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I'll tell you something: there's a lot of people out here

who are really pissed off.

We are angry.

We're-- we're upset. We're sad.

We hold our children. We wheel our wheelchairs.

We look around for some comfort and we don't find any.

Well, we have to look to ourselves,

because I think the last frontier

of truth and hope in this country

is the people themselves.

Somewhere in this moment my soul,

somewhere in this moment all that I had known,

all that I had felt, all that I had experienced,

commanded me to say, "What do you do now?"

In this place

much that happened to me in my early life

was sorted out.

I'd just got married, had a young child.

I met people here.

It was in this apartment

where all those things

set the course

for a new chapter in life.

I was born in Harlem.

And at the time of my birth

my father abandoned my mother,

who worked as a domestic.

And in her concerns for us,

she sent my brother and myself

to live with relatives in Jamaica.

My mother was an immigrant woman from Jamaica.

People on that island did not fare well

in the early days of the century.

I would go on occasion with my family,

taking their goods to market.

And I remember how grueling the work was.

Almost all of the songs that I later came to sing

were songs that I'd heard

among the peasants and among the peoples

of my family at that time.

WOMAN: Daylight come and me wan' go home.

HARRY BELAFONTE: My mother made me understand

that there was nothing in life that could not be attained,

there was nothing in life that we could not aspire to.

And I remember her instructions

that I should never ever awaken in a day

where there wasn't something in our agenda

that would help set the course

of the undermining of injustice.

It was never my intention to be a singer.

But as fate would have it,

my job was as a janitor's assistant.

And one day I was asked to fix

a Venetian blind for a tenant.

As a gratuity, I was given two tickets

to the American Negro Theater.

When the theater lights came down

and the curtains opened, the play began.

And never ever in my life

have I had an experience

that so transfixed me.

The theater was a place of social truth.

It was a place of power.

It carried thoughts and images

that could influence people profoundly.

I tried to protect you. Lord knows I tried.

Ma.

But I'll be strong, Ma.

Everything'll turn out all right 'cause I'm gonna make it with these.

BELAFONTE: An actor in the theater--

that's where I wanted to go.

I became part of the American Negro Theater.

That's where I met Brock Peters and Sidney Poitier.

And then right after that I went for further study

at the New School of Social Research.

In my class was Walter Matthau.

Another was Marlon Brando,

and Bernie Schwartz,

better known as Tony Curtis.

It was in the theater as an actor

that I discovered singing.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: You twirl the world

On your finger

Dear, you know

Why did you linger?

BELAFONTE: I was headed on the path

to be a jazz singer

and I felt myself very ill-placed.

I was making a living as a singer

and not really enjoying it

as much as I had hoped I would be able to.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Lean on me.

BELAFONTE: One night I happened to go to the Village Vanguard.

And when I went to the Vanguard

I saw a man by the name of Huddie Ledbetter.

One Sunday morning, Lord Lord Lord

The preacher went a-hunting, Lord Lord Lord

He carried along his shotgun, Lord Lord Lord...

BELAFONTE: He sang songs in a way

that was absolutely magical for me.

The grey goose, Lord Lord Lord.

He told me that he was going

to the Library of Congress

to search up old folk songs

and various and sundry kinds of music.

Water boy

Where are you hiding?

But he had something in the back of his mind.

There ain't no sweat, boy

That's on this mountain

That runs like mine, boy

That runs like mine...

BELAFONTE: As important as the Library of Congress was,

equally as important was my discovery of Paul Robeson.

Old man river

That old man river

He must know something...

BELAFONTE: His strength, his power,

the way in which he used his life as an artist had a profound impact on me.

I must keep fighting

Until I'm dying...

POITIER: And out of that came

the true true true artistry of Harry Belafonte.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Sylvie

Sylvie

I'm so hot and dry...

BELAFONTE: And one day there I was

on the stage of the Village Vanguard.

Paul Robeson came to see me.

Mr. Robeson was a universal force

who for me filled time and space

like no one else.

Sylvie

Bring me a little water

Now...

BELAFONTE: At the end of my performance

he came backstage and simply said,

"Get them to sing your song

and they'll want to know who you are."

[THEME MUSIC PLAYS]

ANNOUNCER: "A Cavalcade of Stars."

Here they are--

the June Taylor Dancers with Harry Belafonte.

Hold him, Joe, hold him, Joe

Hold him, Joe, but don't let him go

Hold him, Joe, I say hold him, Joe

Hold him, Joe, but don't let him go...

BELAFONTE: And for me new doors were opening.

A man by the name of John Murray Anderson

invited me to do a play on Broadway

called "John Murray Anderson's Almanac."

Mark twain

No fathoms

Off the starboard bow...

The reviews were stunning. As a consequence, I got

the Antoinette Perry Award-- the Tony.

Mark twain.

During the time of my emergence

During the time of my emergence

there were not just

the normal goals

set for ourselves

to climb up the career ladder.

There were bigger concerns.

I did a show with Marge and Gower Champion

called "3 for Tonight."

And we toured America, only to find out

many of the places would not accept

an interracial group.

I didn't realize growing up in California

what a problem it might be

if we went south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Oh, when the saints go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Oh, I long to be in their number...

MARGE CHAMPION: The pit stops were embarrassing.

Harry was not allowed at the same places

as the rest of the cast.

Go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in...

BELAFONTE: I remember getting off the bus to go to the bathroom.

And as I walked into the men's room,

I heard a voice behind me says,

"You let go a drop, you're a dead nigger."

And I turned around and took a look and there was a state trooper.

And I looked at him and the humiliation of it

and the-- and the--

I mean there was--

I never had a feeling like that before in my life.

I guess my urine had better sense than I did

'cause it just backed up, you know?

And I didn't let go a drop.

And I walked back on that bus

and I just sat there for the rest of that tour

devastated by the experience.

Without really proselytizing in any way,

we made quite a statement.

Harry was staying with some black newspaper people

in Richmond, Virginia.

And I remember him coming back and telling us

that they all applauded when he came in.

And one of the men said,

"You sure made history in Richmond tonight."

and Harry said, "What? What did I do?"

He said, "You held a white woman's hand

in a segregated house and nothing happened."

When the saints go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in

How I long to be in that number...

BELAFONTE: That was the climate of the mood in America.

And here I was

with a lot of support

from people who had to negotiate

moving into these places for the first time,

breaking down these barriers.

When I first worked Las Vegas

in a place called the Thunderbird,

when I walked into the lobby,

the doorman looked at me in a very strange way.

And I was told that I couldn't come

into the hotel through the front door,

that I'd be living

in the black section of Las Vegas.

I could not eat in the main dining room.

And when I suggested

that this whole ritual would not be workable,

I was informed that the only way

that I would leave Las Vegas,

if I didn't fulfill that contract,

would be in a box.

FRAN SCOTT ATTAWAY: Harry was headlining.

About the third day in Vegas

there was a knock on the door...

- Who's gonna be your man? - ATTAWAY:...really early,

like 11:00 in the morning.

Who's gonna be your man?

And I go to the door

and it's Harry in a bathrobe

with a towel over himself and bare legs.

And I said, "What's happening?"

He said, "We're going to the pool."

"Oh my God," I go.

Up on these balconies heavyset guys

started to appear looking down like,

"What?" You know, "Hey."

I mean, they could have shot him, for God's sakes.

I mean, I know it sounds dramatic,

but those were very scary days.

He goes all the way around, gets up on the--

on the diving board

and walked to the end of it

and stood there

and just looked around with that smile

and then did this perfect dive.

Now almost everybody had gotten out of the pool.

He came up into an empty pool.

And he's standing there alone.

And all of a sudden

we realized that men were coming

to the edge of the pool with cameras.

You know, we're talking about the people

who were, you know, staying in the hotel.

