Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song

0:00:15 > 0:00:19There's a lot of people out here who are really pissed off!

0:00:23 > 0:00:27We are angry, we're upset, we're sad.

0:00:27 > 0:00:29We hold our children, wheel our wheelchairs,

0:00:29 > 0:00:33we look around for some comfort and we don't find any.

0:00:33 > 0:00:35- ALL: Yay!- Freedom!

0:00:39 > 0:00:41But we have to look to ourselves.

0:00:41 > 0:00:44Because I think the last frontier

0:00:44 > 0:00:47of truth and hope in this country

0:00:47 > 0:00:49is the people themselves.

0:00:49 > 0:00:52Somewhere in this moment,

0:00:52 > 0:00:54my soul, somewhere in this moment,

0:00:54 > 0:00:57all that I have known.

0:00:57 > 0:00:59All that I have felt, all that I had experienced,

0:00:59 > 0:01:04commanded me to say, "What do you do now?"

0:01:04 > 0:01:06CROWD: Yay!

0:01:16 > 0:01:18In this place,

0:01:18 > 0:01:20much that happened to me in my early life

0:01:20 > 0:01:22was sorted out.

0:01:25 > 0:01:28I'd just got married, had a young child.

0:01:28 > 0:01:31I met people here.

0:01:31 > 0:01:34It was in this apartment

0:01:34 > 0:01:36where all those things

0:01:36 > 0:01:39set the course

0:01:39 > 0:01:43for a new chapter in life.

0:01:45 > 0:01:48I was born in Harlem.

0:01:48 > 0:01:50At the time of my birth,

0:01:50 > 0:01:52my father abandoned my mother,

0:01:52 > 0:01:54who worked as a domestic.

0:01:54 > 0:01:57In her concerns for us,

0:01:57 > 0:02:00she sent my brother and myself

0:02:00 > 0:02:03to live with relatives in Jamaica.

0:02:03 > 0:02:05My mother was an immigrant woman from Jamaica.

0:02:05 > 0:02:08People on that island did not fare well

0:02:08 > 0:02:10in the early days of the century.

0:02:10 > 0:02:11I would go on occasion

0:02:11 > 0:02:14with my family, taking their goods to market.

0:02:14 > 0:02:18I remember how gruelling the work was.

0:02:18 > 0:02:22Almost all the songs that I later came to sing

0:02:22 > 0:02:25were songs I'd heard among the peasants,

0:02:25 > 0:02:28among the peoples of my family at that time.

0:02:28 > 0:02:32# Day da light and me wan go home... #

0:02:32 > 0:02:34My mother made me understand there was nothing in life

0:02:34 > 0:02:39that could not be attained, that we could not aspire to.

0:02:39 > 0:02:42And I remember her instructions.

0:02:42 > 0:02:45That I should never, ever awaken in a day

0:02:45 > 0:02:48where there wasn't something in our agenda

0:02:48 > 0:02:50that would help set the course

0:02:50 > 0:02:52of the undermining of injustice.

0:02:55 > 0:02:59It was never my intention to be a singer.

0:02:59 > 0:03:02But, as fate would have it,

0:03:02 > 0:03:05my job was as a janitor's assistant.

0:03:05 > 0:03:09One day I was asked to fix a Venetian blind for a tenant.

0:03:09 > 0:03:14As a gratuity, I was given two tickets to the American Negro theatre.

0:03:14 > 0:03:17When the theatre lights came down and the curtains opened,

0:03:17 > 0:03:19the play began, and never, ever

0:03:19 > 0:03:22in my life have I had an experience

0:03:22 > 0:03:26that so transfixed me.

0:03:26 > 0:03:28The theatre was a place

0:03:28 > 0:03:30of social truth.

0:03:30 > 0:03:32It was a place of power.

0:03:32 > 0:03:38It carried thoughts and images that could influence people profoundly.

0:03:38 > 0:03:41I tried to protect you. Lord knows, I tried.

0:03:41 > 0:03:42Ma!

0:03:42 > 0:03:46I'll be strong, Ma. Everything will turn out all right, cos I'll make it with these!

0:03:46 > 0:03:49'An actor in the theatre - that's where I wanted to go.'

0:03:49 > 0:03:52I became part of the American Negro Theatre.

0:03:52 > 0:03:55That's where I met Brock Peters and Sidney Poitier.

0:03:55 > 0:04:00Right after that, I went for further study at the New School for Social Research.

0:04:00 > 0:04:04In my class was Walter Matthau.

0:04:04 > 0:04:07Another was Marlon Brando,

0:04:07 > 0:04:11and Bernie Bernard Schwartz, better known as Tony Curtis.

0:04:11 > 0:04:15It was in the theatre as an actor that I discovered singing.

0:04:15 > 0:04:22# You twirl the world on your finger

0:04:23 > 0:04:28# Dear, you don't wander to linger... #

0:04:28 > 0:04:32I was headed on the path to be a jazz singer.

0:04:32 > 0:04:35I felt myself very ill-placed.

0:04:35 > 0:04:38I was making a living as a singer and not really enjoying it

0:04:38 > 0:04:41as much as I had hoped I would be able to.

0:04:41 > 0:04:44# Lean on me... #

0:04:44 > 0:04:48One night I happened to go to the Village Vanguard,

0:04:48 > 0:04:50and when I went to the Vanguard,

0:04:50 > 0:04:52I saw a man by the name of Huddie Ledbetter.

0:04:52 > 0:04:55# One Sunday morning, Lord, Lord, Lord

0:04:55 > 0:04:59# The preacher went a-hunting Lord, Lord, Lord

0:04:59 > 0:05:02# He carried along his shotgun Lord, Lord, Lord... #

0:05:02 > 0:05:04He sang songs in a way that

0:05:04 > 0:05:08was absolutely magical for me.

0:05:08 > 0:05:13He told me that he was going to

0:05:13 > 0:05:16the Library of Congress to search out

0:05:16 > 0:05:21old folk songs and various and sundry kinds of music.

0:05:21 > 0:05:25# Water boy

0:05:28 > 0:05:33# Where are you hidin'? #

0:05:33 > 0:05:36He had something in the back of his mind.

0:05:36 > 0:05:41# There ain't no sweat, boy

0:05:41 > 0:05:45# That's on this mountain

0:05:45 > 0:05:52# That run like mine, boy

0:05:52 > 0:05:56# That run like mine... #

0:05:57 > 0:06:00'As important as the Library of Congress was,

0:06:00 > 0:06:03'equally important was my discovery of Paul Robeson.'

0:06:03 > 0:06:08# Ole man river, that ole man river

0:06:08 > 0:06:11# He must know somethin'... #

0:06:11 > 0:06:14His strength, his power, the way he used his life as an artist,

0:06:14 > 0:06:16had profound impact on me.

0:06:16 > 0:06:21# Keep fightin' until I'm dyin'... #

0:06:21 > 0:06:27Out of that came the true, true artistry of Harry Belafonte.

0:06:27 > 0:06:30# Sylvie

0:06:34 > 0:06:37# Sylvie

0:06:40 > 0:06:45# I'm so hot and dry... #

0:06:45 > 0:06:50One day, there I was on the stage of the Village Vanguard.

0:06:50 > 0:06:53Paul Robeson came to see me.

0:06:53 > 0:06:59Mr Robeson was a universal force, who for me filled time and space...

0:06:59 > 0:07:01like no-one else.

0:07:01 > 0:07:05# Sylvie

0:07:05 > 0:07:07# Bring me little water

0:07:07 > 0:07:09# Now... #

0:07:09 > 0:07:13At the end of my performance, he came backstage,

0:07:13 > 0:07:17and simply said, "Get them to sing your song...

0:07:17 > 0:07:19"and they'll want to know who you are."

0:07:24 > 0:07:29ANNOUNCER: The June Taylor Dancers with Harry Belafonte.

0:07:29 > 0:07:32# Hold him, Joe, hold him, Joe

0:07:32 > 0:07:35# Hold him, Joe, but don't let him go

0:07:35 > 0:07:38# Hold him, Joe, I say hold him, Joe

0:07:38 > 0:07:40# Hold him, Joe, but don't let him go... #

0:07:40 > 0:07:42For me, new doors were opening.

0:07:44 > 0:07:46A man by the name of John Murray Anderson

0:07:46 > 0:07:49invited me to do a play on Broadway

0:07:49 > 0:07:52called John Murray Anderson's Almanac.

0:07:52 > 0:07:58# Mark Twain!

0:07:58 > 0:08:06# Four fathoms off the starboard bow... #

0:08:06 > 0:08:08The reviews were stunning.

0:08:08 > 0:08:12As a consequence, I got the Antoinette Perry Award, a Tony.

0:08:12 > 0:08:17# Mark Twain. #

0:08:17 > 0:08:20During the time of my emergence,

0:08:20 > 0:08:25there were not just a normal...

0:08:27 > 0:08:30goals set for ourselves,

0:08:30 > 0:08:32to climb up the career ladder.

0:08:32 > 0:08:36There were bigger concerns.

0:08:36 > 0:08:39I did a show, Marge & Gower Champion,

0:08:39 > 0:08:42called 3 For Tonight.

0:08:42 > 0:08:45We toured America, only to find out

0:08:45 > 0:08:49many of the places would not accept an inter-racial group.

0:08:49 > 0:08:52I didn't realise, growing up in California,

0:08:52 > 0:08:58what a problem it might be if we went south of the Mason-Dixon line.

0:08:58 > 0:09:01# Oh, when the saints go marching in

0:09:01 > 0:09:05# Oh, when the saints go marching in

0:09:05 > 0:09:09# I want to be in that number... #

0:09:09 > 0:09:11The pit-stops were embarrassing. Harry was not allowed

0:09:11 > 0:09:15at the same places as the rest of the cast.

0:09:15 > 0:09:19# When the saints go marching in... #

0:09:19 > 0:09:21I remember getting off the bus to go to the bathroom

0:09:21 > 0:09:23and as I walked into the men's room,

0:09:23 > 0:09:26I heard a voice say, "You let go of a drop, you're a dead nigger."

0:09:26 > 0:09:30I turned around and took a look and there was a state trooper.

0:09:30 > 0:09:35I looked at him, and the humiliation of it...

0:09:35 > 0:09:40I never had a feeling like that before in my life.

0:09:40 > 0:09:44I guess my urine had better sense than I did cos it just backed up.

0:09:44 > 0:09:45And I didn't let go a drop.

0:09:45 > 0:09:48And I walked back on that bus,

0:09:48 > 0:09:51And I just sat there for the rest of that tour

0:09:51 > 0:09:54devastated by the experience.

0:09:54 > 0:09:58Without really proselytising in any way,

0:09:58 > 0:10:00we made quite a statement.

0:10:04 > 0:10:07Harry was staying with some black newspaper people

0:10:07 > 0:10:09in Richmond, Virginia.

0:10:09 > 0:10:12I remember him coming back and telling us

0:10:12 > 0:10:15they all applauded when he came in

0:10:15 > 0:10:20and one of the men said, "You sure made history in Richmond tonight."

0:10:20 > 0:10:23Harry said, "What did I do?"

0:10:23 > 0:10:27He said, "You held a white woman's hand...

0:10:27 > 0:10:31"in a segregated house, and nothing happened."

0:10:31 > 0:10:35# When the saints go marching in

0:10:35 > 0:10:38# When the saints go marching in

0:10:38 > 0:10:42# I want to be in that number... #

0:10:42 > 0:10:45That was the climate of the mood in America.

0:10:45 > 0:10:46And here I was

0:10:46 > 0:10:50with a lot of support from people who had to negotiate

0:10:50 > 0:10:53moving into these places for the first time,

0:10:53 > 0:10:55breaking down these barriers.

0:11:01 > 0:11:04When I first worked Las Vegas,

0:11:04 > 0:11:06in a place called the Thunderbird,

0:11:06 > 0:11:10into the lobby, the doorman looked at me in a very strange way.

0:11:10 > 0:11:15I was told that I couldn't come into the hotel through the front door.

0:11:15 > 0:11:19That I'd be living in the black section

0:11:19 > 0:11:21of Las Vegas.

0:11:23 > 0:11:25I could not eat in the main dining room,

0:11:25 > 0:11:30and when I suggested that this whole ritual would not be workable,

0:11:30 > 0:11:34I was informed that the only way I would leave Las Vegas,

0:11:34 > 0:11:37if I didn't fulfil that contract,

0:11:37 > 0:11:39would be in a box.

