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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject: Belafonte's fires undimmed at 80 |
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Last Updated: Friday, 9 March 2007, 12:41 GMT
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Belafonte's fires undimmed at 80
By Stephen Evans
BBC News, New York
Harry Belafonte at 80 has a real story to tell. He remembers, for example, a barely known political hopeful turning up at his apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Belafonte, pictured with Stephen Evans, still speaks out on issues of race
John F Kennedy, who was trying to become the Democratic candidate for the presidency, wanted advice and endorsement from the biggest black star in showbusiness.
Nearly half a century on, Belafonte sits in an easy chair and reflects on the meeting: "I listened to him and I refused to endorse him, telling him that his best bet was that he should begin to seek out more details of our struggle and who our leaders were and begin to talk to them rather than just seeking to talk to celebrities."
He advised JFK to seek out Martin Luther King, then a young activist preacher in Montgomery, Alabama. "He hardly knew who Dr King was. That pointed out to me that he was really distant from our struggle."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6420733.stm |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Romanticization. Mythmaking. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:17 am Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| Romanticization. Mythmaking. |
Would ya like to clarify that? |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:32 am Post subject: ... |
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Yes. Goph saw Ronald Reagan as a grandfather-like figure.  |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:43 am Post subject: |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
| Gopher wrote: |
| Romanticization. Mythmaking. |
Would ya like to clarify that? |
Well, it does seem a little odd that JFK wouldn't have thought of contacting Martin Luther King until an entertainer advised him to do so. Belafonte pretty much portrays himself as pivotal to the whole rise of Martin Luther King. But who knows. I don't find it particularly surprising that JFK would have been generally clueless about the civil rights movement. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Well, it does seem a little odd that JFK wouldn't have thought of contacting Martin Luther King until an entertainer advised him to do so. Belafonte pretty much portrays himself as pivotal to the whole rise of Martin Luther King. But who knows. I don't find it particularly surprising that JFK would have been generally clueless about the civil rights movement. |
Thank you.
And I find nothing surprising about a president who once asked his cabinet "the Monroe Doctrine...? What the hell is that?" either. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
| On the other hand wrote: |
| Well, it does seem a little odd that JFK wouldn't have thought of contacting Martin Luther King until an entertainer advised him to do so. Belafonte pretty much portrays himself as pivotal to the whole rise of Martin Luther King. But who knows. I don't find it particularly surprising that JFK would have been generally clueless about the civil rights movement. |
Thank you.
And I find nothing surprising about a president who once asked his cabinet "the Monroe Doctrine...? What the hell is that?" either. |
Well, people voted for JFK because of his charisma and the way he spoke. I am pretty sure Nixon would have known or someone of the likes of Henry Cabot Lodge.
I think it is possible that JFK did go Belafonte, because he was clueless about black people and needed the vote. It can be realistic. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
I think it is possible that JFK did go Belafonte, because he was clueless about black people and needed the vote. It can be realistic.
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Yeah, I have to think, though, that there would be SOMEONE in Washington who would have known who were the big players in the civil rights movement, without JFK having to consult pop stars for the info. |
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