...a tribute.

Photo credit:  Sarah Rogers,  from the article "Harry Belafonte: Stylish and Battle-Tested".  I love how when I downloaded it, the word "tease" appeared in the title. That was Mr. B. 

Resources

Here you'll find pointers to research material from libraries, magazines, and publishers, as well as interviews with Mr. B. 

Shomberg Center

I can't imagine what level of trust and faith someone would have in an institution to release one's own history for others to browse through.

In 2020, the Shomberg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, was recipient of that trust when Mr. B. passed over his "extensive personal archive....400 linear feet of audiovisual materials, personal and professional papers such as letters and manuscripts, television scripts, and photo albums that chronicle Belafonte’s life, activism, and career from 1949 to the present."

In the past few years, we've seen the list of materials processed grow.

March 13, 2020 New York Times: Six Decades After the Banana Boat, Harry Belafonte’s Archive Sails Home

April 17, 2023: Schomburg Center Holds Personal Photos, Writings & More of Harry Belafonte.  Mr. Belafonte's papers can be accessed in the Schomburg's Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division. Learn more about Harry Belafonte's Papers at the Schomburg.

Shortcut to the Harry Belafonte Papers (bulk 1946 - 2005)

Personal photos in the Center’s Photographs and Prints Division date from 1925 through the 2010s. The pictures, contact sheets, negatives, and slides, document his acting and singing careers, political and humanitarian causes, travel, and more.

Request an in-person research appointment

Books

Does not include the deluge of ones released thanks to AI after his death.
(please don't go there)

My Song ~ A Memoir

Harry Belafonte, with Michael Shnayerson

This is a very candid look in Mr. B's words about his life. It is a companion to the Sing Your Song documentary also done in 2011. 

Grateful for this, the documentary, and the series of talks that promoted these works.

2011 Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN 978-0-307-27226-3

Becoming Belafonte

Judith E. Smith

I have this one, but couldn't get through it. 

Maybe one day.

2014 University of Texas
ISBN 978-0-292-72914-8

Belafonte -an Unauthorized Biography

by Arnold Shaw

I'd have to read this again to decide how I feel about it now -  But I know I appreciated it when it fell into my hands. 

I particularly appreciated the "stereos" - little sections between the chapters that gave glimpses to other things happening at the same time (also - the smell of an old book....).

1960
Chilton Company - Book Division

Harry Belafonte

Genia Fogelson

Oh it took years to finally nab this one. Honestly, not quite worth it. It's aimed at maybe high school students, and thoughfid I'd have to go back to review Arnold Shaw's, what I read sounded like a shortened summary of what was there.

1980 Holloway House (1st edition)
1991 - ISBN 0-87067-772-1

Magazines

A smattering, just a smattering of articles that have stood out:

Year Magazine Title & Author
2023 NPR - Music Features "In Harry's old-school politics, the "human family" mattered. But until the end, his worldview was shaped by having traveled between Harlem and Jamaica, and sensing that something profound joined their people. He remained, until his life's end, deeply engaged with the politics and people of Africa — where one of his earliest achievements, after he was asked by John Kennedy to help launch the Peace Corps, involved organizing an airlift from Kenya that included the father of one Barack Obama."
Island Man - how Harry Belafonte's Caribbean roots helped him change America by Joshua Jelly-Shapiro
2017 The Guardian "Singer and civil rights activist, 90, holds Pittsburgh audience spellbound with tales of his life and denunciation of Trump as a national ‘mistake’": 
Harry Belafonte tells crowd at likely last public appearance: 'We shall overcome'
2011 NPR Music "And nobody had survival skills and greater cunning than did my mother. She was tenacious about her dignity not being crushed. And one day she said to me — she was talking about coming back from the day when she couldn't find work — fighting back tears, she said, 'Don't ever let injustice go by unchallenged.' And that really became a deep part of my life DNA. A lot of people say to me, 'When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?' I say to them, 'I was long an activist before I became an artist.' "
Harry Belafonte: Out Of Struggle, A Beautiful Voice
2010 Mojo "Harry Belafonte’s music, acting, producing, philanthropy, social presence and political activism have become indistinguishable, each from the others: a seamless whole piece of fabric stretching across decades, speaking always and only to forward motion."
Joe Henry interviews him while Mr. B. was working on his book My Song, and documentary Sing Your Song. Re-published in 2023, possible title: Dr King called and said, ‘I think you might be of service to something I very much believe in…
1959 Time
Time

 "The young man used to ride the New York subways with a pencil in his pocket and a chip on his shoulder." - the whole Time article Lead Man Holler

Interviews

2017

Harry Belafonte Interview: A Friendship with MLK That Shaped History

"This video is a must-watch for anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, or Harry Belafonte’s life and activism."

From Live Stores Presents
Interviewed by Taylor Branch

Watch it here

2012

A never-before-seen interview with civil rights icon Harry Belafonte

"In 2012, Christiane Amanpour sat down for an extended conversation with entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte -- much of which has never previously been seen."

Watch it here

2012

Conversation with Harry Belafonte | Locarno Film Festival

A beloved singer and one of the first African-American actors to appear on the silver screen, he received the Pardo alla carriera in 2012 and told us how his success offered him a platform that he didn’t hesitate to use

Watch it here

2011

Harry Belafonte in conversation with Tim Robbins at Live Talks Los Angeles

Discussing his memoir, "My Song"

Watch it here

2011

Back in the Day-O 

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro interviews Mr. B. after the release of "My Song" (book), and before "Sing Your Song" (film).

From the New York Times: Harry Belafonte on His New Memoir, "My Song"

Read it here

2011

A Converstion With Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte discussed his new memoir "My Song" with award-winning television host and journalist Liz Walker.

Filmed at the JFK Library

Watch it here

2000

An Evening With Harry Belafonte

An hour long, PBS-TV live-to-tape conversation / interview at The Art Institute of Chicago with his friend Danny Glover.

Gives a very well-rounded history about Mr. B's life and works.

Little is out-of-date, as most is about his history - other than at the time, he and Julie were still together. 

Watch it here

1990

Harry Belafonte uncut Interview Helsinki / Finland

The uncut footage of the interview of Harry Belafonte shown in the Breakfast TV of the Finnish MTV3 Channel in the beginning of 1990's.

Watch it here

1976

Canada's Brian Linehan interviews Harry Belafonte

Archival footage available for licensing

Part 1

Part 2

Broken Links? It's bound to happen... Please let me know and I will remove or resolve.