And they were saying, "Harry,

Mr. Belafonte, would you mind if--? Honey, honey."

And she'd jump in. The wife would jump in the pool,

the children.

People started to jump in the pool.

And Harry stood there and graciously

for about half an hour put his arms around everybody.

And people took all these photographs.

And I looked up

and the guys were disappearing off the balconies

until it was empty on those balconies.

Nothing he did surprised me,

as far as his daring

participating in history.

BELAFONTE: We all had different kinds of experiences rooted in race--

Sammy Davis Junior, Nat King Cole,

Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne.

All of us were battling the walls

of racist resistance.

I wonder why nobody don't like me

Oh, is it the fact that I'm ugly?

I wonder why nobody don't like me

Oh, is it the fact that I'm ugly?

JULIAN BOND: You'd see Harry Belafonte on TV

and you'd call your neighbor-- "Colored on TV."

--and let them know because it was so rare.

I say let us put man and woman together

To find out which one is smarter...

BOND: And even in that grainy black-and-white early TV

his personality came out and you liked that personality

and you wanted more of it.

Not me, but the people, they say

That the man has always led the woman astray

But I say, please listen when I say

She's smarter than the man in every way

That's right, the woman is smarter...

BELAFONTE: As I sang, my popularity began to grow.

Public reference

to my political activism became more evident.

My activism was rooted

in the experiences that I had

during the Second World War as a munitions loader--

a job reserved for mostly black sailors.

We believed in the cause.

And for us it was a lot more

than Germany and Hitler.

It was about America too.

I felt very strongly that we would have the right to vote,

the right to live where we wanted,

the right to be part of a level playing field.

But at the end of the war there was still segregation.

We were still being lynched. We were still being harassed and murdered.

And so we belonged to everything we could belong to

to overthrow this relentless cruelty of racist oppression.

And in doing that, the House Un-American Activities Committee

called us unpatriotic...

Mark my words. Let's string 'em up right now.

...branded us as communists.

Communism is an evil and malignant way of life.

It reveals a condition akin to disease

that spreads like an epidemic.

And like an epidemic, a quarantine is necessary

to keep it from infecting this nation.

BELAFONTE: What I didn't know was

that I was part of a large group of American citizens

being caught in the net of federal scrutiny.

The FBI began moving everywhere.

And one day while I was away on tour

they came to my home.

They caught my young bride in the middle of that terror,

telling her that I was seeking

to do harm to the nation.

This bit of FBI drama took its toll.

It was hard on Marguerite.

She had difficulty believing

that the United States government would have spent so much time

making up these stories about a singer

if there wasn't in fact some truth to it.

I could say nothing to her

that would ease her doubt or confusion.

I could not give up my social activism--

I couldn't do that--

and my relationship with Paul Robeson and others.

This haunted us

for the rest of our time together

and would eventually result

in the demise of our marriage.

While all of this mischief was going on,

Marguerite and I brought into the world

our firstborn-- Adrienne,

and not too long after that-- our Shari.

I peeped in

To say good night...

A lot of songs that I sang

were early on directed at my children.

And perhaps the most significant was

"Scarlet Ribbons."

Lovely ribbons

Scarlet ribbons...

Scarlet ribbons

For her hair...

This song found its way

into the hearts of the American people.

To be a hundred...

It would show another dimension

to who I was.

"Scarlet Ribbons" was the first record

that gave me national recognition.

Here's one of the great artists of our country

and one of the greatest artists of the world;

here is Harry Belafonte.

MALE ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, Harry Belafonte.

Mr. Harry Belafonte.

And now it says here tonight

that we're gonna have the fabulous Harry Belafonte. Here he comes.

Whoo!

Coconut woman is calling out

And every day you will hear her shout

Coconut woman is calling out

And every day you can hear her shout

Get your coconut water...

Harry researched all of this great calypso music

and hit upon some of those songs that were big.

And then Harry decided

to tighten the pants a little bit

and undo that shirt, and the rest is kind of history.

- [AUDIENCE APPLAUDING] - Harry, I want to present you

with this RCA Victor long-playing Gold Record

for being the first performer to sell over a million copies

of a single album, ladies and gentlemen.

- And that's not all. - [APPLAUSE]

You've been on the move so much that RCA Victor

has not had a chance to present you with this next Gold Record.

This salutes you as the first artist to have ever sold a million copies

of a single record in England. And that's not all.

[LAUGHTER]

The other is for your memorable million-selling "Day-o."

Day-o, day-o

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day...

GEORGE SCHLATTER: Here was this guy who was this gorgeous human being

and he'd say, "Daylight come and I wanna go home."

And one lady in the back stood up and says, "Don't go, Harry."

[LAUGHS] And-- and--

I mean, women went crazy over this guy.

Forget lingerie. They were throwing body parts.

[WOMEN SCREAMING]

Everybody's idol-- "Ahhh!"

You know, so there were screaming crowds.

And I remember sort of these bodyguard people pushing us through.

And I'm going like, you know, "What's this about?

Who are these people and why are they grabbing at my dad?"

You know? And all of them were white--

you know, little teeny-bopper white girls.

[LAUGHS] They were just, you know,

going insane over him, 'cause he was an idol.

Down the way where the nights are gay

And the sun shines daily on the mountaintop

I took a trip on a sailing ship

And when I reached Jamaica, I made a stop

But I'm sad to say

I'm on my way

Won't be back for many a day

My heart is down, my head is turning around

Had to leave a little girl in Kingston town.

BELAFONTE: The success that I was experiencing

in my musical career

led me to Hollywood.

In my first experience with the Hollywood adventure

I was working on the film "Bright Road" --

the story of a dysfunctional child

in a small Southern town.

A train will come...

I was filming with Dorothy Dandridge--

our first time together.

But to break in on the Hollywood scene

was no easy trick.

While working on the film,

I stayed at the home of a friend in Beverly Hills.

One night after dinner I thought I'd take a walk

to get a bit of fresh air.

Out of nowhere the police descended on me.

And having broken no law,

it was obvious my crime was

walking in Beverly Hills after dark

while being black.

After that I always looked at Hollywood

through filtered glasses.

ANNOUNCER: A galaxy of stars arrive for the Los Angeles premiere

of the 20th Century Fox musical spectacular "Carmen Jones."

On hand, the film's director Otto Preminger.

BELAFONTE: Otto Preminger saw the chemistry

between Dorothy Dandridge and myself

and he cast us in "Carmen Jones."

Love's a baby that grows up wild...

DIAHANN CARROLL: "Carmen Jones" was a black film.

And it was a very emotional experience

for all of us to have to deal with the fact

that we knew we were renting space.

We were not there because we were going to have film careers.

DOROTHY DANDRIDGE: If I love you

That's the end of you.

BELAFONTE: I then went on to other films

BELAFONTE: I then went on to other films

and struggled with new taboos.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: This is my island

In the sun

Where my people have toiled

Since time begun...

MIKE MERRICK: Because a young, handsome black man

and a very beautiful young woman-- blonde, et cetera--

had this romantic relationship,

even though the romance onscreen

in no form or fashion was shown graphically,

a lot of people, in the South especially,

objected to it quite strenuously, to say the least.

Instead of defeating the picture,

diminishing the value of the picture,

what they did is

they aroused a whole crowd

of millions of people

who out of curiosity wanted to see it.

I found myself in the battle with Hollywood,

in the battle with content,

in the battle with style

and the battle with the issues of race.

I decided to go tenaciously

after making independent films

from a black perspective.

I put together a company called HarBel.

I know you're there! I can feel you all staring at me!

Come out!

[GUNSHOT]

BELAFONTE: "The World, the Flesh, and the Devil"--

the story of three people

who were the last on earth

to survive a nuclear holocaust.

MGM brought me the script

and I was absolutely blown away.

If you're squeamish about words, I'm colored.