0:11:44 > 0:11:46Harry was headlining.

0:11:46 > 0:11:49About the third day in Vegas,

0:11:49 > 0:11:50there was a knock on the door...

0:11:50 > 0:11:53# Who's gonna be your man? #

0:11:53 > 0:11:55..really early, like 11 in the morning.

0:11:55 > 0:11:58# Who's gonna be your man? #

0:11:58 > 0:12:01I go to the door and it's Harry

0:12:01 > 0:12:06in a bathrobe with a towel over himself, and bare legs,

0:12:06 > 0:12:09and I said, "What's happening?"

0:12:09 > 0:12:12He said, "We're going to the pool." I said, "Oh, my God."

0:12:12 > 0:12:15Up on these balconies, heavy-set guys started to appear,

0:12:15 > 0:12:17looking down,

0:12:17 > 0:12:21like, "What?! Ay!"

0:12:21 > 0:12:25They could have shot him, for godsakes.

0:12:25 > 0:12:31I know it sounds dramatic but those were very scary days.

0:12:31 > 0:12:35He goes all the way around, gets up on the diving board,

0:12:35 > 0:12:40and walked to the end of it and stood there.

0:12:40 > 0:12:43And just looked around with that smile.

0:12:43 > 0:12:46And then did this perfect dive.

0:12:46 > 0:12:48Almost everybody had gotten out of the pool.

0:12:48 > 0:12:50He came up into an empty pool.

0:12:50 > 0:12:52He's standing there alone...

0:12:56 > 0:12:57and all of a sudden,

0:12:57 > 0:13:00we realised that men were coming to the edge of the pool

0:13:00 > 0:13:03with cameras - we're talking about the people who were

0:13:03 > 0:13:06staying in the hotel.

0:13:06 > 0:13:10They were saying, "Harry, Mr Belafonte.

0:13:10 > 0:13:12"Would you mind if...honey, honey."

0:13:12 > 0:13:15And the wife would jump in the pool.

0:13:15 > 0:13:18The children, people started to jump in the pool.

0:13:18 > 0:13:22Harry stood there and graciously, for about half an hour,

0:13:22 > 0:13:24put his arms around everybody.

0:13:24 > 0:13:26And people took all these photographs.

0:13:26 > 0:13:32And I looked up, and the guys were disappearing off the balconies...

0:13:32 > 0:13:35until it was empty on those balconies.

0:13:39 > 0:13:40Nothing he did surprised me...

0:13:40 > 0:13:44as far as his daring participating in history.

0:13:47 > 0:13:50We all had different kinds of experiences rooted in race.

0:13:50 > 0:13:53Sammy Davis, Jr, Nat "King" Cole,

0:13:53 > 0:13:55Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne.

0:13:55 > 0:14:00All of us were battling the walls of racist resistance.

0:14:00 > 0:14:03# I wonder why nobody don't like me

0:14:03 > 0:14:06# Or is it a fact that I'm ugly?

0:14:06 > 0:14:08# I wonder why nobody don't like me

0:14:08 > 0:14:10# Or is it a fact that I'm ugly? #

0:14:10 > 0:14:13You'd see Harry Belafonte on TV,

0:14:13 > 0:14:15and you'd call your neighbour, "Coloured on TV!"

0:14:15 > 0:14:17and let them know, because it was so rare.

0:14:17 > 0:14:21# I say let us put man and woman together

0:14:21 > 0:14:24# To find out which one is smarter... #

0:14:24 > 0:14:27Even in that grainy black-and-white early TV,

0:14:27 > 0:14:29his personality came out,

0:14:29 > 0:14:31and you liked that personality and you wanted more of it.

0:14:31 > 0:14:35As I sang, my popularity began to grow.

0:14:35 > 0:14:39Public reference to my political activism

0:14:39 > 0:14:41became more evident.

0:14:45 > 0:14:49My activism was rooted in the experiences that I had

0:14:49 > 0:14:53during the Second World War as a munitions loader.

0:14:53 > 0:14:56A job reserved for mostly black sailors.

0:14:56 > 0:14:58We believed in the cause.

0:14:58 > 0:15:02For us, it was a lot more than Germany and Hitler.

0:15:02 > 0:15:04It was about America, too.

0:15:04 > 0:15:07I felt very strongly we would have the right to vote.

0:15:07 > 0:15:09The right to live where we wanted.

0:15:09 > 0:15:13The right to be part of a level playing field, but at the end of the war,

0:15:13 > 0:15:16there was still segregation, we were still being lynched,

0:15:16 > 0:15:18we were still being harassed and murdered,

0:15:18 > 0:15:21and so we belonged to everything we could belong to,

0:15:21 > 0:15:25to overthrow this relentless cruelty of racist oppression.

0:15:25 > 0:15:28In doing that, the House of Un-American Activities Committee

0:15:28 > 0:15:30called us unpatriotic.

0:15:32 > 0:15:34Let's string 'em up right now!

0:15:34 > 0:15:36Branded us as Communists.

0:15:36 > 0:15:39Communism is an evil and malignant way of life.

0:15:39 > 0:15:42It reveals a condition akin to disease

0:15:42 > 0:15:45that spreads like an epidemic, and like an epidemic,

0:15:45 > 0:15:49a quarantine is necessary to keep it from infecting this nation.

0:15:49 > 0:15:53What I didn't know was I was part of a large group of American citizens

0:15:53 > 0:15:56being caught in the net of Federal scrutiny.

0:15:56 > 0:15:58The FBI began moving everywhere,

0:15:58 > 0:16:02then one day, while I was away on tour, they came to my home.

0:16:02 > 0:16:06They caught my young bride in the middle of that terror, telling her

0:16:06 > 0:16:09that I was seeking to do harm to the nation.

0:16:09 > 0:16:11This bit of FBI drama took its toll.

0:16:11 > 0:16:13It was hard on Marguerite.

0:16:13 > 0:16:15She had difficulty believing

0:16:15 > 0:16:18that the United States government would have spent

0:16:18 > 0:16:20so much time making up these stories

0:16:20 > 0:16:23about a singer if there wasn't in fact some truth to it.

0:16:23 > 0:16:27I could say nothing to her that would ease her doubt or confusion.

0:16:27 > 0:16:31I could not give up my social activism, I couldn't do that.

0:16:31 > 0:16:35And my relationship with Paul Robeson and others...

0:16:35 > 0:16:39This haunted us for the rest of our time together...

0:16:39 > 0:16:43and would eventually result in the demise of our marriage.

0:16:48 > 0:16:50While all of this mischief was going on,

0:16:50 > 0:16:53Marguerite and I brought into the world

0:16:53 > 0:16:55our first-born, Adrienne.

0:16:55 > 0:16:59And not too long after that, our Shari.

0:16:59 > 0:17:06# I peaked in to say goodnight... #

0:17:06 > 0:17:10A lot of songs that I sang were, early on, directed at my children.

0:17:10 > 0:17:15Perhaps the most significant was Scarlet Ribbons.

0:17:15 > 0:17:20# Lovely ribbons, scarlet ribbons

0:17:22 > 0:17:30# Scarlet ribbons for her hair... #

0:17:30 > 0:17:34This song found its way into the hearts of the American people.

0:17:41 > 0:17:45It would show another dimension to who I was.

0:17:45 > 0:17:48Scarlet Ribbons was the first record that gave me

0:17:48 > 0:17:50national recognition.

0:17:51 > 0:17:53Here's one of the great artists of our country,

0:17:53 > 0:17:55and one of the greatest artists of the world.

0:17:55 > 0:17:59Here is Harry Belafonte.

0:17:59 > 0:18:01Ladies and gentlemen, Harry Belafonte.

0:18:01 > 0:18:02Mr Harry Belafonte.

0:18:02 > 0:18:06It says here tonight we're going to have the fabulous Harry Belafonte. Here he comes!

0:18:06 > 0:18:11# Coconut woman is calling out And everyday you can hear her shout

0:18:11 > 0:18:13# Coconut woman is calling out

0:18:13 > 0:18:16# And everyday you can hear her shout...#

0:18:16 > 0:18:19Harry researched all this great calypso music

0:18:19 > 0:18:22and hit upon some of those songs that were big.

0:18:22 > 0:18:26Then Harry decided to tighten the pants a little bit

0:18:26 > 0:18:27and undo that shirt,

0:18:27 > 0:18:29and the rest is history!

0:18:29 > 0:18:31APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

0:18:31 > 0:18:35Harry, I want to present you with this RCA Victor long-playing record

0:18:35 > 0:18:38for being the first performer to sell over a million copies

0:18:38 > 0:18:40of a single album, ladies and gentlemen.

0:18:40 > 0:18:41And that's not all.

0:18:41 > 0:18:44You've been on the move so much that RCA Victor

0:18:44 > 0:18:46has not had a chance to present you with this gold record

0:18:46 > 0:18:50saluting you as the first artist to sell a million copies of a single record in England,

0:18:50 > 0:18:52and that's not all!

0:18:52 > 0:18:55The other is for your memorable, million-selling Day-O!

0:18:55 > 0:18:58# Day-O! Day-O!

0:18:58 > 0:19:02# Daylight come and me wan go home

0:19:02 > 0:19:06# Day, me say day, me say day, me say day, me say day... #

0:19:06 > 0:19:09It was this guy who was this gorgeous human being,

0:19:09 > 0:19:12and he'd say, "Daylight come and I want to go home."

0:19:12 > 0:19:15One lady in the back stood up and says, "Don't go, Harry!"

0:19:15 > 0:19:19Women went crazy over this guy.

0:19:19 > 0:19:22Forget lingerie, they was throwing body parts!

0:19:22 > 0:19:25He was this idol. "Ah!"

0:19:25 > 0:19:26So there were screaming crowds

0:19:26 > 0:19:29and I remember these bodyguard people pushing us through.

0:19:29 > 0:19:33I'm going, "What's this about? Who are these people and why

0:19:33 > 0:19:35"are they grabbing at my dad?"

0:19:35 > 0:19:38And all of them were little teenybopper white girls.

0:19:38 > 0:19:41They were just going insane over him

0:19:41 > 0:19:43cos he was an idol.

0:19:44 > 0:19:47# Down the way where the nights are gay

0:19:47 > 0:19:52# And the sun shines daily on the mountaintop

0:19:52 > 0:19:55# I took a trip on a sailing ship

0:19:55 > 0:19:58# And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop

0:19:58 > 0:20:03# But I'm sad to say I'm on my way

0:20:03 > 0:20:07# Won't be back for many a day

0:20:07 > 0:20:10# My heart is down, my head is turning around

0:20:10 > 0:20:15# Had to leave a little girl in Kingston town... #

0:20:15 > 0:20:18The success that I was experiencing in my musical career

0:20:18 > 0:20:21led me to Hollywood.

0:20:25 > 0:20:28In my first experience with the Hollywood adventure,

0:20:28 > 0:20:30I was working on the film Bright Road.

0:20:30 > 0:20:35A story of a dysfunctional child in a small Southern town.

0:20:37 > 0:20:39I was filming with Dorothy Dandridge,

0:20:39 > 0:20:42our first time together.

0:20:42 > 0:20:46But to break in on the Hollywood scene was no easy trick.

0:20:46 > 0:20:48While working on the film,

0:20:48 > 0:20:51I stayed at the home of a friend in Beverly Hills.

0:20:51 > 0:20:53One night after dinner,

0:20:53 > 0:20:56I thought I'd take a walk to get a bit of fresh air.

0:20:56 > 0:20:59Out of nowhere, the police descended on me.

0:20:59 > 0:21:01Having broken no law,

0:21:01 > 0:21:03it was obvious my crime

0:21:03 > 0:21:06was walking in Beverly Hills after dark

0:21:06 > 0:21:08while being black.

0:21:08 > 0:21:09After that,

0:21:09 > 0:21:11I always looked at Hollywood

0:21:11 > 0:21:13through filtered glasses.

0:21:16 > 0:21:18COMMENTATOR: A galaxy of stars arrive

0:21:18 > 0:21:21for the Los Angeles premiere of the 20th Century Fox

0:21:21 > 0:21:23musical spectacular Carmen Jones.

0:21:23 > 0:21:26On hand, the film's director, Otto Preminger.

0:21:26 > 0:21:29Otto Preminger saw the chemistry between Dorothy Dandridge

0:21:29 > 0:21:31and myself.

0:21:31 > 0:21:34And he cast us in Carmen Jones.

