IT'S A SHAME THAT YOUR GENERATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR...

nctarheel · ‎04-25-2023

So what do I mean???????

One of my favorite singers of all time died today..... Harry Belafonte.

Of course, every network ran a memorial to him, including his biggest hit DAY-O.

The sad thing is that due to my life experience as a man in my forties at the time... in addition to being an avid comedy movie watcher, especially dark comedies.... when I saw DAY-O on these memorials, I didn't remember a good looking man dressed in Calypso garb, singing Calypso music.....what I remember is giant shrimp cocktails at a table where everyone, including Dick Cavett, lip syncing the song in the movie.............. BEETLEJUICE..

Sad.

WebWiseWoman · ‎04-26-2023

Thank you for your honorarium to this wonderful person, @nctarheel ! I always wondered how this man found his way and became the man he was on what I learned later were his struggles..,

He will be missed by anyone who truly respects others; and he'll be missed as the voice of humanity, in movies and in life.

#VegasStrong
Phil Harris, actor and showman, to John Fogerty of CCR: “If I’d known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”

EricC227821 · ‎04-26-2023

The first person in history to sell more than a million copies of an album in the U.S.. He described himself as an Activist who happened to be able to sing.

...grew up enjoying his music...still enjoy it regardless of context...Even The Banana Boat Song was a ballad about oppression, but he brought the joy of going home at the end of a hard (really hard) night's work.

Therapist4u · ‎04-25-2023

Hi @nctarheel

Maybe this can help to replace those maddening movie mantras....LOL 🙂

Seriously though:

Harry Belafonte was more than just a great actor, becoming one of the 1st Black leading men in Hollywood, as well as a versatile recording & concert star of the ’50s.

IMHO....more importantly....he was an outspoken activist, & his commitment to social causes led to his becoming a close friend & ally of Dr. King; he was therefore an important voice in the ’60s civil rights movement! Later Belafonte engaged in numerous charitable & altruistic activities....notably those on behalf of underdeveloped African nations. He was also a vehement opponent of South Africa’s apartheid policies.....

The efforts of his work...along with hundreds of thousands of protests around the world....

eventually led to democracies established.... as well as the release from prison after 27 years in 1990 of Nelson Mandela & subsequently he becoming the president of South Africa in its 1st multiracial election in 1994.