And if you face facts, I'm a Negro.

And if you're a polite Southerner, I'm a nigruh.

And I'm a nigger if you're not.

BELAFONTE: In the middle of making the film,

MGM stopped the production.

They changed the script.

Hollywood could not permit

the white leading lady and the black leading man

to truly have a love scene.

[CHIMING]

What's the matter, pretty baby?

Tell me, what's your daddy done?

BELAFONTE: "Odds Against Tomorrow" stepped into the fray.

The story was about a bank heist.

And central to the film's power

was the issue of race.

Without the help of director Bobby Wise

and friends like Robert Ryan

and Shelley Winters and Ed Begley,

the film would not have been made.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: When that cold cold sun goes down...

MAN: These are the two that did it.

Which is which?

Take your pick.

I just can't make that jungle

Outside of my front door.

CARROLL: Harry gave us a piece of his fire

so that we could help ourselves in a business

that did not acknowledge us

in the manner that we wished to be acknowledged.

And that was very very important. It gave us all strength.

Lift 'em up and put 'em down

Marching all around the town...

BELAFONTE: During the time of the shooting of "Carmen Jones"

Marlon Brando and I were both on the same lot.

Marlon was shooting his film "Desiree"

where he played Napoleon.

His girlfriend was visiting.

He would not be able to take her

to the commissary for lunch

and that-- would I?

And I said, "Yeah."

When she came on the set

she really kind of glowed.

There was a beautiful cadence to her movement.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: And I love you so...

BELAFONTE: I was hooked. I liked her.

I liked her style.

She was a dancer

with the Katherine Dunham Company.

When we married,

it was a kind of shocking thing to people

that my next engagement

was gonna be a white woman.

CARROLL: There were sections of the public

that were absolutely vicious.

I had never heard that kind of cruelty.

Harry was not expecting it to be

that kind of response.

JULIE BELAFONTE: When I gave birth to David,

I got a lot of hate mail through the hospital--

"Congratulations on your nigger baby"

and thrilling things like that.

It was very upsetting.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: The day you took

My hand.

Out of every negative, you know, if anything,

he was fired on with even more fervor.

BELAFONTE: One of the things that was truly binding

was that she came to the table

fully political.

JULIE: We talked a great deal about politics,

about the labor unions

and about show business.

We had so many things in common

that really had nothing to do with sex or love or anything.

It just gave so mu--

such a huge dimension to our relationship.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Oh freedom

Oh freedom...

BELAFONTE: Dr. King called me and he said,

"I would like very much to have a chat with you.

It won't take long."

At the end of almost four hours

we emerged from the room.

And I knew then that I would forever be in his service.

And I understood the length of our journey

and how perilous it would be.

Harry credits Martin as having been that person

that really inspired him and motivated him.

And I think Harry motivated Martin in many ways

because of the fact that here is a man

who didn't have to get involved and who did.

Why do you follow Dr. Martin Luther King?

As he unfolded

his philosophy of nonviolence

and his philosophy

of brotherhood and togetherness,

I swiftly gravitated

to this philosophy.

CORETTA SCOTT KING: Martin very often was able

to go to Harry's apartment.

And that in itself gave him time

to get away from things

and to be relaxed

and to discuss in a quiet place.

Harry wanted to help Martin

in whatever way he could

to fulfill his dream, because he shared that dream.

My name is Harry Belafonte.

I'm an artist and I'm not a politician.

But like most Americans, I have a great interest

in the political and the economic destiny of my country.

I'm seated here with Senator Jack Kennedy.

As a Negro and as an American,

I have many questions, and I'm sure everyone does.

I want to make it very clear, Harry,

that on this question of equality of opportunity for all Americans,

whether it's in the theater of civil rights,

better minimum wages, better housing,

better working conditions, jobs,

I stand for these things.

BELAFONTE: I thought Kennedy should be taking a look

at the movement

which he did not know too much about,

much to my surprise.

I suggested to the young senator

that he had best pay attention

'cause Dr. Martin Luther King

was where the Democratic Party should be focusing.

What was key

to his relationship to the black vote

was the following:

Dr. King got arrested

for having violated a traffic sign.

For this very minor infraction

they sentenced him to the chain gang.

And that sent a shock of horror

through all of us.

This concern for his welfare

was very much in the forefront of our thinking.

And we made appeals to both candidates.

Nixon ignored us altogether.

The Kennedys wrestled with it.

Bobby Kennedy negotiated with the state of Georgia

and that led to the charges being dismissed.

There are many Negroes in America

who still do not have the right to vote.

There are many of us who do.

And I think that we should use that right.

I'm voting for Senator Jack Kennedy.

How about you?

[MARCH PLAYING]

BELAFONTE: It was a time of great expectations.

Things were changing socially and politically.

Things look tough

Believe it or not

But Jack was calm

And Jack said, "I've got

My Bobby"

- [LAUGHTER] - Ooh ooh

"My Bobby"

Ooh ooh

And Bobby

Played it

Cool.

BELAFONTE: The world was in the throes of a new day.

Good evening

Good evening

and welcome to one of the most exciting

television evenings of the year--

"Tonight with Belafonte" brought to you by Revlon.

BELAFONTE: There was an offer from CBS

and from the sponsor-- Revlon.

I would have one hour on air.

The space was mine and the choice of content.

The question for me was,

where could television culture in America be taken?

We found the reward

buried in the heart of black folklore.

I don't want no bald-headed woman

She too mean, Lord, Lordy, well, she too mean...

Oh, blow your trumpet, Gabriel

Fare thee well, fare thee well...

Whoo!

The songs were delicious.

There's a hole in the bucket

Dear Liza, dear Liza

There's a hole in the bucket

Dear Liza, a hole

Well, fix it, dear Henry

Dear Henry, dear Henry

Well, fix it, dear Henry

Dear Henry, fix it.

- Pick a bale of cotton - Tote a pail of water

- Cook a mess o' greens - Tote a pail a day

Gotta jump down, spin around, spin around, spin around...

BELAFONTE: For our dared adventure, we won the Emmy.

Gotta jump down, spin around and sweat a pail of water

Gotta jump down, spin around and sweat a pail a day.

My agent called me.

One great night of television is worth another.

Revlon ordered five more shows.

This time we chose to show the great American mosaic.

It resided in one postal zone-- New York 19.

CHILDREN: Susie done gone away

- Now tell me why - Tell me why

Sister Susie done gone

Sister Susie done gone, Sister Susie done gone...

Well, if it's so, I don't want to be a monkey

A goat, a sheep, a mule, a donkey

My brother says that he will come back a hog

Not Harry, I think I'll be a bedbug.

Lots of chocolate for you to eat

Lots of coal making lots of heat

Warm hands, warm face, warm feet

Now wouldn't that be lovely?

Hava nagila, hava nagila

Hava nagila ve-nismeha

Hava nagila, hava nagila

Hava nagila ve-nismeha...

Guantanamera

Guajira, Guantanamera

Woman, Guantanamera

Guajira, Guantanamera...

Oh, little Liza, little Liza Jane...

BELAFONTE: The evening received incredible critical reviews

and we were nominated for everything under the sun.

Oh, little Liza, little Liza Jane...

Then I got a call.

The president of the company

told me that they had problems.

The show was mixed racially.

The stations in the South were going to pull out.

They wanted no white artists involved.

It was okay for Harry to be black,

but everybody else had to be black

or white, I suppose, but not integrated.

And Harry, bless his soul, said,

"That's it. You don't want it-- we won't do it."

Thank you for being with us.

See you around.

BELAFONTE: The whole world was experiencing

a new consciousness.

I could not acquiesce.

And I would not change the format.

And I left.

On the international music scene

demands were escalating.

The international community began

to vigorously express its interests.