0:21:34 > 0:21:36# Love's a baby that grows up wild... #

0:21:36 > 0:21:39Carmen Jones was a black film.

0:21:39 > 0:21:44It was a very emotional experience

0:21:44 > 0:21:46for all of us to have to deal with the fact that we knew

0:21:46 > 0:21:50we were renting space.

0:21:50 > 0:21:54We were not there because we would have film careers.

0:21:54 > 0:21:59# If I love you, dat's de end of you. #

0:21:59 > 0:22:02I then went on to other films.

0:22:02 > 0:22:05And struggled with new taboos.

0:22:05 > 0:22:08# This is my island in the sun

0:22:10 > 0:22:15# Where my people have toiled since time begun... #

0:22:15 > 0:22:17Because a young, handsome black man

0:22:17 > 0:22:20and a very beautiful young woman, blonde, etcetera

0:22:20 > 0:22:24had this romantic relationship,

0:22:24 > 0:22:27even though the romance on screen, in no form or fashion,

0:22:27 > 0:22:30was shown graphically,

0:22:30 > 0:22:32a lot of people in the south, especially,

0:22:32 > 0:22:35objected to it quite strenuously, to say the least.

0:22:36 > 0:22:38Instead of defeating the picture,

0:22:38 > 0:22:40diminishing its value...

0:22:42 > 0:22:46they aroused a whole crowd

0:22:46 > 0:22:49of millions of people who, out of curiosity,

0:22:49 > 0:22:51wanted to see it.

0:22:51 > 0:22:54I found myself in the battle with Hollywood,

0:22:54 > 0:22:58the battle with content and the battle with style,

0:22:58 > 0:23:00and the battle with the issues of race.

0:23:00 > 0:23:04I decided to go tenaciously after making independent films

0:23:04 > 0:23:07with a black perspective.

0:23:07 > 0:23:11'I put together a company called HarBel.'

0:23:11 > 0:23:13I know you're there!

0:23:13 > 0:23:16I can feel you all staring at me!

0:23:16 > 0:23:17HIS VOICE ECHOES

0:23:17 > 0:23:19Come out!

0:23:19 > 0:23:21GUN FIRES

0:23:21 > 0:23:23The World, the Flesh, and the Devil -

0:23:23 > 0:23:25a story of three people

0:23:25 > 0:23:29who are the last on Earth to survive a nuclear holocaust.

0:23:29 > 0:23:32MGM brought me the script.

0:23:32 > 0:23:35'I was absolutely blown away.'

0:23:35 > 0:23:38If you're squeamish about words, I'm "coloured."

0:23:38 > 0:23:41And if you face facts, I'm a Negro.

0:23:41 > 0:23:43If you're a polite Southerner, I'm a "negra."

0:23:43 > 0:23:45And I'm a "nigger" if you're not!

0:23:45 > 0:23:47'In the middle of making the film,

0:23:47 > 0:23:49'MGM stopped the production.

0:23:49 > 0:23:53'They changed the script.

0:23:59 > 0:24:02'Hollywood could not permit the white leading lady

0:24:02 > 0:24:03'and the black leading man

0:24:03 > 0:24:07'to truly have a love scene.'

0:24:07 > 0:24:09CLOCK CHIMES

0:24:09 > 0:24:11# What's the matter, pretty baby?

0:24:11 > 0:24:16# Tell me, what's your daddy done? #

0:24:16 > 0:24:21'Odds Against Tomorrow stepped into the fray.

0:24:21 > 0:24:22'The story was about a bank heist.

0:24:22 > 0:24:25'Central to the film's power

0:24:25 > 0:24:27'was the issue of race.

0:24:27 > 0:24:29'Without the help of director Bobby Wise

0:24:29 > 0:24:32'and friend like Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters and Ed Begley,

0:24:32 > 0:24:36'the film would not have been made.'

0:24:36 > 0:24:38GUNSHOT

0:24:38 > 0:24:42These are the two that did it.

0:24:49 > 0:24:51Which is which?

0:24:51 > 0:24:52Take your pick.

0:24:57 > 0:24:58Harry gave us a piece of his fire

0:24:58 > 0:25:02so that we could help ourselves in a business that did not acknowledge us

0:25:02 > 0:25:05in a manner that we wished to be acknowledged.

0:25:05 > 0:25:08That was very important, it gave us all strength.

0:25:08 > 0:25:10# Lift 'em up and put 'em down

0:25:10 > 0:25:12# Marching all around the town... #

0:25:12 > 0:25:15During the time of the shooting of Carmen Jones,

0:25:15 > 0:25:18Marlon Brando and I were both on the same lot.

0:25:18 > 0:25:21Marlon was shooting his film Desiree,

0:25:21 > 0:25:22where he played Napoleon.

0:25:22 > 0:25:25His girlfriend was visiting.

0:25:25 > 0:25:29He would not be able to take her to the commissary for lunch,

0:25:29 > 0:25:34and would I?

0:25:34 > 0:25:36And I said, "Yeah."

0:25:36 > 0:25:39When she came on the set,

0:25:39 > 0:25:41she really kind of glowed.

0:25:41 > 0:25:44There was a beautiful cadence to her movement.

0:25:44 > 0:25:47# And I love you so... #

0:25:47 > 0:25:52I was hooked. I liked her. I liked her style.

0:25:52 > 0:25:57She was a dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company.

0:25:59 > 0:26:04When we married, it was a kind of shocking thing to people

0:26:04 > 0:26:09that my next engagement was going to be a white woman.

0:26:09 > 0:26:12There were sections of the public who were absolutely vicious.

0:26:12 > 0:26:15I had never heard that kind of cruelty.

0:26:15 > 0:26:20I was not expecting it to be that kind of response.

0:26:22 > 0:26:26When I gave birth to David, I got a lot of hate mail

0:26:26 > 0:26:29through the hospital, "Congratulations

0:26:29 > 0:26:31"on your nigger baby."

0:26:31 > 0:26:34Thrilling things like that(!) It was very upsetting.

0:26:34 > 0:26:39# The day you took my hand. #

0:26:39 > 0:26:42Out of every negative...if anything,

0:26:42 > 0:26:44he was fired on with even more fervour.

0:26:47 > 0:26:50One of the things that was truly binding

0:26:50 > 0:26:53was that she came to the table fully political.

0:26:53 > 0:26:59We talked a great deal about politics, about the labour unions,

0:26:59 > 0:27:01and about show business.

0:27:01 > 0:27:04We had so many things in common

0:27:04 > 0:27:07that really had nothing to do with sex or love or anything.

0:27:07 > 0:27:12It just gave such a huge dimension to our relationship.

0:27:12 > 0:27:17# Oh, freedom!

0:27:17 > 0:27:21# Oh, freedom! #

0:27:21 > 0:27:23Dr King called me

0:27:23 > 0:27:27and said, "I'd like very much to have a chat with you.

0:27:27 > 0:27:30"It won't take long."

0:27:30 > 0:27:31At the end of almost four hours,

0:27:31 > 0:27:33we emerged from the room.

0:27:33 > 0:27:37I knew then that I would for ever be in his service,

0:27:37 > 0:27:39and I understood the length of our journey

0:27:39 > 0:27:42and how perilous it would be.

0:27:46 > 0:27:50Harry credits Martin as having been that person

0:27:50 > 0:27:53that really inspired him and motivated him.

0:27:53 > 0:27:55And I think Harry motivated Martin in many ways,

0:27:55 > 0:27:59because he was a man who didn't have to get involved,

0:27:59 > 0:28:01and who did.

0:28:01 > 0:28:04Why do you follow Dr Martin Luther King?

0:28:04 > 0:28:08As he unfolded his philosophy of non-violence

0:28:08 > 0:28:12and his philosophy of brotherhood and togetherness,

0:28:12 > 0:28:14I swiftly gravitated

0:28:14 > 0:28:17to this philosophy.

0:28:29 > 0:28:33Martin was very often able to go to Harry's apartment,

0:28:33 > 0:28:37and that in itself gave him time to get away from things,

0:28:37 > 0:28:41and to be relaxed and to discuss, in a quite place.

0:28:42 > 0:28:44Harry wanted to help Martin,

0:28:44 > 0:28:46and in whatever he way he could,

0:28:46 > 0:28:49to fulfil his dream because he shared that dream.

0:28:49 > 0:28:52My name is Harry Belafonte.

0:28:52 > 0:28:55I'm an artist and I'm not a politician.

0:28:55 > 0:28:57But like most Americans, I have a great interest

0:28:57 > 0:29:00in the political and economic destiny of my country.

0:29:00 > 0:29:04I'm seated here with Senator Jack Kennedy.

0:29:04 > 0:29:05As a Negro and as an American,

0:29:05 > 0:29:08I have many questions and I'm sure everyone does.

0:29:08 > 0:29:11I want to make it very clear, Harry, that on this question

0:29:11 > 0:29:13of equality of opportunity for all Americans,

0:29:13 > 0:29:16whether in the field of civil rights, minimum wages,

0:29:16 > 0:29:17better housing,

0:29:17 > 0:29:19better working conditions, jobs,

0:29:19 > 0:29:21I stand for these things.

0:29:21 > 0:29:24I thought Kennedy should be taking a look

0:29:24 > 0:29:28at the movement, which he did not know too much about...

0:29:28 > 0:29:30much to my surprise.

0:29:30 > 0:29:33I suggested to the young senator

0:29:33 > 0:29:36that he best pay attention,

0:29:36 > 0:29:38cos Dr Martin Luther King

0:29:38 > 0:29:42was where the Democratic Party should be focussing.

0:29:42 > 0:29:47What was key to his relationship with the black vote

0:29:47 > 0:29:49was the following.

0:29:51 > 0:29:53Dr King got arrested...

0:29:53 > 0:29:58for having violated a traffic sign.

0:29:58 > 0:30:01For this very minor infraction,

0:30:01 > 0:30:03they sentenced him to the chain gang.

0:30:03 > 0:30:08And that sent a shock of horror

0:30:08 > 0:30:10through all of us.

0:30:10 > 0:30:13This concern for his welfare was very much

0:30:13 > 0:30:15in the forefront of our thinking.

0:30:15 > 0:30:19And we made appeals to both candidates.

0:30:19 > 0:30:22Nixon ignored us altogether.

0:30:22 > 0:30:25The Kennedys wrestled with it.

0:30:25 > 0:30:28Bobby Kennedy

0:30:28 > 0:30:31negotiated with the state of Georgia.

0:30:31 > 0:30:35'That led to the charges being dismissed.'

0:30:35 > 0:30:38There are many Negroes in America who still do not have

0:30:38 > 0:30:39the right to vote.

0:30:39 > 0:30:41There are many of us who do,

0:30:41 > 0:30:44and I think that we should use that right.

0:30:44 > 0:30:46I'm voting for Senator Jack Kennedy.

0:30:46 > 0:30:48How about you?

0:30:53 > 0:30:56'It was a time of great expectations.

0:30:56 > 0:31:00'Things were changing socially and politically.'

0:31:00 > 0:31:03# Things looked tough

0:31:05 > 0:31:07# Believe it or not

0:31:09 > 0:31:11# But Jack was calm

0:31:13 > 0:31:17# And Jack said, "I've got

0:31:18 > 0:31:21# "My Bobby..." #

0:31:21 > 0:31:24LAUGHTER

0:31:24 > 0:31:27# "My Bobby"

0:31:30 > 0:31:33# And Bobby

0:31:35 > 0:31:40# Played it...cool. #

0:31:40 > 0:31:44'The world was in the throes of a new day.'

0:31:44 > 0:31:48Good evening, and welcome to one of the most exciting television

0:31:48 > 0:31:50evenings of the year.

0:31:50 > 0:31:54Tonight With Belafonte, brought to you by Revlon.

0:31:54 > 0:31:58There was an offer from CBS and from the sponsor, Revlon.

0:31:58 > 0:32:00I would have one hour on air,

0:32:00 > 0:32:04the space was mine and the choice of content.

0:32:07 > 0:32:09The question for me

0:32:09 > 0:32:12was where could television culture in America be taken?

0:32:12 > 0:32:15'We found the reward

0:32:15 > 0:32:19'buried in the heart of black folklore.'

0:32:19 > 0:32:24# I don't want no bald-headed woman

0:32:24 > 0:32:28# She too mean, Lord, Lordy, she too mean... #

0:32:28 > 0:32:32# There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza

0:32:32 > 0:32:35# There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole... #

0:32:35 > 0:32:39'For our dared adventure, we won the Emmy.'

