus global attention on child survival and development 
in South African countries, especially those victimized by the 
apartheid war. In 1989, the U.S. Committee for the UNICEF honored him 
with the Danny Kaye Award, for his important contribution in service of 
the children of the world.
  Seeing the effects of HIV/AIDS in South Africa firsthand, he launched 
the Harry & Julie Belafonte Fund for HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa 
using a U.S. $100,000 honorarium from the Ronald McDonald House 
Charities' Award of Excellence. He received the award in 2000 in 
recognition of his humanitarian work.
  Recently he was presented with the Black Entertainment Television 
(BET) Humanitarian Award, which he dedicated to Malcolm X and Nelson 
Mandela, as well as to the poet soldiers of the civil rights activists 
such as Fannie Lou Hamer. ``I had a mission to overthrow oppression,'' 
he said in his speech honoring social activists all over the world.
  Harry Belafonte has been a harsh critic of U.S. foreign policy, 
opposing the embargo on Cuba, the war on Iraq, as well as condemning 
the Bush administration for refusing aid from Venezuela and Cuba in the 
aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He has taken a 
strong position against the spying on American citizens sanctioned by 
the USA PATRIOT Act and conducted by the Bush Administration outside of 
the law.
  His calling President Bush as the ``biggest terrorist in the world,'' 
has created controversy and made him unacceptable to some, but he shows 
little concern over the reaction to his words because he sees the need 
to speak the truth as he sees it.
  He has called upon the American people to demand their constitutional 
rights from the government. Instead of spending billions of taxpayer 
dollars abroad in a needless war, he suggested that we should focus on 
reforming our broken social security and Medicare system to ensure 
social benefits for our citizens.

  Mr. Speaker, I wish to honor this remarkable man for all his 
achievements and for what he continues to do for civil rights and as a 
Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
  On behalf of all of us, and in recognition of Harry Belafonte's 
extraordinary career, I declare that:
  (1) Harry Belafonte is as popular among White audiences as Black 
audiences, shattering the traditional divisions between Black and White 
music. Whether plaintive or rousing, the music of Harry Belafonte 
transforms the everyday lives, pain, and joy of the common people into 
songs that resonated with and inspired people of all nationalities, 
races, and classes.
  (2) His multiracial appeal enhanced the movement toward racial 
equality and increased understanding and tolerance across racial 
boundaries during the Civil Rights movement.
  (3) As a supporter of that Movement, he performed benefit concerts 
and provided additional financial support to causes led by his friend, 
Rev. Martin Luther King.
  (4) His activism and search for justice extends beyond the borders of 
the U.S. as evidenced by his strong opposition to the apartheid system 
in South Africa as well as his contribution as a Goodwill Ambassador 
for the UNICEF.
  (5) Harry Belafonte, at this point in his career, is an immensely 
respected and dazzling figure in American culture and is equally 
esteemed and admired as a fighter against injustice at home and abroad.

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