I began playing not only theaters,

but large stadiums

in Europe, Asia, Latin America,

Australia, Germany, France--

everywhere.

By this time my own emotional conflict,

my own inner peace

was in such-- such upheaval and disarray

that I began to look for voices of wisdom

and ways in which to talk to somebody

to help walk me through

this hugely complicated period in my life.

In my need to find a new direction,

I turned to the idea of psychoanalysis.

Dr. Janet Alterman Kennedy came to my attention.

I became her patient.

While discussing the chaotic state of my financial affairs,

she said, "I would recommend that you visit my husband Jay

and see if he would be able to guide you."

They had a real operation going between the two of them.

Janet would woo them into psychotherapy--

well-known people in the business--

and then through that process

she would advise them

to have her husband be their manager.

Welcome once again to "Welcome Travelers,"

where people from 44 states and four foreign countries

have gathered to tell their true-life stories,

some stranger than fiction.

Now, Tommy, meet 49-year-old Jay Kennedy. He's from New York City.

BELAFONTE: When I met Jay Richard Kennedy,

he sounded quite plausible.

People came to me for advice.

He had an office on Wall Street.

On the advisory committee of American industry.

He had a book out called "Prince Bart."

I wrote my way into a motion picture...

called "I'll Cry Tomorrow."

...and a radio show.

He had all of these credentials

that led me to invest in him

and let him in on my life and my money.

Finally I wound up having him as my manager.

MIKE MERRICK: He had me mesmerized a little bit,

but there's something about this guy

that makes me nervous.

But I was still just a publicist,

so I didn't want to get involved really.

BELAFONTE: As time progressed,

I began

to become uncomfortable

with Janet Kennedy's

psychiatric pursuit.

She began to press me for more detail

about my relationships with people

who came from the progressive movement,

people who were just powerful liberals.

And I was deeply concerned

about how the information would be used.

MERRICK: I was suspicious of Janet. Oh, no question.

I don't think it's the function

of an analyst

to work like she's working.

JULIE: Harry too began to question it.

He decided

to do a dossier on them.

MERRICK: And Harry called me on the phone.

And he said, "Can you come to Chicago?"

I said, "What are you whispering for?"

He said, "His name isn't really Jay Richard Kennedy."

BELAFONTE: His name was Solomonick, not Kennedy.

And he was deeply connected

to the FBI, the CIA.

And that Jay Richard Kennedy in fact was an informant.

Harry, having been blacklisted--

that's all he needed to hear, right?

It was ter-- it was just terrible,

a terrible terrible experience.

It sounded like one of these really strange

espionage stories to me.

It had all kinds of cloak-and-dagger feeling about it.

BELAFONTE: I confronted the Kennedys

and after a long and bitter exchange,

it ended, or so I thought.

I don't know the full extent

of what Solomonick told the FBI.

I refused to let him

and all that he was doing derail me.

I went on with my life.

I began focusing more intensely on Africa

and received enormous encouragement

from a woman who had now become a friend of mine

by the name of Eleanor Roosevelt.

My very first experience with Africa was the movies.

[TARZAN YELLING]

"Tarzan of the Apes."

and the one thing that I came to know

when I left that movie house

was that the last thing I wanted to be was an African.

But thanks to Paul Robeson and others

and the gatherings held at Mrs. Roosevelt's home,

I came to know Africa.

I had a chance to meet a lot of young leaders

from all over the world

who were very much engaged

in liberation work and movements.

I grew particularly close to feelings for Africa

that I might otherwise never have known.

One of the men that I met

was a young Kenyan by the name of Tom Mboya.

He was an important liberator

in the struggle for independence

against the British.

Tom Mboya, along with Jackie Robinson, myself

and a wonderful woman by the name of Cora Weiss,

brought young Kenyan students to America.

Our first airlift was 81 students.

And among our many students

who benefitted from this program,

Barack Obama, Senior, was one of them.

We placed them in universities all over America,

paid for their tuition

and worked tenaciously with Tom Mboya

for Kenya's future development.

In return for their education,

they were to go back to help build their nation.

It was a rich human harvest for Kenya.

[CHILDREN SINGING]

I've been very much committed

to the struggle of a lot of African countries

at the dawning of their independence--

Guinea, Tanzania, Ghana.

Have you been to South Africa recently?

No, I've never been to South Africa.

As a matter of fact,

no person of color

is permitted to go to South Africa

unless you go as a bonded servant.

[CROWD SINGING]

[PEOPLE SCREAMING]

BELAFONTE: The first real focus

for me on South Africa

was when the South African apartheid government

began intensifying its control

in the suppression of the South African people.

We then began to hear about Mandela--

one of the early leaders

of the South African resistance to apartheid.

[MAN AND CROWD CHANTING]

BELAFONTE: When I heard about the arrest of Nelson Mandela,

I committed to use the power of art

as an instrument of resistance and rebellion.

[SINGING]

I saw a film called "Come Back Africa"-- a documentary.

It was one of the first to come out of South Africa

that clearly presented the case

for how vicious

the apartheid oppression was.

In that film was a remarkable woman.

[SINGING]

And I instantly understood

that here was the voice of Africa.

In the last three years I have made

two trips around the world.

And on both occasions I was privileged

to perform in most of the major capitals.

While in these countries, I talked with

and performed with many many other artists.

Some of them are wonderful,

such as the artist you're about to see now--

a young lady from South Africa,

Miss Miriam Makeba.

[APPLAUSE]

MIRIAM MAKEBA: He decided we should record an album.

[SINGING]

He said that, you know, people in America

don't know much about Africa.

And these album doesn't have one English song on it.

[SINGING]

BELAFONTE: I sang the songs of rebellion

and their songs of rejoicing

and songs of love.

- Yes. - Yes.

MAKEBA: The album won a Grammy award on it.

The album was banned in South Africa.

I still go around and I meet people who say,

"Can I please hug you?" and they hug me.

And they say, "You know, I went to jail

for listening to your record with Belafonte."

Belafonte means a lot to people--

struggling people around the world--

because he took all our struggles

and made them his own.

BELAFONTE: I saw great similarity

between what Africans were experiencing

and what African Americans were experiencing here in America.

Will you please welcome Senator Robert F. Kennedy?

[APPLAUSE]

JULIAN BOND: By the time 1961 comes around,

Harry serves as a go-between

between the movement and the Kennedy administration.

He played this important role

between we who thought we were the most militant people on earth

and the Kennedy administration, whom we thought were

probably much more conservative than they needed to be.

BELAFONTE: When Bobby Kennedy

was made Attorney General,

it sent a shudder through many of us.

He was an attorney

for the House Un-American Activities Committee

that had put together

this very arbitrary list of people

whom they thought were communists

and went after them.

He had evidenced

no particular regard

for black people.

And Dr. King made the following observation:

"Somewhere in this man

sits good.

Our task is to find his moral center

and win him to our cause."

TAYLOR BRANCH: Harry and a number of celebrities

had a meeting with Robert Kennedy in New York.

They were frustrated that Robert Kennedy

didn't understand the intensity of feeling

against the administration.

BELAFONTE: One young man from SNCC--

Jerome Smith-- said to Bobby Kennedy,

"You're asking us-- young black Americans

who sit here struggling

in this country for our rights--

to pick up arms to go defend this America.

But let me tell you something--

when I pick up a gun, you can rest assured

that a hard hard time

is coming behind all this."

This really jolted Bobby Kennedy.

It became the turning point.

Time and time again,

hearing the voices of the underclass--

- You haven't had lunch yet? - No.

--the downtrodden,

really began to provoke him.

ROBERT KENNEDY: I've seen despair and this hopelessness.

And I've seen children

who are starving to death in the United States.

I mean, not I read about children who are starving to death,

but I've seen children who are starving to death.

And as the reports have said,

they will never recover mentally after the age of four.

