I put this on facebook, and I thought i'd drop it here, too.
There are few people whom i respect more than the late Harry Belafonte. Besides his great acting and singing career, Harry devoted much of his time to the good fight. He was a peace activist and, during the 60's, was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement. For those not old enough to remember, Harry's pictures marching alongside MLK were in magazine after magazine.
To be sure, many celebrities marched with MLK and proudly displayed their pictures with him, but Harry did more than march and smile next to King, as one historian accurately stated, "Harry was the lifeline of the Civil Rights Movement."
During the Freedom Summer of 1964, Belafonte became The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) primary financier.
Shortly after the murdered bodies of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were finally found on August 4, 1964, Belafonte received a telephone call from James Forman, head of SNCC. He told Belafonte that they were going to run out of money in Mississippi within the next 72 hours. Belafonte quickly raised $70,000, worth significantly more today.
Belafonte along with Sidney Poitier stuffed the $70,000 into a doctor's bag and flew into the Greenwood airport at night. Mississippi banks refused the wiring of money to Civil Rights groups. They were met by SNCC volunteers who immediately came under attack.
Their car was soon chased and rammed by a truck filled with Ku Klux Klansmen, who also fired gunshots at them. A convoy of other SNCC vehicles drove out to meet them, and Belafonte and Poitier were escorted to safety at the SNCC headquarters. Belafonte dumped the $70,000 in cash onto a table, saving the Freedom Summer project from financial collapse.
And he personally took care of the family too - funeral expenses etc., after King died.
And how did the King children treat him after Coreta Scot King died? They didn't let him give a eulogy and didn't let him sit on the stage. Terrible! Guess who was invited on stage? Bill Clinton, George Bush etc.. Belafonte had criticize Bush days earlier so the King children disinvited him. That was typical of Black politics then, as is today. Shameful.
Dang, I did not know about the King snub of Harry. Sort of reminds me of Obama snubbing Jackson in Chicago the day after he was elected. I recall watching on TV that rainy day and seeing Jessie alone in the crowd about 5 rows or so back. Obama never mentioned him. Jackson has to be the Rodney Dangerfield of politics.
I recall seeing Jackson standing all alone at the Democratic headquarters here in Milwaukee the night of our Gubernatorial election. All these upscale Democrats were socializing and there was Jesse off to the side like he was a f'n nobody. Well, he was not a nobody to me. I was so excited seeing him i immediately went over to him to say hi. We talked damn near 10 minutes and not one of the passers-by stopped to say hello. It was shameful. I got a big laugh from him when i told him i wanted to call my 95-year-old mother and put him on the phone to say hi to her because she was a huge fan of his. I told him that she watched him on the Kup show from Chicago back in the 60's and she got a kick out of him putting his feet with his boots on Kup's desk while he interviewed him. I took my phone out only to see that the battery was dead.
Previous Message
And he personally tookcare of the family too - funeral expenses etc., after King died.
And how did the King children treat him after Coreta Scot King died? They didn't let him give a eulogy and didn't let him sit on the stage. Terrible! Guess who was invited on stage? Bill Clinton, George Bush etc.. Belafonte had criticize Bush days earlier so the King children disinvited him. That was typical of Black politics then, as is today. Shameful.
Folks keep forgetting that Barack Obama was moderate and a neo-liberal Democrat- the type who tried desperately to block Jesse's electoral ambitioms within the party. Truth be told: the Israel Lobby within he party didn't want Jesse around because of his previous public embrace of Yasser Arafat and the Palestian cause.
😆🤣😂...remember when Jesse said of Obama: "I want to cut his nuts out! Barack, he is talking down to black people." [that was during a CNN hot mic moment].
So yes, Barack & the democrats treated Jesse terribly.
Previous Message