[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E292-E293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING HARRY BELAFONTE'S 85TH BIRTHDAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 1, 2012

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House to join me 
in extending warm wishes to Mr. Harry Belafonte, a great American who 
celebrates his 85th birthday today.
  Harry Belafonte is not only the consummate entertainer, but he is a 
tireless civil rights advocate. He has used the fame and wealth that he 
earned early on in his career as a musician and actor to support and 
advance the cause of civil and human rights.
  Harry Belafonte was born Harold George Belafonte, Jr., at Lying-in 
Hospital, New York City, New York. He was the son of Melvine, a 
housekeeper, and Harold George Belafonte, Sr., a Jamaican who worked as 
chef in the Royal Navy. From 1932 to 1940, he lived with his 
grandmother in the village of Aboukir in her native country of Jamaica. 
When he returned to New York City he attended George Washington High 
School after which he joined the Navy and served during World War II.
  At the end of the 1940s, he took classes in acting at the Dramatic 
Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German 
director Erwin Piscator alongside Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter 
Matthau, Bea Arthur, and Sidney Poitier, while performing with the 
American Negro Theatre.
  Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York, a 
job he took to help pay for his acting classes. The first time he 
appeared in front of an audience he was backed by the Charlie Parker 
band, which included the great Charlie Parker himself, Max Roach, and 
Miles Davis among others. At first he was a pop singer, launching his 
recording career on the Roost label in 1949, but later he developed a 
keen interest in folk music, learning material through the Library of 
Congress' American folk songs archives. With guitarist and friend 
Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz 
club The Village Vanguard. In 1952 he received a contract with RCA 
Victor.
  His first wide-release single, which went on to become his 
``signature'' song with audience participation in virtually all his 
live performances, was ``Matilda,'' recorded April 27, 1953. His 
breakthrough album Calypso (1956) became the first LP to sell over 1 
million copies. The album introduced American audiences to Calypso 
music and Belafonte was dubbed the ``King of Calypso.'' Belafonte was 
also the first African American man to win an Emmy, with his first solo 
TV special Tonight with Belafonte (1959).
  More than a musician and entertainer, Belafonte was a civil rights 
activist and tireless leader. Belafonte's political beliefs are greatly 
inspired by the man that he still views to this day as his mentor: 
singer and activist Paul Robeson. He strongly opposed racial prejudice, 
segregation, and discrimination in the United States. Like Robeson and 
other black entertainers, Belafonte's success in the arts did not 
protect him from racial discrimination, particularly in the American 
South. As a result, Belafonte refused to perform in the South from 1954 
until 1961.
  Also in the 1950s, Belafonte met a young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
on the latter's historic visit to New York. From that eventful first 
meeting until the day Dr. King was assassinated, Belafonte and Dr. King 
maintained a deep and abiding friendship.
  Dr. King, Jr., said of Belafonte, ``[his] 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. We are blessed by his courage and moral integrity.''
  Mr. Belafonte could always be counted on to be there when the need 
was greatest. He was there to provide the money to secure Dr. King's 
release from Birmingham City Jail. He raised thousands of dollars to 
post the bail needed to release other jailed civil rights protesters. 
He financed the Freedom Rides, supported voter registration drives, and 
helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.
  During ``Freedom Summer'' in 1964, Belafonte financed the Student 
Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, flying to Mississippi that 
August with $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in Greenwood with 
his ``Banana Boat Song.'' In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark 
primetime television special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark 
smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm, which made the show's 
sponsor, Plymouth Motors, nervous. Plymouth wanted to cut out the 
segment, but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the 
performance would be shown intact or she would not allow the special to 
be aired at all. American newspapers published articles reporting the 
controversy and, when the special aired, it earned high ratings.
  Belafonte has continued his involvement in the civil rights struggle 
to this very day. Recently, Belafonte spoke at the 50th SNCC 
Anniversary Conference.
  Belafonte did not limit his fight for justice to the United States. 
He has spent his life and career advocating for human rights around the 
entire world. For example, disturbed by cruel events unfolding in 
Africa as a result of war, famine and drought, Belafonte set in motion 
the wheels that led to ``We Are the World,'' the iconic song and music 
video organized by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, that raised 
millions in support of famine relief efforts in Africa. In 1987, 
Belafonte accepted the appointment as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador--the 
second American to hold this position--the first was Danny Kaye.
  Belafonte has continued to devote himself globally to civil and human 
rights issues, focusing in particular on the United States and Africa. 
``My social and political interests are part of my career. I can't 
separate them,'' said Belafonte. ``My songs reflect the human 
condition. The role of art isn't just to show life as it is, but to 
show life as it should be.''
  Belafonte's international civil rights accomplishments also include 
his contribution to ending the oppressive apartheid in South Africa and 
securing the release of his friend, Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for 
twenty seven and a half years.
  Belafonte was appointed by President John F. Kennedy Cultural Advisor 
for the Peace

[[Page E293]]

Corps, a position he held for five years. He has been honored many 
times by such diverse groups as the American Jewish Congress, the 
NAACP, the City of Hope, Fight for Sight, The Urban League, The 
National Conference of Black Mayors, the Anti-Defamation League of 
B'nai B'rith, the ACLU, the State Department, the Boy Scouts of 
America, Hadassah International and the Peace Corps.
  He has received awards from the Bronx Community College for his work 
with children, the Albert Einstein Award from Yeshiva University, the 
Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize and the prestigious Kennedy Center 
Honors for excellence in the performing arts. He was the first 
recipient of the Nelson Mandela Courage Award and was honored at the 
White House with the 1994 National Medal of Arts from President Clinton 
for his contributions to our nation's cultural life. He has received 
honorary degrees from City University of New York, Spellman College in 
Atlanta, Tufts University, Brandeis University, Long Island University, 
Bard College and most recently Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia 
University. In 2010, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation honored 
Mr. Belafonte with its prestigious Phoenix Award.
  Mr. Speaker, Harry Belafonte has devoted his life to the cause of 
freedom, justice, equality, and human dignity. His has been an 
important and consequential life. And he is still going strong.
  So on the occasion of his 85th birthday, I rise to say Mr. Belafonte: 
Happy birthday and thank you for your active faith, your lifetime of 
service, your tireless devotion to human rights and freedom.

                          ____________________