BELAFONTE: They began to sense

some shift taking place--

by no means clearly defined,

but something was happening.

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen amen

Sing it over

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen amen

Hallelujah

Amen amen

Amen forever

Amen...

BELAFONTE: In this time

the movement was beginning to intensify.

Amen.

BELAFONTE: And my ability

to be able to call upon all the artists

who unflinchingly gave of themselves

in the support of our movement

was one of the most powerful pieces

of strategy that we had.

"We will march in Washington on August 28, 1963,

along with hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans

who believe in equal opportunity and freedom for us all.

We will march because we recognize

the events of the summer of 1963

as among the most significant we have lived through."

I'm on my way

And I won't turn back

I'm on my way

And I won't turn back...

The Kennedys were against it.

They tried to stop the march.

Harry is trying to tell them,

"It's not gonna be so bad. Don't worry about it.

I'm gonna gather as many celebrities as I can

to lend a peaceful presence there."

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: And we will participate fully

in whatever we are capable of doing

as artists, as a group,

to help propagandize the civil rights revolution.

CROWD: We shall overcome...

BELAFONTE: To look out into that group

and to see the mixture of black and white

which so powerfully portrayed

our vision of integration--

it was stunning.

There I was straddling all these worlds

and my children caught in it.

Gina, my youngest, and all the others,

became the beneficiaries of all the diversity

that made up the family.

The love of my four children for each other,

their closeness

I ascribe to their mothers--

Marguerite and Julie.

JULIE: He probably perhaps felt guilty

for the time that he wasn't there,

so he would go overboard.

He gave his all when he was at home

playing with the children-- yes, almost too much.

BELAFONTE: I was constantly preoccupied

with how I would be as a father

and what I would do to service my children

in ways that I had not experienced in my own life.

This preoccupation found itself having a huge influence

on the choices that I made artistically.

I sang songs of humor,

play songs, children's songs.

I was walking down the road

And I saw me a little old boat...

The first time I saw Dad on television--

I don't remember what the show was,

but I remember sort of walking around the TV

trying to figure out how my dad got into this little box...

And I made me a little old seat...

...and very upset that he was in there and not outside with me.

And everybody I meet

Wants to know

How many could sit on that seat...

Just flashes in my head coming and going.

- Was it one? - I said more yet...

He'd come home from trips and would come in to say hello

and wake me up out of a slumber, you know,

or hugs and kisses goodbye.

- Was it two? - I said more yet...

Harry was there the best way he could be.

So I never held it against him.

Maybe I did, you know, when I was six

or seven or eight going, "Whatever."

- Was it four? - I said more yet...

He, I'm sure, has had a lot more demons

in terms of not being there for me and for Adrienne

the way he feels he should have been there.

- How about six? - I said more yet, more yet...

Even though he was physically there

in the house sometimes,

he wasn't really there.

You know, he was very preoccupied with other things.

10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four...

And in retrospect I can look back and say,

"Well, of course. He was movement building."

Only one could sit on that seat...

You have two families.

You've got us

and you've got the family of man.

And you're running back and forth

between the two like a lunatic.

- His name was More Yet. - Oh!

BELAFONTE: How do I negotiate my way with all of this?

I understood the title of "father."

I understood

the sense of responsibility to provide,

to never let anybody want.

But as events unfolded

But as events unfolded

and things escalated in the civil rights movement,

I was conflicted.

We started to move into places that were

way beyond anyplace we thought we would go.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Wake up, wake up

Darling Cora...

BELAFONTE: Dr. King even said,

"We are so short on resources, so short on the capacity

to galvanize forces to do things

that we need to have you and others

strategically positioned

at any given moment for what we may face."

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: I gotta move on

Down the line

I don't know why

Darling Cora

Don't know what the reason can be

But I never yet found

A single town

Where me and the boss man agree...

TAYLOR BRANCH: In Mississippi in the summer of 1964

the movement brought white volunteers,

almost 1000 of them,

down to register black voters.

They were told it was dangerous.

And for that whole summer there were beatings every day.

[MEN YELLING]

JOHN LEWIS: What is developing in the state of Mississippi

is somewhat of a police state.

Outright violence,

fascist and totalitarian conditions exist in the state.

BRANCH: And on June 21st three of the volunteers--

Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman-- disappeared.

LEWIS: We are very much concerned about the whereabouts

of the three workers in the Summer Project.

BRANCH: Three days after they discovered

the bodies of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman,

on August 4th,

Harry was asked to take money into Mississippi.

When I first got called about coming down and bringing money,

I called Sidney and I said to him,

"Listen, what're you doing this weekend?"

And he says, "Nothing, man. I'm free."

And I said, "Well, I got something I gotta do

and I'd like you to go with me."

And I said, "I got to go to Greenwood, Mississippi."

And he says, "Uh-huh.

Listen, it's okay.

I'm going with you.

But after we do this, I want to tell you something:

never ever call me again."

He said to me that he was going to speak with Robert Kennedy

to let him know that we would be coming down.

We were two fairly well-known people.

And we might be targets.

"Trust me, man. It's gonna be all right."

I talked to Burke Marshall, talked to the Justice Department.

They'll have marshals." So we get out--

we left from Newark.

And from Newark we went into Jackson.

And we got on this little plane.

And when we landed in Greenwood, it was empty.

And all we saw was one black man

in the whole airport

pushing a broom, cleaning up the place.

And I'll never forget-- Sidney looked at him

and he looked around a little longer.

And he says, "That don't look like no FBI."

COLLEAGUE: "That ain't no FBI."

"That ain't one of us in disguise. Where's all these marshals?"

When we got into the cars and started up,

all of a sudden these headlights went on.

And I turned to Sidney and said,

"There's your protection."

And Willie Blue said, "Marshals, my ass."

He said, "That's the Klan."

We knew they were gonna try something.

And we figured that they wasn't gonna do it

inside the airport

where too many people would see.

The front car was a pickup truck.

And I'll never forget-- the pickup truck had a big

two-by-four block of wood

strapped to the bumper.

And as they came up--

came up behind the second car, they kept ramming it.

That was one of their most common tactics.

They hadn't really started shooting in cars, you know.

They would run us off the road.

And that was-- my position on it was,

he's gonna have to kill me before they get around me.

Ain't nobody coming up beside me.

That's not in-- that's not in the equation.

I had made up my mind on that one.

And what happened was a bunch of cars

came out of Greenwood

with SNCC volunteers and other people in them.

And they came barreling down the highway and they met up with us.

And then they all kind of got into like a cavalcade

and drove into Greenwood.

To me, that was our greatest moment.

To me, I knew we had arrived.

There wasn't nobody fixing to harm you guys.

It would have been a war.

[LAUGHS]

BELAFONTE: And when we got to Greenwood

and gave the money and everything else,

they decided to put us up in this little house.

And outside one of the people

was sitting there with a shotgun.

JOHN LEWIS: Harry-- he stayed in this house

with a family in the Delta.

It was so dangerous.

The house had been fired on.

But he wanted to identify

not just with us, but with the local people.

But he also wanted to bring us

a sense of hope that, "We're with you."

And I will never ever forget that.

BELAFONTE: All the young men and women in SNCC

were just absolutely badgered to death and weary.

And what they needed was to get away.

I felt that what would make a significant difference

was for us to pay a visit to Africa.

Harry got out there somehow and some way,

raised the money or donated the money,

but anyway he made it possible for 13 of us

to travel from the United States to Africa.

It was wonderful, unbelievable.

And we all cried a little.

And he said that the president of Guinea,

President Sékou Touré,

wanted to meet some of the young people

involved in the movement.

I had a chance to meet and talk to

the president of Guinea.

I had never seen in person the president of the United States

and now I'm having dinner with the president of Guinea.

It was just so-- so fabulous.

From being beaten, from being arrested, in jail,

and then you find yourself on the west coast of Africa.

