Skip to main content
Harry Belafonte 1927 - 2023
JOHN GREEN pays tribute to the activism of a man of political fearlessness 
Belafonte

HARRY BELAFONTE, who died today, aged 96, is hardly the first person who comes to mind when you think of great individuals who have changed the face of history, even though he did. 

Younger generations have probably never heard of him and even older ones are more likely to recall him as a singer of Calypso tunes rather than a political activist. 

How historical narratives can distort and erase! 

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
protest
Features / 17 April 2025
17 April 2025
Mountains of research show that online hardcore material harms children by direct exposure and often indirectly - by those men porn inspires. Yet there are still no simple measures like age and content regulation in place, writes JOHN GREEN
mitch main
Culture / 14 April 2025
14 April 2025
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
oddy
Film of the week / 10 April 2025
10 April 2025
Odysseus’s homecoming myth is treated as a factual story, with strong resonances for our contemporary world. This is an implicit anti-war film that has an urgent relevance, writes JOHN GREEN
punishment
Books / 27 March 2025
27 March 2025
JOHN GREEN recommends an entertaining, if harsh and instructive, study of bullying, discipline and power dynamics in schools and at work
Similar stories
Baldwin
Opinion / 30 July 2024
30 July 2024
JENNY FARRELL traces the critical role that the CPUSA played in the education of Harlem’s greatest man of letters
8paulrobeson
Features / 27 June 2024
27 June 2024
During the height of McCarthyist repression in the US, black rights legends Paul Robeson and Louis Burnham launched a publication that drew the anti-imperialist connections that others feared to make, writes ROGER McKENZIE
21st Century Poetry / 5 June 2024
5 June 2024
by Jackie Kay
mayday
21st Century Poetry / 5 June 2024
5 June 2024
RUTH AYLETT recommends a new collection that is direct and open to all, both conversational and radical