0:32:42 > 0:32:44My agent called me.

0:32:44 > 0:32:46One great night of television is worth another.

0:32:46 > 0:32:49Revlon ordered five more shows.

0:32:49 > 0:32:53This time, we chose to show the Great American Mosaic.

0:32:53 > 0:32:56It resided in one postal zone,

0:32:56 > 0:32:57New York 19.

0:33:00 > 0:33:02# Tell me where sister Susie done gone

0:33:02 > 0:33:05# Sister Susie done gone, sister Susie done gone... #

0:33:05 > 0:33:08# Hava nagila, hava nagila

0:33:08 > 0:33:12# Hava nagila, ve-nis' mecha.

0:33:12 > 0:33:16# Hava nagila, hava nagila

0:33:16 > 0:33:19# Hava nagila, ve-nis' mecha... #

0:33:19 > 0:33:22# Li'l Liza Jane... #

0:33:22 > 0:33:25'The evening received incredible critical reviews.

0:33:25 > 0:33:28'We were nominated for everything under the sun.'

0:33:28 > 0:33:31# Li'l Liza Jae... #

0:33:31 > 0:33:32Then I got a call.

0:33:32 > 0:33:38The president of the company told me that they had problems.

0:33:38 > 0:33:40The show was mixed racially,

0:33:40 > 0:33:43the stations in the South were going to pull out.

0:33:43 > 0:33:48They wanted no white artists involved.

0:33:48 > 0:33:50It was OK for Harry to be black,

0:33:50 > 0:33:53but everybody else had to be black, or white, I suppose,

0:33:53 > 0:33:56not integrated, and Harry, bless his soul, said,

0:33:56 > 0:33:58"That's it. You don't want it, we won't do it."

0:33:58 > 0:34:02Thank you for being with us. See you around.

0:34:02 > 0:34:06'The whole world was experiencing a new consciousness.

0:34:06 > 0:34:10'I could not acquiesce. I would not change the format.

0:34:10 > 0:34:14'And I left.'

0:34:17 > 0:34:22On the international music scene, demands were escalating.

0:34:22 > 0:34:27The international community began to vigorously express its interests.

0:34:27 > 0:34:31I began playing not only theatres, but large stadiums

0:34:31 > 0:34:33of Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia,

0:34:33 > 0:34:35Germany, France, everywhere.

0:34:39 > 0:34:42By this time, my own emotional conflict,

0:34:42 > 0:34:44my own inner peace

0:34:44 > 0:34:49was in such upheaval and disarray.

0:34:49 > 0:34:50that I began to look for

0:34:50 > 0:34:54voices of wisdom and ways in which to

0:34:54 > 0:34:57talk to somebody to help walk me through this

0:34:57 > 0:35:01hugely complicated period of my life.

0:35:02 > 0:35:05In my need to find a new direction,

0:35:05 > 0:35:08I turned to the idea of psychoanalysis.

0:35:08 > 0:35:12Dr Janet Alterman Kennedy came to my attention.

0:35:12 > 0:35:14I became her patient.

0:35:14 > 0:35:18While discussing the chaotic state of my financial affairs,

0:35:18 > 0:35:22she said, "I'd recommend that you visit my husband, Jay,

0:35:22 > 0:35:24"and see if he's be able to guide you."

0:35:24 > 0:35:28They had a real operation going between the two of them.

0:35:28 > 0:35:31Janet would woo them into psychotherapy,

0:35:31 > 0:35:32well-known people in the business,

0:35:32 > 0:35:35and then through that process,

0:35:35 > 0:35:37she would advise them

0:35:37 > 0:35:39to have her husband be their manager.

0:35:39 > 0:35:42Now Tommy, meet 49-year-old Jay Kennedy,

0:35:42 > 0:35:43he's from New York City.

0:35:43 > 0:35:47When I met Jay Richard Kennedy, he sounded quite plausible.

0:35:47 > 0:35:49People came to me for advice.

0:35:49 > 0:35:50He had an office on Wall St.

0:35:50 > 0:35:53..On the advisory committee of American industry.

0:35:53 > 0:35:56He had a book out called Prince Bart.

0:35:56 > 0:35:58I wrote my way into a motion picture...

0:35:58 > 0:36:01called I'll Cry Tomorrow.

0:36:01 > 0:36:03..and a radio show.

0:36:03 > 0:36:04He had all of these credentials

0:36:04 > 0:36:07that led me to invest in him and let him in

0:36:07 > 0:36:10on my life and my money.

0:36:10 > 0:36:14Finally I wound up having him as my manager.

0:36:14 > 0:36:16He had me mesmerised a little bit,

0:36:16 > 0:36:19but there's something about this guy that makes me nervous.

0:36:19 > 0:36:22But I was still just a publicist,

0:36:22 > 0:36:24so I didn't want to get involved, really.

0:36:24 > 0:36:26As time progressed,

0:36:26 > 0:36:29I began to become...

0:36:29 > 0:36:32uncomfortable

0:36:32 > 0:36:34with Janet Kennedy's

0:36:34 > 0:36:37psychiatric pursuit.

0:36:37 > 0:36:39She began to press me for more detail

0:36:39 > 0:36:41about my relationships with people

0:36:41 > 0:36:43who came from the progressive movement.

0:36:43 > 0:36:46People who were just powerful liberals.

0:36:46 > 0:36:48And I was deeply concerned about how

0:36:48 > 0:36:51the information would be used.

0:36:51 > 0:36:54I was suspicious of Janet, no question.

0:36:54 > 0:36:56I don't think it's the function

0:36:56 > 0:36:58of an analyst

0:36:58 > 0:37:01to work like she's working.

0:37:01 > 0:37:03Harry, too, began to question it.

0:37:03 > 0:37:07He decided to do a dossier

0:37:07 > 0:37:09on them.

0:37:09 > 0:37:12Harry called me on the phone and he said,

0:37:12 > 0:37:15"Can you come to Chicago?" I said, "What are you whispering for?"

0:37:15 > 0:37:18He said, "His name isn't really Jay Richard Kennedy.'

0:37:18 > 0:37:23His name was Solomonick, not Kennedy.

0:37:23 > 0:37:27And he was deeply connected to the FBI

0:37:27 > 0:37:30and the CIA, and Jay Richard Kennedy,

0:37:30 > 0:37:32in fact, was an informant.

0:37:32 > 0:37:37Harry, having been blacklisted, that's all he needed to hear, right?

0:37:37 > 0:37:39It was just terrible.

0:37:39 > 0:37:41A terrible, terrible experience.

0:37:41 > 0:37:43It sounded like one of these really

0:37:43 > 0:37:47strange espionage stories to me.

0:37:47 > 0:37:50It had all kinds of cloak-and-dagger feeling about it.

0:37:50 > 0:37:53I confronted the Kennedys,

0:37:53 > 0:37:55and after a long and bitter exchange,

0:37:55 > 0:37:58it ended, or so I thought.

0:37:58 > 0:38:00I don't know the full extent of what Solomonick

0:38:00 > 0:38:02told the FBI.

0:38:02 > 0:38:06I refused to let him, and all that he was doing, derail me.

0:38:06 > 0:38:09I went on with my life.

0:38:16 > 0:38:19I began focussing more intensely on Africa,

0:38:19 > 0:38:22and received enormous encouragement from a woman who would now

0:38:22 > 0:38:26become a friend of mine, by the name of Eleanor Roosevelt.

0:38:26 > 0:38:29My very first experience with Africa

0:38:29 > 0:38:31was the movies.

0:38:31 > 0:38:34HE YELLS

0:38:34 > 0:38:36Tarzan Of The Apes.

0:38:36 > 0:38:39The one thing I came to know when I left that movie house

0:38:39 > 0:38:41was the last thing I wanted to be

0:38:41 > 0:38:43was an African.

0:38:43 > 0:38:46But thanks to Paul Robeson and others,

0:38:46 > 0:38:49and the gathering was held at Mrs Roosevelt's home,

0:38:49 > 0:38:52I came to know Africa.

0:38:52 > 0:38:55I had a chance to meet a lot of young leaders...

0:38:55 > 0:38:57from all over the world

0:38:57 > 0:38:59who were very much engaged in liberation work

0:38:59 > 0:39:01and movements.

0:39:01 > 0:39:04I grew particularly close to feelings for Africa that

0:39:04 > 0:39:07I might otherwise never have known.

0:39:07 > 0:39:12One of the men I met was a young Kenyan by the name of Tom Mboya.

0:39:12 > 0:39:14He was an important liberator

0:39:14 > 0:39:17in the struggle for independence

0:39:17 > 0:39:18against the British.

0:39:18 > 0:39:22Tom Mboya, along with Jackie Robinson and myself,

0:39:22 > 0:39:25a wonderful woman by the name of Cora Weiss,

0:39:25 > 0:39:28brought young Kenyan students to America.

0:39:28 > 0:39:32Our first airlift was 81 students.

0:39:32 > 0:39:36Among our many students who benefited from this programme,

0:39:36 > 0:39:40Barack Obama, Sr was one of them.

0:39:40 > 0:39:43We placed them in universities all over America,

0:39:43 > 0:39:45paid for their tuition

0:39:45 > 0:39:47and worked tenaciously with Tom Mboya

0:39:47 > 0:39:50for Kenya's future development.

0:39:50 > 0:39:53In return for their education,

0:39:53 > 0:39:56they were to go back to help build their nation.

0:39:56 > 0:40:00It was a rich human harvest for Kenya.

0:40:00 > 0:40:02CHILDREN SING IN SWAHILI

0:40:07 > 0:40:11I'd been very much committed to the struggle of a lot of African

0:40:11 > 0:40:13countries at the dawning of their independence.

0:40:13 > 0:40:16Guinea, Tanzania, Ghana.

0:40:16 > 0:40:19Have you been to South Africa recently?

0:40:19 > 0:40:22Well, I've never been to South Africa.

0:40:22 > 0:40:28As a matter of fact, no person of colour is permitted

0:40:28 > 0:40:35to go to South Africa unless you go as a bonded servant.

0:40:35 > 0:40:36CHANTING AND SINGING

0:40:38 > 0:40:39SCREAMING

0:40:41 > 0:40:46The first real focus for me on South Africa

0:40:46 > 0:40:50was when South African apartheid government began intensifying

0:40:50 > 0:40:54its control and suppression on the South African people.

0:40:55 > 0:40:58We then began to hear about Mandela.

0:40:58 > 0:41:03One of the early leaders of South African resistance to apartheid.

0:41:03 > 0:41:05CHANTING

0:41:10 > 0:41:15When I heard about the arrest of Nelson Mandela, I committed to use

0:41:15 > 0:41:20the power of art as an instrument of resistance and rebellion.

0:41:20 > 0:41:21SHE SINGS IN SWAHILI

0:41:23 > 0:41:26I saw a film called Come Back Africa,

0:41:26 > 0:41:29a documentary that was one of the first to come out of South Africa

0:41:29 > 0:41:31that clearly presented the case

0:41:31 > 0:41:37for how vicious the apartheid oppression was.

0:41:37 > 0:41:41In that film was a remarkable woman.

0:41:41 > 0:41:42THEY SING

0:41:47 > 0:41:52And I instantly understood that here was the voice of Africa.

0:41:52 > 0:41:56In the last three years I have made two trips around the world.

0:41:56 > 0:41:58On both occasions I was privileged

0:41:58 > 0:42:01to perform in most of the major capitals.

0:42:01 > 0:42:04In a lot of these countries I talked with and performed

0:42:04 > 0:42:06with many, many other artists.

0:42:06 > 0:42:08Some of them were wonderful,

0:42:08 > 0:42:10such as the artist you're about to see now.

0:42:10 > 0:42:14A young lady from South Africa, Miss Miriam Makeba.

0:42:14 > 0:42:15APPLAUSE

0:42:22 > 0:42:26He decided we should record an album.

0:42:26 > 0:42:31# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah. #

0:42:31 > 0:42:37He said that, you know, people in America don't know much about Africa.

0:42:37 > 0:42:41And this album doesn't have one English song on it.

0:42:41 > 0:42:42THEY SING IN SWAHILI

0:42:50 > 0:42:52I sang the songs of rebellion.

0:42:56 > 0:42:58And they're songs of rejoicing.

0:42:59 > 0:43:00And songs of love.

0:43:12 > 0:43:13Yes!

0:43:13 > 0:43:18The album won a Grammy Award on it.