We saw what was happening in Africa,

so we started relating

the struggle back home in America.

And I think we came back

stronger and better.

BELAFONTE: We came back from Africa

with a tremendous sense of anticipation.

We're marching today to dramatize to the nation

and dramatize to the world

that hundreds and thousands of Negro citizens of Alabama

are denied the right to vote.

BRANCH: And of course that first march on the bridge

was bloodily repulsed--

the famous Bloody Sunday.

And it went all around the world.

And in that month they had three different attempts

to start a march from Selma to Montgomery.

And finally on the third attempt

Harry was asked to recruit people

for the celebration concert

the night before they marched into Montgomery.

Dr. King requested that--

that I call many artists who are friendly to our movement

and ask them if they would perform.

Tony Perkins-- Dr. Martin Luther King.

Yes, very glad to see you. Thanks so much for coming.

TONY BENNETT: Harry called me up and told me,

"You have to go down there as a performer."

It was--

it was unforgettable for me

to watch what was going on.

Well, now you're here

And now I know just where I'm going

No more doubt or fear

I found my way...

What a wonderful world

America's going to be when the Negro votes.

Oh oh ah...

Get your hands off my mike.

Oh oh ah...

Everybody knows about Mississippi God damn.

Sad to say I'm on my way

Won't be back for many a day...

And you'd better start swimming

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times

They are a-changing...

BRANCH: They all sang at night

in an atmosphere that was

mixed apprehension and celebration.

I just want to say to you

how much we are indebted

to my dear friend

Harry Belafonte

and to all of the other distinguished

and famous artists and entertainers

who have taken time

out of their very busy schedules

to be with us here in Montgomery, Alabama,

as we march on the state capital tomorrow morning.

[CROWD CHEERING]

God bless you.

LEWIS: When we marched up Highway 80,

one of the most moving moments

was to see Harry Belafonte

meet us

before we walked into Montgomery.

BOND: Harry did this

over and over and over and over

and over and over again.

- It's a great day. - MARCHER: A great day.

- A great day. - CROWD: Yes.

- A great day. - Yes.

And there are millions on the way.

- [CHEERING] - A great day.

[GUITARS PLAYING]

Come and go with me to that land

Come and go with me...

BELAFONTE: With this heightened momentum,

the movement began to advance aggressively

towards new goals.

One day I turned on the TV set

and I came upon a truly bizarre scene.

The movement leaders were on a panel

and the moderator was Jay Richard Kennedy.

I was stunned

with how often this man reinvented himself

still doing the same mischief.

I would like to ask you, Martin Luther King, Junior,

despite the timelessness of your dedication--

The civil rights movement was plagued

by all sorts of red-baiting.

If you can't persuade Martin King to change his ways,

then what do you want to do? You want to discredit him.

One of the ways you discredit him

is discredit him by the people

that he's associated with.

And Harry Belafonte, as an important performing artist,

you have to really know where he's coming from too,

because he's also one of those people

you have to be careful about

based upon information we have in the files.

Where'd the information come from? Jay Richard Kennedy.

I never gave the CIA any information.

It would be absurd for me to think I could.

They had people all over the place.

They wanted information-- they got it.

What they got from me was an interpretation of information.

BELAFONTE: The disinformation,

so much off the page,

yet it was exactly what the CIA would want

and would use

in order to discredit us in the eyes of the public.

How many roads must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

I'm here tonight because I'm a black man.

And black people have paid

the greatest penalty for our military adventures.

And poor people have gained nothing

from this program of dehumanization.

DR. KING: It is estimated

that we spend

$322,000

for each enemy we kill in Vietnam

while we spend

in the so-called War on Poverty in America

only about $53

for each person classified as poor.

Dr. King, do you--

do you fear for your life?

I'm more concerned about doing a good job,

doing something for humanity

and what I consider the will of God

than about longevity.

Ultimately it isn't so important how long you live.

The important thing is how well you live.

ROBERT KENNEDY: I have some very sad news for all of you

and I think sad news

for all of our fellow citizens

and people who love peace all over the world,

and that is that Martin Luther King

was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

[CROWD SCREAMING]

Another man done gone

Another man done gone

Another man done gone

He's from the county farm

Another man done gone...

I couldn't believe it.

I could-- I couldn't.

All of a sudden

our worst fears were being awakened.

Woke up this morning with my mind

Set on freedom...

BELAFONTE: I really did not give myself much time

to be preoccupied

with any personal

deep sense of loss.

We were trying to sort out what to do

to help the nation quickly come to a place of healing

and getting on with our program.

Today we are here gathered again

in a world that is fraught with violence.

I have come to reaffirm

my support for unionism.

I have come to reaffirm my commitment

to the struggle to overcome dehumanization

as a black man who draws strength

from a departed black brother.

[APPLAUSE]

BELAFONTE: In this moment of great pain and conflict

we picked up the pieces and moved on with it.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Has anybody here

Seen my old friend Martin?

Can you tell me

Where he's gone?

He freed a lot of people

But it seems the good

They die young

I just looked around

And he's gone...

And the death of Martin Luther King,

which was a major major tragedy,

in its own way helped focus attention

on where we were and what was going on.

- [GUNFIRE] - [PEOPLE SCREAMING]

BELAFONTE: And what was going on

was still deeply rooted in race.

And I found myself once again

dealing personally with these issues.

Blessed are the meek, they say

They shall win where others lose...

SCHLATTER: When Harry Belafonte went on the show with Petula Clark,

they touched.

Why should men be forced to kill?

SCHLATTER: This innocent little thing-- touching.

The sponsor went ballistic-- "We can't have that."

Petula Clark touched Harry on the television

and flipped the whole world out.

People were like, "Oh my God."

MERRICK: We're talking about now

12-14 years after

the initial incident of "Island in the Sun."

The absurdity of that--

at any day and age, that that would bring

a television program to a standstill.

And Dad refused to-- to give in to that.

Why should men be forced to set out

On the path of glory?

BELAFONTE: In the face of this mindless onslaught,

Petula stood strong.

She would not give in.

But we had no idea what the twists and turns

at any moment might bring.

FRANK MANKIEWICZ: Senator Robert Francis Kennedy

died at 1:44 a.m. today,

June 6, 1968.

BELAFONTE: Barely two months after the assassination of Dr. King

was the murder of Bobby Kennedy.

The dark shadow of despair rolled across the nation.

Evil forces stepped into the midst of our despair

and began planting the seeds

that would destroy the fabric

of the country's belief in itself.

No aspect of life went untouched.

Even the song became a victim.

Well, ladies and gentlemen,

we've finally gotten together.

That's right. You've heard about it for years.

And tonight here we are.

- Tom. - Dick.

- And Harry. - [LAUGHTER]

We had Harry Belafonte on the show.

It was the opening show of the third season.

A-ha, Lord don't stop the carnival...

The election was coming up. He did a calypso medley

against the backdrop of the riots

and the convention in Chicago 1968.

Jump in the line

Rock your body in time

Won't you jump in the line

Rock your body in time?

Won't you jump in the line...

That piece never saw the light of day.

CBS took the whole entire--

I think it was maybe a 10-minute or eight-minute--

a 10-minute hunk out of the show.

And they put in...

[LAUGHING]

a political commercial for Richard Nixon.

MALE ANNOUNCER: This time vote

like your whole world depended on it.

Sure enough-- boom! We're fired.

We weren't canceled. We were fired,

and fired for our advocacy against the war in Vietnam

and general liberal views.

And we were the only show on the air

at that time taking those points of view.

BELAFONTE: It was a tough time. People were on the march.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Trouble in the city

Trouble in the countryside

No matter where you look

You got troubles you can't hide

Trouble on the reservation

In the ghetto too

Lies you told your children

Are coming down on you

How long

Have you been blind...

