Singer, actor, activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96

 

Harry Belafonte, American Singer and Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 96

Harry Belafonte, a legendary American singer, actor, and civil rights activist, passed away at his home in Manhattan's Upper West Side at the age of 96. His longtime spokesman, Ken Sunshine, confirmed that Belafonte died on April 25 from congestive heart failure.

Belafonte was a trailblazer who broke down racial barriers with his highly personal brand of folk music, including hit records such as "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jamaica Farewell." His album "Calypso," which topped the Billboard album chart in 1956 and remained there for 31 weeks, was the first album by a single artist to sell more than a million copies. He also became the first Black actor to achieve major success in Hollywood as a leading man.

But Belafonte's legacy extends far beyond his artistic achievements. He was a lifelong friend and supporter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and played a crucial role in the civil rights movement. He helped fund the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, bailed out Dr. King and other activists from jail, and even quietly maintained an insurance policy on Dr. King's life. After Dr. King's assassination in 1968, Belafonte donated his own money to ensure that the King family was taken care of.

Belafonte's contributions to American music and civil rights activism will be remembered and celebrated for generations to come.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Man is divorcing billionaire wife worth £1.1 BILLION because he doesn't like being rich

Image
Lol I know most guys will hate this guy who wants  to divorce his billionaire wife because she is too rich.. According to Daily mail...Former maths teacher Tony Hawken, 57, is splitting from Xiu Li, 51, because he says he is fed up with being wealthy.The couple were catapulted into the world of the super-rich after Li's idea of building shopping centres in disused Chinese air-raid shelters earned her an estimated £1.1billion by 2011 and placed her on The Sunday Times Rich List .
Read more

I charge N1m to write a song now"-Harrysong

Image
Harrysong who is signed to Kcee's Fivestar music and wrote Kcee's limpopo told Punch that these days he charges as much as 1 million naira to write a song..He also said he made over 50M from MTN callerback tunes for his "Mandela song"That's good oh! “Before now we charged between N100, 000 and N2000, 000 for a song. Today I charge as much as 1million to write a song. Truth is, Nigerian artistes have begun to appreciate songwriters. They pay me my money and appreciate me. I have written a lot of songs but I don’t talk about them because Nigerian artistes don’t like it when the songwriters take credit for composing songs for them.”  The proceeds from the caller-back tune is actually worth more than N50m. Truth is, I was paid a lot of money;  you know -  when they say money that can change someone’s life. That’s the value of what I received .I can’t reveal the exact amount because we work as a team. So, all the money realised is shared among us. You
Read more

If you cannot lie, get out of politics- Niger state governor

Image
Governor of Niger state, Aliyu Babangida says that one has to tell lies to survive in the political scene of today, adding that there is no morality in politics. He says if anyone wants to pursue morality, they should go and become Imams or Pastors. The Governor stated this while inaugurating the PDP guber campaign committee in Minna the state capital yesterday January 5th. "If you cannot lie, get out of politics. Anything you are involved in has its own rule. You are in politics to win, win first and let other things follow. Don’t be the one crying louder; lest you will be the one ‎they will take to court. If you are talking of honesty or morals, go and become an Imam or pastor. Politics cannot be the way it used to be.
Read more