0:43:18 > 0:43:19SHE SINGS

0:43:21 > 0:43:24The album was banned in South Africa.

0:43:24 > 0:43:29I still go around and I meet people who say, "Can I please hug you?",

0:43:29 > 0:43:32and they hug me and they say, "You know,

0:43:32 > 0:43:36"I went to jail for listening to your record with Belafonte."

0:43:39 > 0:43:46Belafonte means a lot to people, struggling people around the world,

0:43:46 > 0:43:51because he took all our struggles and made them his own.

0:43:51 > 0:43:53SONG: "Give Us Our Land"

0:44:02 > 0:44:07I saw great similarity between what Africans were experiencing

0:44:07 > 0:44:11and what African Americans were experiencing here in America.

0:44:11 > 0:44:13SONG: "Give Us Our Land"

0:44:17 > 0:44:19Will you please welcome Senator Robert F Kennedy.

0:44:19 > 0:44:20APPLAUSE

0:44:24 > 0:44:28By the time 1961 comes around, Harry serves as a go-between

0:44:28 > 0:44:31between the movement and the Kennedy administration.

0:44:31 > 0:44:35He played this important role between we who thought

0:44:35 > 0:44:38we were the most militant people on Earth and the Kennedy administration,

0:44:38 > 0:44:43whom we thought were probably much more conservative than they needed to be.

0:44:45 > 0:44:49When Bobby Kennedy was made Attorney-General,

0:44:49 > 0:44:53it sent a shudder over many of us.

0:44:55 > 0:45:00He was an attorney for the House on Un-American Activities Committee

0:45:00 > 0:45:05that had put together this very arbitrary list of people whom

0:45:05 > 0:45:08they thought were Communists, and went after them.

0:45:10 > 0:45:17He had evidenced no particular regard for black people

0:45:17 > 0:45:20and Dr King made the following observation.

0:45:20 > 0:45:24"Somewhere in this man sits good.

0:45:24 > 0:45:30"Our task is to find his moral centre and win him to our cause."

0:45:32 > 0:45:35Harry and a number of celebrities had a meeting

0:45:35 > 0:45:37with Robert Kennedy in New York.

0:45:37 > 0:45:41They were frustrated that Robert Kennedy didn't understand

0:45:41 > 0:45:45the intensity of feeling against the administration.

0:45:45 > 0:45:48One young man from SNCC, Jerome Smith,

0:45:48 > 0:45:51said to Bobby Kennedy, "You're asking us,

0:45:51 > 0:45:54"young, black Americans who see they are struggling in this

0:45:54 > 0:46:01"country for our rights...to pick up arms, to go defend this America.

0:46:01 > 0:46:03"Let me tell you something, when I pick up a gun, you can rest

0:46:03 > 0:46:09"assured that a hard, hard time is coming behind all this."

0:46:11 > 0:46:15This really jolted Bobby Kennedy. It became the turning point

0:46:15 > 0:46:21time and time again in hearing voices of the underclass.

0:46:21 > 0:46:23- You haven't had lunch yet?- No.

0:46:23 > 0:46:27The downtrodden really began to provoke him.

0:46:27 > 0:46:33I've seen despair and this hopelessness and I've seen children who were starving to death

0:46:33 > 0:46:36in the United States. I read about children who are starving to death,

0:46:36 > 0:46:39but I've seen children who are starving to death.

0:46:39 > 0:46:41And as the report just said,

0:46:41 > 0:46:44they will never recover mentally after the age of four.

0:46:44 > 0:46:49They began to sense some shift taking place.

0:46:49 > 0:46:53By no means clearly defined, but something was happening.

0:46:53 > 0:46:54MUSIC

0:46:58 > 0:46:59# Amen

0:47:01 > 0:47:03# Amen #

0:47:04 > 0:47:06# Amen

0:47:06 > 0:47:09# Amen, Amen

0:47:09 > 0:47:11# Sing it...

0:47:11 > 0:47:14# Amen

0:47:14 > 0:47:18# Amen

0:47:18 > 0:47:20# Amen

0:47:20 > 0:47:23# Amen, Amen

0:47:23 > 0:47:25# Hallelujah!

0:47:25 > 0:47:26# Amen!

0:47:26 > 0:47:28# Baby!

0:47:28 > 0:47:31# Amen for ever

0:47:31 > 0:47:33# Amen... #

0:47:33 > 0:47:37In this time, the movement was beginning to intensify.

0:47:37 > 0:47:40# Amen. #

0:47:40 > 0:47:46And my ability to be able to call upon all the artists

0:47:46 > 0:47:51who unflinchingly gave themselves in the support of our movement was

0:47:51 > 0:47:56one of the most powerful pieces of strategy that we had.

0:47:56 > 0:47:59We will march in Washington on August 28th, 1963,

0:47:59 > 0:48:02along with hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans

0:48:02 > 0:48:05who believe in equal opportunity and freedom for us all.

0:48:05 > 0:48:09We will march because we recognise the events of the summer of 1963

0:48:09 > 0:48:12is among the most significant we have lived through.

0:48:12 > 0:48:16# I'm on my way

0:48:16 > 0:48:20# And I won't turn back

0:48:20 > 0:48:23# I'm on my way

0:48:23 > 0:48:26# And I won't turn back. #

0:48:26 > 0:48:29The Kennedys were against it. They tried to stop the march.

0:48:29 > 0:48:32Harry is trying to tell them it's not going to be so bad.

0:48:32 > 0:48:34"Don't worry about it.

0:48:34 > 0:48:38"I'm going to gather as many celebrities as I can to lend

0:48:38 > 0:48:41"a peaceful presence there."

0:48:41 > 0:48:44And you will participate fully and whatever

0:48:44 > 0:48:46we are capable of doing as artists,

0:48:46 > 0:48:50as a group to help propagandise the civil rights revolution.

0:48:50 > 0:48:56# We shall overcome. #

0:48:56 > 0:49:00To look out into that group and to see the mixture of black

0:49:00 > 0:49:04and white, which so powerfully portrayed our vision

0:49:04 > 0:49:08of integration, it was stunning.

0:49:14 > 0:49:17There I was, straddling all these worlds,

0:49:17 > 0:49:18and my children caught in it.

0:49:22 > 0:49:26Gina, my youngest, and all the others,

0:49:26 > 0:49:31became the beneficiaries of all the diversity that made up the family.

0:49:31 > 0:49:34The love of my four children for each other, their closeness,

0:49:34 > 0:49:40I ascribed to their mothers, Marguerite and Julie.

0:49:40 > 0:49:44He probably, perhaps, felt guilty for the time that he wasn't there,

0:49:44 > 0:49:47so he would go overboard.

0:49:47 > 0:49:51He gave his all when he was at home playing with the children, yes.

0:49:51 > 0:49:53Almost too much.

0:49:53 > 0:49:57I was constantly preoccupied with how I would be as a father

0:49:57 > 0:50:01and what I would do to service my children in ways that

0:50:01 > 0:50:04I had not experienced in my own life.

0:50:04 > 0:50:06This preoccupation found itself having a huge influence

0:50:06 > 0:50:09on the choices that I made artistically.

0:50:09 > 0:50:14I sang songs of humour, play songs, children's songs.

0:50:14 > 0:50:16# I was walking down the road

0:50:16 > 0:50:19# And I saw me a little old bowl. #

0:50:19 > 0:50:22The first time I saw Dad on television, I don't remember

0:50:22 > 0:50:26what the show was, but I remember sort of walking around the TV trying

0:50:26 > 0:50:28to figure out how my dad got into this little box.

0:50:28 > 0:50:31# And I made me a little old seat. #

0:50:31 > 0:50:33And very upset that he was in there and not outside with me.

0:50:33 > 0:50:36# And everybody I meet

0:50:36 > 0:50:41# Wants to know how many could sit on that seat. #

0:50:41 > 0:50:45Just flashes in my head. Coming and going.

0:50:45 > 0:50:46# Was it one?

0:50:46 > 0:50:48# I said, mo yet. #

0:50:48 > 0:50:51He'd come home from trips and would come in to say hello

0:50:51 > 0:50:56and wake me up out of a slumber or hugs and kisses goodbye.

0:50:56 > 0:50:57# Was it two?

0:50:57 > 0:50:58# I said, mo yet. #

0:50:58 > 0:51:00Harry was there the best way he could be,

0:51:00 > 0:51:02so I never held it against him.

0:51:02 > 0:51:05Maybe I did when I was six or seven or eight, going, "Whatever."

0:51:05 > 0:51:06# Was it four?

0:51:06 > 0:51:08# I said, mo yet. #

0:51:08 > 0:51:11He, I'm sure, has had a lot more demons in terms of not being

0:51:11 > 0:51:14there for me and for Adrian the way he feels he should've been there.

0:51:14 > 0:51:15# How about six?

0:51:15 > 0:51:17# I said, mo yet, mo yet. #

0:51:17 > 0:51:22Even though he was physically there in the house sometimes,

0:51:22 > 0:51:24he wasn't really there.

0:51:24 > 0:51:26He was very preoccupied with other things.

0:51:26 > 0:51:29# Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four. #

0:51:29 > 0:51:32And in retrospect I can look back and say, "Well, of course."

0:51:32 > 0:51:33I mean, he was movement building.

0:51:33 > 0:51:35# Only one could sit on that seat. #

0:51:35 > 0:51:41You had two families. You've got us and you've got the family of man.

0:51:41 > 0:51:46And you're running back and forth between the two like a lunatic.

0:51:46 > 0:51:47# His name was Moyet. #

0:51:47 > 0:51:48CHILDREN GROAN

0:51:48 > 0:51:51How do I negotiate my way with all of this?

0:51:51 > 0:51:53I understood the title of father.

0:51:53 > 0:51:57I understood the sense of responsibility to provide,

0:51:57 > 0:52:00to never let anybody want.

0:52:00 > 0:52:02But as events unfolded

0:52:02 > 0:52:06and things escalated in the civil rights movement, I was conflicted.

0:52:06 > 0:52:09We started to move into places that were way beyond any place

0:52:09 > 0:52:11we thought we would go.

0:52:11 > 0:52:15# Wake up, wake up

0:52:16 > 0:52:19# Darling Cora. #

0:52:19 > 0:52:21Dr King even said, "We are so short on resources,

0:52:21 > 0:52:25"so short on the capacity to galvanise forces to do things

0:52:25 > 0:52:27"that we need to have you

0:52:27 > 0:52:32"and others strategically positioned for what we may face."

0:52:34 > 0:52:39# I got to move on down the line. #

0:52:40 > 0:52:47# I don't know why

0:52:47 > 0:52:50# Darling Cora

0:52:50 > 0:52:54# Don't know what the reason can be

0:52:56 > 0:53:02# But I've never yet found a single town

0:53:05 > 0:53:08# Where me and the boss man agree. #

0:53:10 > 0:53:13In Mississippi, in the summer of 1964,

0:53:13 > 0:53:17the movement brought white volunteers, almost 1,000 of them,

0:53:17 > 0:53:19down to register the black voters.

0:53:20 > 0:53:22They were told it was dangerous.

0:53:23 > 0:53:26And for that whole summer there were beatings every day.

0:53:27 > 0:53:30What is developing in the state of Mississippi

0:53:30 > 0:53:32is somewhat of a police state.

0:53:32 > 0:53:34Outright violent, fascist

0:53:34 > 0:53:38and totalitarian conditions exist in the state.

0:53:38 > 0:53:40And on June 21, three of the volunteers,

0:53:40 > 0:53:43Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman, disappeared.

0:53:46 > 0:53:50And we are very much concerned about the whereabouts

0:53:50 > 0:53:53of the three workers in the Summer Project.

0:53:53 > 0:53:57Three days after they discovered the bodies of Schwerner, Chaney

0:53:57 > 0:54:03and Goodman, on August 4, Harry was asked to take money into Mississippi.

0:54:03 > 0:54:06When I first got called about coming down and bringing money,

0:54:06 > 0:54:08I call Sidney and I said to him,

0:54:08 > 0:54:11"Listen up. What are you doing this weekend?"

0:54:11 > 0:54:13And he said, "Nothing, man. I'm free."

0:54:13 > 0:54:16And I said, "Well, I've got something I've got to do.

0:54:16 > 0:54:17"I'd like you to go with me."

0:54:17 > 0:54:21And I said, "I've got to go to Greenwood, Mississippi."

0:54:21 > 0:54:23And he says, "Uh-huh.

0:54:23 > 0:54:28"Listen, it's OK. I'm going with you.