I'm gonna tell Mr. Reagan

Lay down your neutron bomb...

BELAFONTE: People were on the march everywhere.

Lay down your neutron bomb...

No place expressed that more fully

than Bonn, Germany,

when over 250,000 students, breaking German law,

congregated to lift their voices

against the potential of a nuclear holocaust.

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: War no more.

[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]

We-- we are life.

And life gives many gifts,

many strengths.

Yes, I'm glad that--

that I share in life,

because life has shared with me

Buffy Sainte-Marie.

BELAFONTE: The human rights movement

awakened me to what was going on

with our Native American brothers and sisters.

[BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE SINGING]

The Native Americans

took a very strong and powerful stand

against the federal government at Wounded Knee.

[CONTINUES SINGING]

For all that rebellion

Dennis Banks and Russell Means were arrested

and they were charged with insurrection.

The lawyer for AIM was Bill Kunstler,

The lawyer for AIM was Bill Kunstler,

very respected and highly regarded.

One day Bill called me

and he called Marlon Brando and he said,

"Look, we'd like you to come to the trial

and reveal your presence."

He said, "the more you're seen

talking to Dennis and Russell

and demonstrating to the court

that you hold these men in great favor,

the more influence it might have on the jury."

Kunstler's many strategies proved effective.

BILL KUNSTLER: This judge has delivered a very strong opinion.

He was converted from believing in his government

to distrusting it.

And I should hope that every American citizen

should also share that distrust

in the hopes that out of our own skepticism and distrust

can grow a cleaner and more decent country.

So there was this nuance,

this rhythm of events.

So I made it my business to go

to where those in struggle still live,

go to where I'll find

the deeper resonance of my own life.

The deeper resonances of my beginning.

I got caught up

with the pandemic of hunger in Ethiopia.

To look at this barren place

where people lived out

their horrified existence,

it was so overwhelming.

What was really most horrifying

was the inordinate

and the remarkable amount of indifference.

I was deeply preoccupied with the question,

"How do we fix this massive tragedy?"

And Harry said, "Let's get busy.

Let's try to find a way to get involved,"

like he did with everything else. He was always like that.

You know, he was always, "Let's do something."

Stevie, Michael and Lionel are here,

so we're just getting ready to cut the track.

We're gonna cut the basic now.

Harry brought-- Harry brought the dream.

And everybody came in there for the right reasons.

Let's cut a-- let's put it on tape.

Harry had every disc jockey in the world

play it simultaneously. And that was brilliant.

In about one minute's time, at 7:50,

everybody in the world is going to be playing the same song.

There are people dying

Oh, and it's time to lend a hand

When we

Stand together as one

We are the world

We are the children...

On the Friday morning following the Monday night recording

of "We Are the World"

I woke up, literally sat right up in bed and went,

"Oh my gosh. This isn't the end. This is the beginning."

JULIE BELAFONTE: We took a gutted 747

and we were bringing plastic sheeting,

tetracycline, medicines.

God knows they raised a lot of money.

And it went to where it was meant to go.

BELAFONTE: As often as I'd been to Africa,

I don't think there was any way

in which we could have understood

the full extent of what it was

we were gonna be experiencing.

There was a constant sense

of the smell of death.

The odor never really went away.

DR. LLOYD GREIG: I got off the plane

with Harry and the rest.

[CHILD MOANS]

They were talking about people dying with dignity.

It is impossible to die of starvation with dignity.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

[SOBS] I just-- I'm sorry.

BELAFONTE: I went deep into the interior of Africa.

In a little village

I met with a storyteller

who began to tell the story about the water,

about the fire.

He pointed out that we're here for a very very short time.

And in that time that we're here

there really isn't any difference in any of us

if we were to take time out to understand each other.

Because if we do,

together we can turn the world around.

Water make the river, river wash the mountain

Fire make the sunlight, turn the world around

Heart is of the river, body is the mountain

Spirit is the sunlight, turn the world around

Do you know who I am?

Do I know who you are?

See we one another clearly

Do we know who we are?

Oh oh, so is life

A ba tee wah ha, so is life

Oh oh, so is life

A ba tee wah ha, so is life

Oh oh, so is life

A ba tee wah ha, so is life...

BELAFONTE: As I wandered

around the African continent with UNICEF,

I knew South Africa was still trapped

in the need for freedom,

in the need for human expansion of the soul.

[CHANTING] Willem Botha, you can't hide.

We charge you with genocide.

Willem Botha, you can't hide.

Sir, do you think you're getting anywhere, you're changing things?

Yes, I think that

first of all it shows that there is a willingness

on the part of those of us who believe in this cause

to do what is necessary

to bring apartheid to a conclusion.

Free Nelson Mandela...

Harry Belafonte coming out on your side--

that was a powerful instrument in itself.

Freedom-- yes. Apartheid-- no.

[SIREN WAILING]

FEMALE REPORTER: After 27 years in South African jails,

Nelson Mandela is a free man.

[CHEERING]

BELAFONTE: I was summoned to be

the official American voice

framing and putting together

his first visit to America.

We actually spoke for the first time

the minute he stepped off the plane

landing in New York.

He looked over the crowd.

And when he spotted me, he recognized me with a big smile on his face.

He said "Ah, Harry boy."

Comrades, brothers and sisters,

fellow Americans, I give you

Nelson Mandela!

[CHEERING]

- Amandla! - Amandla!

- Amandla! - Amandla!

You now know who I am.

[CHEERING]

I am a Yankee.

[CHEERING]

BELAFONTE: One of the things that most disappointed me

was that I could not be present

in the anointing of Nelson Mandela

as the first president

of the newly-formed democracy called South Africa.

I declined the invitation from President Bill Clinton

to be a part of the delegation

representing our government.

I found it conflicting.

- [GUNFIRE] - [SCREAMING]

I was immersed at that time

in the tremendous upheaval

that was being experienced

by the peoples of Haiti.

And I think that American policy

to that beleaguered island

was less than forthcoming.

Maybe my protest-- maybe such an abstention

would have underwritten the importance

of what was going on in Haiti

and with its then-exiled president, Aristide.

[APPLAUSE]

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I have the honor of conferring

the National Medal of the Arts

on a man whose music I loved

and who I found to be one of the funniest people

I ever saw perform in person,

who later lived long enough

to be able to encourage

and on occasion rebuke me as president--

Harry Belafonte.

[APPLAUSE]

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Harry Belafonte once brought

tears to my eyes with laughter

at one of his concerts

and later brought tears to my eyes

with his passion for an event which is unfolding today--

the return of President Aristide to Haiti.

[APPLAUSE]

BELAFONTE: We had been through so much.

And I began to examine my own quality of the journey.

And I wondered where we went wrong.

How could it be that the world

is in the chaos,

the disorder and the consuming violence

that we're all experiencing

after so many had invested so much

to change that fact?

Covering fire!

[GUNFIRE]

- MAN: What do we want? - CROWD: Peace.

- When do we want it? - Now.

- What do we want? - Peace.

- When do you want it? - Now.

[CHEERING]

MAN: Harry, are you feeling optimistic?

Of course I feel optimistic.

But I think I live in a perpetual state of optimism.

If you don't have optimism,

then you can't nourish hope.

And the world is in need of hope.

The world is in need of vision.

And those of us who have a little sight left

like to give as much vision as we can.

BELAFONTE: Not too long ago I let my thoughts drift

to thinking about what I would be doing

when I turned 80.

After all, I was in a very different place now

than the life I'd known before.

I'm not quite sure

when love stepped out of our space,

but Julie and I refused to recognize

that it had gone.

And in the absence of love

that space was filled

with a fierce dance we had

around the issue of image.

It wore us down.

It had to come to an end.

[HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING]

[HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING]

- Third strike... - This is Los Angeles.

