Harry Belafonte is a real American hero, an activist who put his career on the line when it counted, who bailed The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. out of jail in the 50s and 60s. For those of you who may be too young to know about him, I put a little biographical blurb from wikipedia at the end.
In a recent interview, he called out Herman Cain for denying that racism holds back African Americans. Belafonte does not mince words, as you will see:
“Well, you know, it’s very hard to comment on somebody who is so denied intelligence and certainly someone who is as denied a view of history such as he reveals. He knows very little,” said Belafonte. “Because he happened to have had good fortune, because he happened to have had a moment when he broke through – the moment someone blinked – does not make him the authority on the plight of people of color.”
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“The Republican party, the tea party, all those forces to the extreme right have consistently tried to come up with representations for what they call black, what they call the real Negroes,” he said, naming former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell as examples. “They’re heroes for some people. But for a lot of us, they’re not. Herman Cain is just the latest incarnation of what is totally false for the needs of our community and the needs of our nation. I think he’s a bad apple. And people should look at his hole card. He’s not what he says he is.”
Politico
Here's video of his interview with Joy Behar at HLN:
Belafonte: Herman Cain is a 'bad apple'
A little background on Mr. Belafonte. He also was a singing star, movie star and television star.
Belafonte supported the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s confidants. He provided for King's family, since King made only $8,000 a year as a preacher. Like many other civil rights activists, Belafonte was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He bailed King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other civil rights protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, supported voter registration drives, and helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.
Belafonte (center) at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C with Sidney Poitier (left) and Charlton Heston. During "Freedom Summer" in 1964 Belafonte bankrolled the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, flying to Mississippi that August with $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in Greenwood.
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In 1985, he helped organize the Grammy Award winning song "We Are the World," a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. He performed in the Live Aid concert that same year. In 1987 he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador.
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Belafonte was active in the anti–Apartheid movement. He was the Master of Ceremonies at a reception honoring African National Congress President Oliver Tambo at Roosevelt House, Hunter College, in New York City. The reception was held by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund.[26] He is a current board member of the TransAfrica Forum and the Institute for Policy Studies.[27]
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During the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech at the Duke University in January 2006 Belafonte said that if he could choose his epitaph it would be, "Harry Belafonte, Patriot." [42]
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A fun song. The Banana Boat Song (with the Muppets)
Harry Belafonte is an American Patriot.