0:54:28 > 0:54:31"But after we do this, I want to tell you something.

0:54:31 > 0:54:33"Never ever call me again."

0:54:33 > 0:54:37He said to me that he was going to speak with Robert Kennedy

0:54:37 > 0:54:40to let him know that we would be coming down.

0:54:40 > 0:54:46I mean, we were two fairly well-known people. And we might be targets.

0:54:46 > 0:54:48"Trust me, man. It's going to be all right.

0:54:48 > 0:54:51"I talked to Burke Marshall, talked to the Justice Department.

0:54:51 > 0:54:52"They'll have marshals."

0:54:52 > 0:54:55So we get out. We left from Newark.

0:54:57 > 0:55:03And from Newark, we went to Jackson. And we got on this little plane.

0:55:03 > 0:55:06And when we landed in Greenwood, it was empty.

0:55:06 > 0:55:10All we saw was one black man in the whole airport.

0:55:10 > 0:55:14Pushing a broom, cleaning up the place.

0:55:14 > 0:55:17And I never forget, Sidney looked at him

0:55:17 > 0:55:19and looked around a little longer.

0:55:19 > 0:55:23And he says, "That don't look like no FBI agent."

0:55:23 > 0:55:26"That isn't one of us in disguise. Where's all these marshals?"

0:55:28 > 0:55:32We got into the cars and started up.

0:55:32 > 0:55:36All of a sudden, these headlights went on.

0:55:36 > 0:55:39And I turned to Sidney and said, "There is the protection."

0:55:39 > 0:55:42And Willie Blue said, "Marshals my ass."

0:55:42 > 0:55:45- THEY LAUGH - He said, "That's the Klan."

0:55:46 > 0:55:48We knew they were going to try something.

0:55:48 > 0:55:51And we figured that they weren't going to do it

0:55:51 > 0:55:55inside the airport where too many people would see.

0:55:55 > 0:55:58The front car was a pickup truck.

0:55:58 > 0:56:02And I'll never forget, the pickup truck had

0:56:02 > 0:56:07a big two-by-four block of wood strapped to the bumper.

0:56:07 > 0:56:12And as they came up behind the second car, they kept ramming it.

0:56:12 > 0:56:15That was one of their most common tactics.

0:56:15 > 0:56:18They hadn't really started shooting in cars, you know,

0:56:18 > 0:56:20they would run us off the road.

0:56:20 > 0:56:25And my position on it was, they're going to have to kill me

0:56:25 > 0:56:27before they get around me.

0:56:27 > 0:56:29There is nobody coming up beside me.

0:56:29 > 0:56:33That's not in the equation. I had made up my mind on that one.

0:56:33 > 0:56:35And what happened was,

0:56:35 > 0:56:38a bunch of cars came out of Greenwood with SNCC volunteers

0:56:38 > 0:56:41and other people, and they came barrelling down the highway.

0:56:41 > 0:56:43And they met up with us.

0:56:43 > 0:56:47And we all got into a cavalcade and drove into Greenwood.

0:56:50 > 0:56:55To me, that was our greatest moment. To me, I knew we had arrived.

0:56:56 > 0:57:00There wasn't nobody fitting to harm you guys. It would have been a war.

0:57:00 > 0:57:02HE LAUGHS

0:57:02 > 0:57:03DOG BARKS

0:57:06 > 0:57:08Before we got to Greenwood and gave the money,

0:57:08 > 0:57:12they decided to put us up in this little house.

0:57:12 > 0:57:16And outside, one of the people sitting there had a shotgun.

0:57:16 > 0:57:20Harry, he stayed in this house with the family in the Delta.

0:57:20 > 0:57:22It was so dangerous.

0:57:24 > 0:57:27The house had been fired on.

0:57:27 > 0:57:32He wanted to identify, not just with us, with local people.

0:57:32 > 0:57:38But he also wanted to bring us a sense of hope that "we're with you."

0:57:38 > 0:57:40And I'll never ever forget that.

0:57:40 > 0:57:42All the young men and women in SNCC

0:57:42 > 0:57:46were absolutely badgered to death and weary.

0:57:46 > 0:57:49And what they needed was to get away.

0:57:49 > 0:57:52I felt that what would make a significant difference

0:57:52 > 0:57:54was for us to pay a visit to Africa.

0:57:54 > 0:58:00Harry got out there, somehow and some way raised the money,

0:58:00 > 0:58:05or donated the money, but he made it possible for 13 of us

0:58:05 > 0:58:09to travel from the United States to Africa.

0:58:11 > 0:58:15It was wonderful. Unbelievable. And we all cried.

0:58:20 > 0:58:23And he said that the President of Guinea, President Sekou Toure,

0:58:23 > 0:58:28wanted to meet some of the young people involved in the movement.

0:58:28 > 0:58:32I had the chance to meet and talk to the President of Guinea.

0:58:32 > 0:58:35I had never seen in person the President of the United States.

0:58:35 > 0:58:39And having dinner with the President of Guinea. It was just so fabulous.

0:58:42 > 0:58:45From being beaten, from being arrested, in jail,

0:58:45 > 0:58:49and then you find yourself on the West Coast of Africa.

0:58:49 > 0:58:51We saw what was happening in Africa

0:58:51 > 0:58:55so we started relating the struggle back home in America.

0:58:55 > 0:59:00And I think we came back stronger. And better.

0:59:03 > 0:59:09We came back from Africa with a tremendous sense of anticipation.

0:59:11 > 0:59:14We are emerging today to dramatise to the nation,

0:59:14 > 0:59:17to dramatise to the world that the hundreds and thousands

0:59:17 > 0:59:21of Negro citizens of Alabama are denied the right to vote.

0:59:25 > 0:59:30And of course, that first march on the bridge was bloodily repulsed.

0:59:31 > 0:59:34The famous Bloody Sunday. And it went all around the world.

0:59:34 > 0:59:37WHISTLES AND YELLING

0:59:37 > 0:59:40And in that month, they had three different attempts to start

0:59:40 > 0:59:42a march from Selma to Montgomery.

0:59:42 > 0:59:43And finally, on the third attempt,

0:59:43 > 0:59:48Harry was asked to recruit people for the celebration concert

0:59:48 > 0:59:52the night before they marched into Montgomery.

0:59:52 > 0:59:57Dr King requested that I call many artists who were friendly

0:59:57 > 1:00:00to our movement and ask them if they would perform.

1:00:00 > 1:00:02Anthony Perkins, Dr Martin Luther King.

1:00:02 > 1:00:04I'm very glad to see you. Thanks so much for coming.

1:00:04 > 1:00:07Hello, I'm Dr King.

1:00:07 > 1:00:10Harry called me up and told me we had to go down there to perform.

1:00:10 > 1:00:11It was...

1:00:13 > 1:00:15It was unforgettable for me...

1:00:15 > 1:00:18To watch what was going on.

1:00:18 > 1:00:21# Well, now you're here

1:00:21 > 1:00:25# And now I know just where I'm goin'

1:00:25 > 1:00:27# No more doubt or fear

1:00:27 > 1:00:30# I've found my way... #

1:00:30 > 1:00:34What a wonderful world America is going to be when the Negro votes.

1:00:34 > 1:00:36# Oooh ah

1:00:36 > 1:00:38Get your hands off my mic!

1:00:39 > 1:00:42# Ooh ah ah... #

1:00:42 > 1:00:46# Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam... #

1:00:46 > 1:00:50# Sad to say I'm on my way

1:00:50 > 1:00:54# Won't be back for many a day... #

1:00:54 > 1:00:59# And you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone

1:00:59 > 1:01:03# For the times they are a-changing... #

1:01:03 > 1:01:05They all sang at night.

1:01:05 > 1:01:09In an atmosphere that was...um...

1:01:09 > 1:01:11mixed apprehension and celebration.

1:01:11 > 1:01:16I just want to say to you how much we are indebted

1:01:18 > 1:01:22to my dear friend Harry Belafonte.

1:01:24 > 1:01:29And to all of the other distinguished and famous artists

1:01:29 > 1:01:35and entertainers who have taken time out of their very busy schedules

1:01:35 > 1:01:39to be with us here in Montgomery, Alabama,

1:01:39 > 1:01:42as we march on the state capital tomorrow morning.

1:01:43 > 1:01:45God bless you.

1:01:45 > 1:01:47When we marched up Highway 80,

1:01:47 > 1:01:51one of the most moving moments was to see Harry Belafonte...

1:01:53 > 1:01:57meet us before we walked into Montgomery.

1:01:58 > 1:02:04Harry did this over and over and over and over again.

1:02:04 > 1:02:07It's a great day.

1:02:07 > 1:02:08Great day.

1:02:08 > 1:02:10- Great day.- CROWD: Great day!

1:02:10 > 1:02:12And there are millions on the way.

1:02:12 > 1:02:15CHEERING AND SHOUTING

1:02:17 > 1:02:21# Go with me to that land... #

1:02:21 > 1:02:23With this heightened momentum,

1:02:23 > 1:02:27the movement began to advance aggressively towards new goals.

1:02:29 > 1:02:34One day I turned on the TV set, and I came upon a truly bizarre scene.

1:02:34 > 1:02:37The movement leaders were on a panel.

1:02:38 > 1:02:43And the moderator was Jay Richard Kennedy. I was stunned

1:02:43 > 1:02:46with how often this man invented himself.

1:02:46 > 1:02:49Still doing the same mischief.

1:02:49 > 1:02:53I would like to ask you, Martin Luther King Jr,

1:02:53 > 1:02:56despite the tirelessness of your dedication...

1:02:56 > 1:03:02The civil rights movement was plagued by all sorts of redbaiting.

1:03:02 > 1:03:05If you can't persuade Martin King to change his ways,

1:03:05 > 1:03:08then what do you want to do? You want to discredit him.

1:03:08 > 1:03:10One of the ways you discredit him is discredit him

1:03:10 > 1:03:12by the people he is associated with.

1:03:13 > 1:03:16And Harry Belafonte, as an important performing artist,

1:03:16 > 1:03:19you have to really know where he's coming from too

1:03:19 > 1:03:23because he's also one of those people you have to be careful about.

1:03:23 > 1:03:25Based upon information we have in the files.

1:03:25 > 1:03:28Where did the information come from? Jay Richard Kennedy.

1:03:28 > 1:03:30I never gave the CIA any information.

1:03:30 > 1:03:33It would be absurd of me to think I could.

1:03:33 > 1:03:36They have people all over the place. They want information, they got it.

1:03:36 > 1:03:39What they got from me was an interpretation of information.

1:03:39 > 1:03:42That disinformation, so much off the page,

1:03:42 > 1:03:46yet it was exactly what the CIA would want

1:03:46 > 1:03:51and would use in order to discredit us in eyes of the public.

1:03:51 > 1:03:55# How many roads must a man walk down

1:03:56 > 1:03:59# Before you call him a man? #

1:04:00 > 1:04:02I'm here tonight cos I'm a black man.

1:04:03 > 1:04:05And black people have paid the greatest penalty

1:04:05 > 1:04:08for our military adventures.

1:04:08 > 1:04:10And poor people have gained nothing

1:04:10 > 1:04:12from this programme of dehumanisation.

1:04:12 > 1:04:18It is estimated that we spend 322,000

1:04:21 > 1:04:26for each enemy we kill in Vietnam.

1:04:26 > 1:04:31While we spend on the so-called war on poverty in America

1:04:31 > 1:04:37only about 53 for each person classified as poor.

1:04:37 > 1:04:38Dr King...

1:04:39 > 1:04:41Do you fear for your life?

1:04:41 > 1:04:45I'm more concerned about doing a good job,

1:04:45 > 1:04:50doing something for humanity and what I consider the will of God,

1:04:50 > 1:04:52than about longevity.

1:04:52 > 1:04:56Ultimately, it isn't so important how long you live,

1:04:56 > 1:04:58the important thing is how well you live.

1:05:00 > 1:05:03I have some very sad news for all of you.

1:05:03 > 1:05:08And I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens.

1:05:08 > 1:05:11And people who love peace all over the world.

1:05:12 > 1:05:15And that is, Martin Luther King was shot

1:05:15 > 1:05:18and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

1:05:18 > 1:05:19CROWD SCREAM

1:05:19 > 1:05:21BELLS TOLL

1:05:21 > 1:05:23A MAN SINGS

1:05:23 > 1:05:25# Another man done gone

1:05:29 > 1:05:31SHE WEEPS

1:05:33 > 1:05:36# Another man done gone

1:05:36 > 1:05:38# From the county farm

1:05:38 > 1:05:41# Another man done gone... #

1:05:46 > 1:05:48I couldn't believe it.