- Third strike... - Gang capital of the nation.

- Third strike... - This is Los Angeles...

I just kind of figured after all this--

all of these many years,

the last thing that I would be winding up doing

in the last years of my life

is still looking to fix those things

that I thought we fixed 50 years ago.

I remember what you said once when you said,

"From the time I go to sleep

and the time I get up,

I seek out the injustices done to humankind."

I just get up in the morning and--

I just can't let them win.

That's it.

[SIREN WAILING]

One of the ways I saw that I could be of service

was to understand what Bo Taylor was trying to achieve in L.A.

with the Bloods and the Crips and violence...

What is the value of the life of a Latino kid or a black kid?

There's a lot of killing that's going on

and it's almost like nobody really gives a fuck.

BELAFONTE: Nane Alejandrez-- what he was trying to do

to bring peace among the Latinos.

Think about all that madness.

Put all that pain and think about how we're gonna deal

with the incarceration of our young people.

BELAFONTE: And I began to listen to them

and live with them, move with them,

go inside the prisons with them.

Is there something that can show

the humanity of those who got caught

in this criminal game,

those who got caught in this social trap?

Well, I've been lied on

Cheated, talked about

Mistreated, I've been used, scorned

Talked about, sure as you're born...

I'm stuck in the rain, searching for shelter

And it seems I can't find the place to escape the strain

I'm stuck in the rain, we need us a helper

Someone to see us through this hell on earth and ease the pain...

I'm standing here with the big man

Mr. Geechie Dan...

[LAUGHTER]

Every day...

I knew he was coming.

[APPLAUSE]

Every day I have the blues

Every day

Every day I have the blues

When you see me coming, baby

You know it's you I'd hate to lose...

You're gonna make me want to stay here.

[LAUGHTER]

Beautiful, man.

Every day

Every day I have the blues...

BELAFONTE: America has the largest prison population in the world.

And the vast majority of this population

is made up of young men and women of color.

This fact confounds me.

All my life it has been the wisdom of the elders

that I sought to guide me.

And now in this time of deep concern,

I go where wisdom resides.

Oh, young sir Harry,

you still remember me.

[LAUGHING]

Very good.

How do you see the future with our children and where we're going?

Have we done

what we should have done to our young people

in order to make sure

that their ideas corresponded

to what we think they should be?

And in many respects, we have failed.

We all had high hopes with our children

and where we were going.

BELAFONTE: I'd just come back from the meeting

with Nelson Mandela

when I saw on the television screen

a breaking news story.

[GIRL CRYING]

I saw a five-year-old girl

being handcuffed and eventually shackled.

Her charge was

that she had been unruly.

I was caught

with how immoral this picture was.

What had we come to?

What is going on here?

Hundreds and hundreds of children

have been consistently incarcerated

and consistently handcuffed.

Hold her hands.

That's our child.

And our child is in terror.

And we have no right

to ignore that and to get distracted.

And so I've called a meeting,

the gathering of the elders,

to talk about

the conditions of our children

and what they were facing.

The list was vast

of popular profile politicians, civil rights leaders, ministers.

Our children need you.

They need us. We've been-- they've been waiting for you.

I think we're here because we should be waking up to the fact

that incarceration is the new slavery

and the pathway to political

and economic disempowerment

of the black community.

One speaker after the other got up

and spoke with passion and clarity.

We started talking about the children--

the children. And that's what we're about.

And I say, "Well, what do we do?"

Over the years I've come to places like this

so many times.

And I leave without an assignment!

We need an assignment.

WOMAN: Thank you.

I began to understand that the thing

I thought that I had to do next

was to perhaps call a gathering of the young.

There perhaps would lay the key.

When they asked me what was the agenda,

it dawned on me

that the agenda really was with them

to find the agenda.

Look at it.

Look at it. Look at it.

Those of us who were part of the civil rights movement,

as we grew older,

as our victories began to evidence themselves,

I think we blinked.

I think we--

we took a lot for granted.

I don't think we secured the way

in which we passed on the baton.

We can't be shut up no more.

MAN: You suffer from the same oppression.

BELAFONTE: We can find solutions where the young reside.

- Oh! - Oh!

Talk about movement building.

- WOMAN: We gotta stand up. Stand up. - Power!

This is not just about Mr. B. bringing us here together.

It's about us having personal responsibility.

What are we gonna do?

BELAFONTE: These young people spoke truth to power.

This is where I define myself.

This is the place where I realized what I wanted to do with my life.

I told Harry after hearing everybody speak

that I was ready to get back to work and start, you know, helping people.

We're gonna organize even harder.

We're gonna hit the blocks even harder.

We're gonna knock on some more doors, talk to some more policymakers.

It's not us that we're representing.

It's the youth and the voices of the youth

that can't be represented here because they're locked up.

He's starting a prison movement.

And it's a movement that's necessary

because what America is in the process of doing

is criminalizing poverty.

So in the name of Martin Robinson Delaney...

- That's right. - in the name of Elijah Mohammed...

- That's right. - in the name of Dr. King,

- That's right. - in the name of Rosa Parks...

- That's right. - in the name of all those

who are not here with us, it's nation time.

- Nation time. - It's nation time.

- Nation time. - It's nation time...

- Nation time. - And the clock is stuck

on now or never.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

BELAFONTE: We all began talking to one another,

taking our commonality of youth

and putting it in the space where it could begin

to mold a great sense of future.

In my recent years I looked beyond our borders

and saw young people all over the world

looking at how much we and the world

in struggle

are really in need of each other.

What will help satisfy

the journey we're on

is for us to come to know more about each other.

- [SHOUTING] - [CROWD CHEERING]

BELAFONTE: Once again, social activism

drew me to a new moment of promise.

When I met Pam, she was a photographer.

She was very much engaged

in the Free South Africa Movement.

And I saw her at many events,

political rallies, cultural unveilings.

Our paths were constantly crossing.

And then one day...

God.

...I hit the pause button.

And I looked at her and studied her

and came to the conclusion

that with her I could possibly live out

the rest of my journey in a very joyous way.

Today Pam and Harry proclaim their love to the world.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

BELAFONTE: I tried to envision playing out

the rest of my life in a place of luxury

almost exclusively devoted to reflection,

but there's just too much in the world to be done.

Another night in the free world

Another night

In the land of opportunity

Another night in the free world

Don't give in, don't give in

Another night

In the land of opportunity

How long

Have you been gone?

How long

Have you been gone?

BELAFONTE: Somewhere in this moment, my soul,

all that I have felt, all that I've experienced

commanded me to ask,

"What do you do now?"

Don't give up, don't give up

Don't give in, don't give in

'Cause in a few days more

We will win

Love

Is healing

Yeah yeah.

[APPLAUSE]

YOUNGER BELAFONTE: Day-o

Day-o

[APPLAUSE]

Daylight come

And me wan' go home

Day

Me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day

Me say day-o

Daylight come

And me wan' go home

Work all night

On a drink of rum

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Stack banana

Till the morning come

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Come, Mister tally man

And tally me banana

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Me say, come, Mister tally man

And tally me banana

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Lift six-hand, seven-hand

Eight-hand, bunch

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Me say, six-hand, seven-hand

Eight-hand, bunch

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day, me say day-o

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day...

Daylight come and me wan' go home

A beautiful bunch

Of ripe banana

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Hide the deadly

Black tarantula

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Lift six-hand, seven-hand

Eight-hand, bunch

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Me say, six-hand, seven-hand

Eight-hand, bunch

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day, me say day-o

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day...

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Come, Mister tally man

And tally me banana

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Me say, come, Mister tally man

And tally me banana

Daylight come and me wan' go home

Day-o

Day-o

Daylight come

And me wan' go home

Day

Me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day

Me say day-o

Daylight come

And me wan' go home.

[APPLAUSE]