The legendary singer, actor and activist for the rights of African-Americans, Harry Belafonte, has died this Tuesday at the age of 96, according to The New York Times, citing a family spokesman. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to the same source.
Born in 1927 in New York but with origins in Jamaica, he rose to fame with the title of king of calypso for being the person who popularized this Caribbean genre in the US and around the world. The song that allowed him this rise was The Banana Boat Song, a version of the popular Jamaican theme Day-O, whose release in 1956 went around the world. The subject is the story of some workers in the banana industry who, after having loaded the ship during the night, wait for their salary to be able to return to their homes. In this way, Belafonte paid homage to his humble origins, since despite being born in the US, his working-class parents were Jamaican and he himself lived almost all of his childhood in this country.
Belafonte used his early success in both the music and film industries – his first appearance in a co-starring role was from no less than 1953 – to get involved socially and fight against racial segregation in the United States. In fact, he played a leading role in the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.
When it comes to breaking down racial barriers, Belafonte was a true pioneer. He was the first black to be allowed to perform in many luxury nightclubs – at that time still banned for African-Americans – and, without going any further, his first film appearances in leading roles were already revolutionary in themselves, in a At that time it was customary for African-Americans to be secondary.
(News in development. There will be expansion)