1:05:49 > 1:05:51I c-c-couldn't.

1:05:51 > 1:05:57All of a sudden...our worst fears were being awakened.

1:05:57 > 1:05:58SINGING

1:06:04 > 1:06:10I really did not give myself much time to be preoccupied

1:06:10 > 1:06:13with any personal deep sense of loss.

1:06:15 > 1:06:19We were trying to sort out what to do to help the nation quickly

1:06:19 > 1:06:22come to a place of healing, and getting on with our programme.

1:06:22 > 1:06:25Today, we are here gathered again

1:06:25 > 1:06:29in a world that is fraught with violence.

1:06:29 > 1:06:33I have come to reaffirm my support for unionism.

1:06:33 > 1:06:37I have come to reaffirm my commitment to the struggle

1:06:37 > 1:06:39to overcome dehumanisation,

1:06:39 > 1:06:44as a black man who draws strength from a departed black brother.

1:06:44 > 1:06:46CROWD APPLAUD

1:06:46 > 1:06:49In this moment of great pain and conflict,

1:06:49 > 1:06:52we picked up the pieces and moved on with it.

1:06:52 > 1:06:54# Has anybody here

1:06:56 > 1:07:00# Seen my old friend Martin?

1:07:02 > 1:07:06# Can you tell me where he's gone?

1:07:10 > 1:07:13# He freed a lotta people

1:07:13 > 1:07:17# But it seems the good they die young

1:07:19 > 1:07:22# I just looked around

1:07:22 > 1:07:25# And he's gone... #

1:07:28 > 1:07:30The death of Martin Luther King,

1:07:30 > 1:07:34which was a major, major tragedy, in its own way,

1:07:34 > 1:07:38helped focus attention on where we were and what was going on.

1:07:38 > 1:07:39GUNFIRE AND SCREAMING

1:07:39 > 1:07:43And what was going on was still deeply rooted in race.

1:07:43 > 1:07:44But I found myself once again

1:07:44 > 1:07:46dealing personally with these issues.

1:07:46 > 1:07:50# Blessed are the meek they say

1:07:50 > 1:07:54# They shall win where others lose... #

1:07:54 > 1:07:57When Harry Belafonte went on the show with Petula Clark,

1:07:57 > 1:07:58they touched.

1:07:58 > 1:08:02# Why should men be forced to kill?

1:08:02 > 1:08:04This innocent little touching.

1:08:04 > 1:08:07The sponsor went ballistic. We can't have that!

1:08:07 > 1:08:09Petula Clark touched Harry on the television

1:08:09 > 1:08:12and flipped the whole world out.

1:08:12 > 1:08:13People were like, "Oh, my God!"

1:08:13 > 1:08:21We are talking about now, 12-14 years after the initial incident.

1:08:21 > 1:08:24The absurdity of that, in any day and age,

1:08:24 > 1:08:32that it would bring a television programme to a standstill, and Dad refused to give in to that.

1:08:32 > 1:08:37# Why should men be forced to set out

1:08:37 > 1:08:42# On the path of glory? #

1:08:42 > 1:08:46In the face of this mindless onslaught, Petula stood strong.

1:08:46 > 1:08:48She would not give in.

1:08:48 > 1:08:53But we had no idea what the twist and turns at any moment might bring.

1:08:55 > 1:09:03Senator Robert Francis Kennedy died at 1.44am today.

1:09:05 > 1:09:08June 6th, 1968.

1:09:08 > 1:09:13Barely two months after the assassination of Dr King

1:09:13 > 1:09:16was the murder of Bobby Kennedy.

1:09:16 > 1:09:20The dark shadow of despair rolled across the nation.

1:09:20 > 1:09:23Evil forces stepped into the midst of our despair

1:09:23 > 1:09:26and began planting the seeds

1:09:26 > 1:09:30that would destroy the fabric of the country's belief in itself.

1:09:31 > 1:09:34No aspect of life went untouched.

1:09:34 > 1:09:37Even the song became a victim.

1:09:40 > 1:09:44- Well, ladies and gentlemen, we've finally got together.- That's right.

1:09:44 > 1:09:47You've heard about it for years, and tonight, here we are.

1:09:47 > 1:09:49- Tom.- Dick.

1:09:49 > 1:09:52And Harry.

1:09:52 > 1:09:54We had Harry Belafonte on the show.

1:09:54 > 1:09:56It was the opening show of the third season.

1:09:56 > 1:09:59# A-ha! Lord, don't stop the carnival...

1:09:59 > 1:10:01The election was coming up.

1:10:01 > 1:10:03He did a calypso medley against a backdrop of the riots

1:10:03 > 1:10:05at the convention in Chicago in 1968.

1:10:05 > 1:10:09# Jump in the line, rock your body in time... #

1:10:09 > 1:10:11That piece never saw the light of day.

1:10:11 > 1:10:13CBS took the whole entire thing.

1:10:13 > 1:10:17I think it was maybe a ten-minute or eight-minute chunk

1:10:17 > 1:10:19out of the show.

1:10:19 > 1:10:20And they put in...

1:10:20 > 1:10:23HE LAUGHS

1:10:23 > 1:10:27..a political commercial for Richard Nixon.

1:10:27 > 1:10:32'This time, vote like your whole world depended on it.'

1:10:32 > 1:10:36Sure enough, boom, we are fired. We weren't cancelled, we were fired.

1:10:36 > 1:10:40Fired for our advocacy against the war in Vietnam.

1:10:40 > 1:10:42And general liberal views.

1:10:42 > 1:10:45And we were the only show on the air at that time

1:10:45 > 1:10:46taking those points of view.

1:10:48 > 1:10:50It was a tough time. People were on the march.

1:10:50 > 1:10:52# Trouble in the city

1:10:52 > 1:10:55# Trouble in the countryside

1:10:55 > 1:10:56# No matter where you look

1:10:56 > 1:10:59# You got troubles you can't hide

1:10:59 > 1:11:01# Trouble on the reservation

1:11:01 > 1:11:03# In the ghetto too

1:11:03 > 1:11:05# Lies you tell your children

1:11:05 > 1:11:07# Are coming down on you

1:11:07 > 1:11:10# How long... #

1:11:12 > 1:11:19There was this nuance, this rhythm of events.

1:11:27 > 1:11:33So I made it my business to go to where those in struggle still live.

1:11:33 > 1:11:38Go to where I'll find a deeper resonance of my own life.

1:11:38 > 1:11:40The deeper resonances of my beginning.

1:11:42 > 1:11:47I got caught up with the pandemic of hunger in Ethiopia.

1:11:47 > 1:11:52To look at this barren place where people lived out

1:11:52 > 1:11:55their horrified existence,

1:11:55 > 1:11:58it was so overwhelming.

1:12:00 > 1:12:05What was really most horrifying was the inordinate

1:12:05 > 1:12:09and the remarkable amount of indifference.

1:12:10 > 1:12:13I was deeply preoccupied with the question -

1:12:13 > 1:12:16how do we fix this massive tragedy?

1:12:17 > 1:12:21And Harry said, "Let's get busy. Let's find a way to get involved."

1:12:21 > 1:12:24Like he did with everything else. He was always like that.

1:12:24 > 1:12:26He was always, "Let's do something!"

1:12:26 > 1:12:29A MAN PLAYS BASS

1:12:29 > 1:12:31Stevie, Michael and Lionel are here.

1:12:31 > 1:12:33We're just getting ready to cut the track.

1:12:33 > 1:12:35I'm going to cut the bass again.

1:12:35 > 1:12:37Harry brought the dream.

1:12:37 > 1:12:40And so everybody came for the right reasons.

1:12:40 > 1:12:42HE PLAYS PIANO

1:12:43 > 1:12:47Let's cut it. Let's put it on the tape.

1:12:47 > 1:12:51Harry had every disc jockey in the world play it simultaneously.

1:12:51 > 1:12:52That was brilliant.

1:12:52 > 1:12:55And about one minute's time, at 7.50,

1:12:55 > 1:12:58everybody in the world is going to be playing the same song.

1:12:58 > 1:13:01MUSIC: "We Are The World" by USA For Africa

1:13:04 > 1:13:09# When we stand together as one

1:13:09 > 1:13:12# We are the world

1:13:12 > 1:13:14# We are the children... #

1:13:14 > 1:13:16On the Friday morning,

1:13:16 > 1:13:19following the Monday night recording of We Are The World,

1:13:19 > 1:13:24I woke up, literally sat right up in bed and went, "Oh, my gosh!

1:13:24 > 1:13:27"This isn't the end. This is the beginning."

1:13:42 > 1:13:47We took a gutted 747 and we were bringing plastic sheeting,

1:13:47 > 1:13:49tetracycline, medicines.

1:13:49 > 1:13:52God knows, they raised a lot of money

1:13:52 > 1:13:54and it went to where it was meant to go.

1:13:57 > 1:14:00As often as I'd been to Africa, I don't think there is any way

1:14:00 > 1:14:04in which we could have understood the full extent

1:14:04 > 1:14:06of what it was we were going to be experiencing.

1:14:08 > 1:14:12There was a constant sense of the smell of death.

1:14:13 > 1:14:16The odour never really went away.

1:14:18 > 1:14:22I got off the plane with Harry and the rest.

1:14:25 > 1:14:28They were talking about people dying with dignity.

1:14:29 > 1:14:32It is impossible to die of starvation with dignity.

1:14:34 > 1:14:36I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

1:14:39 > 1:14:41HE STIFFLES A SOB

1:14:42 > 1:14:44It just...I'm sorry.

1:14:56 > 1:14:58I went deep into the interior of Africa.

1:14:58 > 1:15:01In a little village, I met with a storyteller.

1:15:01 > 1:15:04He began to tell a story about the water.

1:15:04 > 1:15:10About a fire. He pointed out that we are here for a very short time.

1:15:10 > 1:15:12In that time that we are here,

1:15:12 > 1:15:14there really isn't any difference in any of us.

1:15:14 > 1:15:17If we were to take time out to understand each other,

1:15:17 > 1:15:21because if we do, together we can turn the world around.

1:15:21 > 1:15:24# Water make the river, river wash the mountain

1:15:24 > 1:15:27# Fire make the sunlight, turn the world around

1:15:27 > 1:15:30# Heart is of the river, body is the mountain

1:15:30 > 1:15:33# Spirit is the sunlight, turn the world around

1:15:33 > 1:15:35# Do you know who I am?

1:15:35 > 1:15:39# Do I know who you are?

1:15:39 > 1:15:42# See we one another clearly

1:15:42 > 1:15:44# Do we know who we are?

1:15:44 > 1:15:50# Oh, oh so is life Abatiwaha, so is life

1:15:50 > 1:15:56# Oh, oh so is life Abatiwaha, so is life

1:15:56 > 1:16:02# Oh, oh so is life Abatiwaha, so is life... #

1:16:02 > 1:16:07As I wandered around the African continent with UNICEF,

1:16:07 > 1:16:11I knew South Africa was still trapped in the need for freedom.

1:16:11 > 1:16:16In the need for human expansion. Of the soul.

1:16:16 > 1:16:18CROWD CHANT Reagan Botha, you can't hide.

1:16:18 > 1:16:20We charge you with genocide.

1:16:20 > 1:16:22Reagan Botha, you can't hide.

1:16:22 > 1:16:25Do you think you're getting anywhere? Are you changing things?

1:16:25 > 1:16:27Yes, I think that, first of all,

1:16:27 > 1:16:31it shows that there is a willingness on the part of those of us

1:16:31 > 1:16:35who believe in this cause to do what is necessary

1:16:35 > 1:16:38to bring apartheid to a conclusion.

1:16:38 > 1:16:42# Free Nelson Mandela! #

1:16:42 > 1:16:44Harry Belafonte coming out on your side,

1:16:44 > 1:16:47that was a powerful instrument in itself.

1:16:47 > 1:16:50CROWD CHANT Freedom, yes! Apartheid, no!

1:16:55 > 1:17:01After 27 years in South African jails, Nelson Mandela is a free man.

1:17:01 > 1:17:03CROWD CHEER

1:17:04 > 1:17:09I was summoned to be the official American voice framing

1:17:09 > 1:17:12and putting together his first visit to America.

