Harry Belafonte was a hero of the civil rights movement – Scotsman comment

Singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, who has died at the age of 96, led an extraordinary life.

US singer Harry Belafonte, pictured in 1976, has died at the age of 96 (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

His album, Belafonte, was the first number one on the newly created US Billboard album chart in 1956, while his follow-up, Calypso, became the first to sell more than a million copies. Songs like Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), Mary’s Boy Child and Island in the Sun were global hits, including in the UK.

In 1960, he became the first black performer to win an Emmy award, for his show Tonight With Belafonte. But despite his success, he was not immune to the prevalent racist attitudes of the time. A deal with a proposed sponsor fell apart when the company asked him to segregate black and white performers on his show. Another sponsor’s representative unsuccessfully demanded a retake after white singer Petula Clark touched Belafonte’s arm.

Increasingly he became involved in the civil rights movement. He bailed Martin Luther King Jr out of jail in Alabama, funded the ‘Freedom Riders’ who challenged unlawful segregation in the US South, and protested against apartheid in South Africa, among other actions. He was controversial and well to the left of the political spectrum but, for many, he was a strong voice against racism who used his considerable fame to promote equality.

However, writing in the New York Times in 2020, he said that while he had “no complaints” about his life, “the problems faced by most Americans of colour seem as dire and entrenched as they were half a century ago”. Particularly from a singer of such joyous songs, it was a sad indictment of the modern world.