Thought For The Day – Thursday 27^th April 2023

This week Harry Belafonte (pictured above in the centre) passed away.  Harry Belafonte was a ground-breaking and outstanding performer, singer and actor.  His courage, example and representation stood up to and against racism and for a better world.  “I was an activist who became an artist”, he once said.

Also in the picture above are Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King.  It would have been Coretta’s 96th birthday day.   After her husband was killed, Coretta, very much an unsung hero, continued the dream and the legacy.

Harry Belafonte was a close and very supportive friend of the King family. He joined marches, for example in Selma,  and helped organise the seminal March on Washington, sixty years ago this August,  where Martin delivered his “I have a dream” speech.  Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer, shouted out in Martin’s speech: “Tell them about the dream, Martin!”  The rest would be history as Martin improvised, departed from his script, spoke from the heart and soul and talked about his “dream”. His famous words that were not in his original speech.

Harry Belafonte also continued the dream.  Throughout his life of 96 years, whether it be with racism, poverty, LGBT+ rights, sexism or HIV/AIDS awareness, Harry Belafonte used his platform to help and lift others.