1:17:14 > 1:17:16We actually spoke for the first time

1:17:16 > 1:17:20the minute he stepped off the plane, landing in New York.

1:17:21 > 1:17:24He looked over the crowd and when he spotted me,

1:17:24 > 1:17:27he recognised me with a big smile on his face.

1:17:27 > 1:17:30He said, "Ah! Harry boy!"

1:17:30 > 1:17:32Comrade, brothers and sisters,

1:17:32 > 1:17:37fellow Americans, I give you Nelson Mandela.

1:17:37 > 1:17:40CROWD CHEER

1:17:40 > 1:17:42Amandla!

1:17:42 > 1:17:44CROWD CHEER

1:17:44 > 1:17:46Amandla!

1:17:46 > 1:17:48CROWD: Amandla!

1:17:48 > 1:17:51You now know who I am.

1:17:54 > 1:17:56I am a Yankee!

1:17:56 > 1:17:58CROWD CHEER

1:17:58 > 1:18:00He had been through so much.

1:18:00 > 1:18:04And I began to examine my own quality of the journey.

1:18:04 > 1:18:06And I wondered where we went wrong.

1:18:07 > 1:18:13How could it be that the world is in the chaos, the disorder,

1:18:13 > 1:18:17and the consuming violence that we are all experiencing,

1:18:17 > 1:18:22after so many had invested so much to change that fact?

1:18:22 > 1:18:24- What do we want?- CROWD: Peace!

1:18:24 > 1:18:26- When do we want it?- CROWD: Now!

1:18:28 > 1:18:31- Harry, are you feeling optimistic? - Of course I feel optimistic.

1:18:31 > 1:18:35But I live in a perpetual state of optimism.

1:18:35 > 1:18:39If you don't have optimism, then you can't nourish hope.

1:18:39 > 1:18:43And the world is in need of hope. The world is in need of vision.

1:18:43 > 1:18:46And those of us who have a little sight left,

1:18:46 > 1:18:48give as much vision as we can.

1:18:52 > 1:18:56Not too long ago, I let my thoughts drift to thinking about

1:18:56 > 1:18:59what I would be doing when I turned 80.

1:18:59 > 1:19:03After all, I was in a very different place now

1:19:03 > 1:19:05than the life I'd known before.

1:19:05 > 1:19:09I'm not quite sure when love stepped out of our space.

1:19:10 > 1:19:15But Julia and I refused to recognise it had gone.

1:19:15 > 1:19:19And in the absence of love, that space was filled

1:19:19 > 1:19:24with the fierce dance we had around the issue of image.

1:19:24 > 1:19:26It wore us down.

1:19:26 > 1:19:28It had to come to an end.

1:19:34 > 1:19:37- # Third strike- This is Los Angeles

1:19:37 > 1:19:40- # Third strike - Gang capital of the nation

1:19:40 > 1:19:42- # Third strike - This is Los Angeles... #

1:19:42 > 1:19:48I just kind of figured after all this...all these many years,

1:19:48 > 1:19:51the last thing that I would be winding up doing

1:19:51 > 1:19:54with the last years of my life

1:19:54 > 1:19:59is still looking to fix those things I thought we'd fixed 50 years ago.

1:19:59 > 1:20:02I remember what you said once, you said,

1:20:02 > 1:20:07"From the time I go to sleep, to the time I get up,

1:20:07 > 1:20:10"I seek out the injustices done to humankind."

1:20:10 > 1:20:12I just get up in the morning and...

1:20:14 > 1:20:17I just can't let them win. That's it.

1:20:17 > 1:20:19SIREN WAILS

1:20:21 > 1:20:24One of the ways I saw that I could be of service was to understand

1:20:24 > 1:20:26what Bo Taylor was trying to achieve in LA

1:20:26 > 1:20:28with the Bloods and the Crips and violence.

1:20:28 > 1:20:32What is the value of the life of a Latino kid or black kid?

1:20:32 > 1:20:33There is a lot of killing going on.

1:20:33 > 1:20:35And it's almost like nobody really gives a fuck.

1:20:35 > 1:20:37Nane Alejandrez.

1:20:37 > 1:20:40What he was trying to do to bring peace among the Latinos.

1:20:40 > 1:20:41Think about all that madness.

1:20:41 > 1:20:43Put all that pain into thinking about how

1:20:43 > 1:20:46we are going to deal with incarceration of young people.

1:20:46 > 1:20:50I began to listen to them, live with them, move with them,

1:20:50 > 1:20:52go inside the prisons with them.

1:20:52 > 1:20:56Is there something that can show the humanity

1:20:56 > 1:21:00of those that got caught in this criminal game?

1:21:00 > 1:21:02# I'm standing here with the big man

1:21:02 > 1:21:04# Mr Get Ya Down

1:21:04 > 1:21:06THEY LAUGH

1:21:07 > 1:21:09# Every day!

1:21:09 > 1:21:11I knew he was coming.

1:21:11 > 1:21:13THEY APPLAUD

1:21:13 > 1:21:16# Every day I have the blues

1:21:21 > 1:21:24# Every day

1:21:24 > 1:21:27# Every day I have the blues

1:21:31 > 1:21:34# When you see me coming, baby

1:21:35 > 1:21:38# Know it's you I hate to lose... #

1:21:44 > 1:21:46You all make me want to stay here.

1:21:46 > 1:21:48THEY LAUGH

1:21:50 > 1:21:52# Every day

1:21:54 > 1:21:57# Every day I have the blues... #

1:21:57 > 1:22:00America has the largest prison population in the world.

1:22:00 > 1:22:03And the majority of its population is made up of young men

1:22:03 > 1:22:05and women of colour.

1:22:05 > 1:22:07This fact confounds me.

1:22:07 > 1:22:10All my life it has been the wisdom of the elders

1:22:10 > 1:22:12that I sought to guide me.

1:22:12 > 1:22:17And now, in this time of deep concern, I go where wisdom resides.

1:22:17 > 1:22:19Oh, yes, Harry!

1:22:19 > 1:22:20Do you still remember me?

1:22:20 > 1:22:23HARRY LAUGHS

1:22:23 > 1:22:24Very good!

1:22:24 > 1:22:27How do you see the future with our children and where we are going?

1:22:27 > 1:22:31Have we done what we should have done to young people,

1:22:31 > 1:22:36in order to make sure that their ideas corresponded to what

1:22:36 > 1:22:38we think they should be?

1:22:38 > 1:22:41In many respects, we have failed.

1:22:41 > 1:22:44We all had high hopes with our children and where we are going.

1:22:44 > 1:22:48I had just come back from the meeting with Nelson Mandela

1:22:48 > 1:22:52when I saw on the television screen a breaking news story.

1:22:52 > 1:22:58I saw a five-year-old girl being handcuffed and eventually shackled.

1:23:01 > 1:23:06The charge was that she had been unruly.

1:23:06 > 1:23:11I was caught with how immoral this picture was.

1:23:11 > 1:23:13What had we come to?

1:23:14 > 1:23:17What is going on here?

1:23:17 > 1:23:20Hundreds and hundreds of children have been consistently

1:23:20 > 1:23:23incarcerated, have been consistently handcuffed.

1:23:23 > 1:23:25THE GIRL CRIES

1:23:25 > 1:23:27That's our child!

1:23:27 > 1:23:30And our child is in terror.

1:23:30 > 1:23:35And we have no right to ignore that and to get distracted.

1:23:35 > 1:23:38And so, I've called a meeting.

1:23:38 > 1:23:40The gathering of the elders,

1:23:40 > 1:23:45to talk about the conditions of children and what they were facing.

1:23:47 > 1:23:50The list was vast, of popular profile.

1:23:50 > 1:23:53Politicians, civil rights leaders, ministers.

1:23:53 > 1:23:57I think we're here because we should be waking up to the fact that

1:23:57 > 1:23:59incarceration is the new slavery.

1:23:59 > 1:24:03And the pathway to political

1:24:03 > 1:24:07and economic disempowerment of the black community.

1:24:07 > 1:24:12One speaker after the other got up and spoke with passion and clarity.

1:24:12 > 1:24:15We started talking about the children. The children.

1:24:15 > 1:24:19And that's what we are about. And I say, well, what do we do?

1:24:19 > 1:24:25Over the years, I've come to places like this so many times.

1:24:25 > 1:24:28And I leave without an assignment!

1:24:31 > 1:24:34We need an assignment.

1:24:34 > 1:24:38I began to understand that the thing I thought that I had to do next

1:24:38 > 1:24:42was to perhaps call a gathering of the young.

1:24:44 > 1:24:47There, perhaps, would lay the key.

1:24:50 > 1:24:52And they asked me what was the agenda.

1:24:52 > 1:24:56It dawned on me that the agenda really was with them.

1:24:56 > 1:24:58To find the agenda.

1:24:58 > 1:25:00Look at it.

1:25:00 > 1:25:02Look at it.

1:25:02 > 1:25:05Those of us who were part of the civil rights movement,

1:25:05 > 1:25:10as we grew older, as our victories began to evidence themselves,

1:25:10 > 1:25:11I think we blinked.

1:25:12 > 1:25:16I think we took a lot for granted.

1:25:16 > 1:25:21I don't think we secured the way in which we passed on the baton.

1:25:21 > 1:25:24- We can't be shut up no more! - Suffer from the same oppression.

1:25:24 > 1:25:26This is not just about Mr B bringing us here together,

1:25:26 > 1:25:29it's about us having personal responsibility.

1:25:29 > 1:25:31We are WE going to do?

1:25:31 > 1:25:33The young people spoke truth to power.

1:25:33 > 1:25:34This is where I define myself.

1:25:34 > 1:25:38This is the place where I realise what I want to do with my life.

1:25:38 > 1:25:40I told Harry, after hearing everybody speak,

1:25:40 > 1:25:42that I was ready to get back to work and start helping people.

1:25:42 > 1:25:45It's not us that we're representing, it's the youth.

1:25:45 > 1:25:48And the voices of the youth that can't be represented here

1:25:48 > 1:25:49because they're locked up.

1:25:49 > 1:25:51He's starting a prison movement.

1:25:53 > 1:25:56And it's a movement that's necessary

1:25:56 > 1:25:59because what America is in the process of doing

1:25:59 > 1:26:01is criminalising poverty.

1:26:03 > 1:26:05In my recent years, I looked beyond our borders

1:26:05 > 1:26:09and saw you people all over the world,

1:26:09 > 1:26:13looking at how much we in the world had struggled.

1:26:13 > 1:26:14THEY SING

1:26:14 > 1:26:18How really in need of each other.

1:26:18 > 1:26:22What will help satisfy the journey we're on is for us

1:26:22 > 1:26:25to come to know more about each other.

1:26:30 > 1:26:33MUSIC PLAYS

1:26:33 > 1:26:37Once again, social activism drew me to a new moment of promise.

1:26:39 > 1:26:42When I met Pam, she was a photographer.

1:26:42 > 1:26:46She was very much engaged in the Free South Africa movement.

1:26:46 > 1:26:48And I saw her at many events.

1:26:48 > 1:26:51Political rallies, cultural unveilings.

1:26:51 > 1:26:53Our paths were constantly crossing.

1:26:53 > 1:26:54And then one day...

1:26:56 > 1:26:58I hit the pause button.

1:26:58 > 1:27:02I looked at her and studied her and came to the conclusion that...

1:27:03 > 1:27:07..with her, I could possibly live out

1:27:07 > 1:27:10the rest of my journey in a very joyous way.

1:27:10 > 1:27:13Today, Pam and Harry proclaim their love to the world.

1:27:13 > 1:27:15CROWD CHEER AND APPLAUD

1:27:21 > 1:27:24I try to envision playing out the rest of my life

1:27:24 > 1:27:26in a place of luxury.

1:27:27 > 1:27:30Almost exclusively devoted to reflection.

1:27:31 > 1:27:34But there's just too much in the world to be done.

1:27:34 > 1:27:37MUSIC: "Don't Give Up" by Xavier Naidoo, Jahmeek, Bantu

1:28:12 > 1:28:16Somewhere in this moment, my soul, all that I've felt,

1:28:16 > 1:28:20all that I've experienced, commanded me to ask -

1:28:20 > 1:28:23what do you do now?

1:28:23 > 1:28:25- # Don't give up - Don't give up

1:28:25 > 1:28:28- # Don't give in - Don't give in

1:28:28 > 1:28:31# Cos in a few days more

1:28:31 > 1:28:33# We will win. #

1:28:38 > 1:28:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd