Belafonte speaks "America"

He plays the game he plays because he sees no threat from evidencing concerns for the poor.

He sees no threat from evidencing a deeper concern for the needs of black people, as such.

He feels no great threat from evidencing a greater policy towards the international community — for expressing thoughts that criticize the American position on things and turns that around.

What is … sad for this moment is that there is no force, no energy, of popular voice, popular rebellion, popular upheaval, no champion for radical thought at the table of the discourse. [Harry Belafonte in interview with Amy Goodman aired today on Democracy Now.]

U.S. activist, singer, film producer, actor Harry Belafonte was commenting on Barack Obama and his presidency, and “we the people.”
Editing, re-reporting by Carolyn Bennett 

“…[T]he fact that the collective power of the voters of this nation, among all of its citizens, should have chosen to elect [Barack Obama] as the president of the United States says something about America’s deeper resonance — where really lies Americans,’ America’s passion. What America’s citizens really hope for.

“Having said that, I must then say that I am somewhat dismayed,” Belafonte said, “that there has not been a greater revelation of the use of his power to make choices, not only for legislation; but for public discourse and debate, in a greater way than he has availed us of.” 

Belafonte draws a government-and-the-governed parallel from a story told by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at dinner one night at Hyde Park

“[Eleanor Roosevelt] told … us the story of her husband [President Franklin Roosevelt] and his first meeting with the great, powerful labor leader A. Philip Randolph, who was head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a job that was quite menial but critical to the American railway system.

“[Eleanor Roosevelt] loved A. Philip Randolph, his intellect and his evaluations as a union organizer. In bringing [Randolph] to the White House for dinner, she invited him to tell the President his view of the state of the union from the Negro perspective and from the perspective of black workers.

“… A. Philip Randolph held forth, [President] Roosevelt listened carefully and was stimulated by what Randolph had to say.” Moments passed. Then Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded [Belafonte paraphrases] —

“‘Mr. Randolph, I’ve heard everything you have to say, the way in which you’ve criticized the fact that I have not used the power of my platform sufficiently in the service of the workers of this nation, and particularly the Negro people; that I didn’t use my bully pulpit more vigorously. … I cannot deny that that may be the case. …  I believe that is the case; and in that context, I’d like to ask you to do me a favor. … If that is so, I’d like to ask you to go out and make me do what you think it is I should do. Go out and make me do it.’”

Belafonte continued the contrast in the context of the current era and presidency.

“We the American people made the history of [the Kennedy era] come to another place by our passion and our commitment to change. What is … sad for this moment is that there is no force, no energy, of popular voice, popular rebellion, popular upheaval, no champion for radical thought at the table of the discourse.

“As a consequence, Barack Obama has nothing to listen to except his detractors and those who help pave the way to his own personal comfort with power—power contained, power misdirected, power not fully engaged.

“It is our task to no longer have expectations of him, unless we have forced him to the table and he still resists us. … If he does that, then we know what else we have to do: that is to make change completely.

“I think he plays the game that he plays because he sees no threat from evidencing concerns for the poor. He sees no threat from evidencing a deeper concern for the needs of black people, as such. He feels no great threat from evidencing a greater policy towards the international community, for expressing thoughts that criticize the American position on things and turns that around.

“Until we do that, I think we’ll be forever disappointed in what [the Obama] administration will deliver.” 

Goodman raises the tribal chant — 'criticism undermines reelection bid'

Belafonte responds — “I think we will not only undermine him but [we will] undermine the hopes of this nation, if we do not criticize him.

“Absence of protest in a time of this kind of national crisis, Theodore Roosevelt once said —

‘When tyranny takes over the national agenda, it is that time that the voices of protest must be awakened; and if you don’t raise your voice in protest, you are a patriotic traitor.’

“I believe,” Belafonte concludes in this part of the conversation, “that patriotism is betrayed by those voices that are not heard. [Detractors] from that fact are those who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

“[Only good will happen] for Barack Obama and the United States of America — and indeed the world — if everybody steps to the table and says, ‘This is the course we must be on.’

Sources and notes

“‘Sing Your Song’: Harry Belafonte on Art and Politics, Civil Rights and His Critique of President Obama,” May 16, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/16/sing_your_song_harry_belafonte_on

Amy Goodman’s full-program interview with Harry Belafonte was pegged to a new documentary chronicling Belafonte’s life, ‘Sing Your Song,’ airing on PBS. The interview focused on the performer's biography and activism and critical thought: “legendary musician, actor, activist and humanitarian; his battle against racism, his mentor Paul Robeson, the power of music to push for political change, his close relationship with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; his critique of the Obama presidency and the U.S. role in Haiti.…

“‘Going into the South of the United States; listening to the voices of rural black America; listening to voices of those who sang out against the Ku Klux Klan and out against segregation; [listening to] women, who were the most oppressed of all, rising to the occasion to protest against their conditions — became the arena where my first songs emerged.’” — Harry Belafonte 

Harry Belafonte (Harold George Belafonte Jr., b. of Caribbean emigrants March 1, 1927, New York, New York) is a U.S. civil rights activist, philanthropist, actor, singer, film producer who popularized calypso music with hit recordings such as ‘Day-O’ (Banana Boat Song) and ‘Jamaica Farewell’ bringing his  first series of hit folk-song albums in the mid-1950s.

In film, Belafonte was lead actor in “Carmen Jones” (1954), whose success led to a starring role in “Island in the Sun” (1957). He produced (and acted in) “Odds against Tomorrow” (1959); and in the 1960s became the first African-American television producer; he was also the first African-American musician to win an Emmy. In the 1970s, he was featured in the films “Buck and the Preacher” (1972) and “Uptown Saturday Night” (1974). Belafonte studied drama at New York City’s Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop, served in the U.S. Navy, and in his long career has performed in a variety of venues and formats: nightclub, studio, television, film.

In addition to his own performances, Belafonte helped introduce to American audiences South African singer Miriam Makeba and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. Britannica notes 

Miriam Makeba (b. March 4 1932, d. November 10, 2008) was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist. Wikipedia notes

Nana Mouskouri (b. October 13, 1934) is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, in a career spanning more than five decades. Wikipedia notes 

I too sing America … 

“Tomorrow/ I'’ll be at the table/ When company comes./
Nobody’ll dare/Say to me,/‘Eat in the kitchen,’/ Then.//
Besides/They’ll see how beautiful I am/And be ashamed —  

I, too, am America.” 

Excerpt from U.S. poet, novelist, playwright, columnist (b. February 1, 1902, d. May 22, 1967) Langston Hughes’s “I, Too, Sing America”, http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/poems/16945http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20011

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