“Civil rights is a constant, it’s never of the past. During a Selma March anniversary, the actors encouraged today’s entertainers to become more engaged in civil rights.

Two years later, Harry Belafonte, accompanied by friend and fellow entertainer Tony Bennet, joined more than 20,000 protestors, including Dr. King and other civil rights protestors out of a Birmingham Jail and later helped organize entertainers such as Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, Paul Newman, and others to support and attend the 1963 March on Washington. Harry Belafonte was an astute fundraiser often aiding during some of the Civil Rights Movement’s most crucial times. King called one of the most segregated cities in America. King and the SCLC, to ensure racial justice and desegregation in what Dr. Kennedy’s cultural advisor to the Peace Corps.īelafonte was a dedicated purveyor of civil rights for Black people in the United States. In 1963, Harry Belafonte immersed himself in The Birmingham Campaign, led by Dr. For his outstanding and consistent contributions to humanitarian causes, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Martin Luther King, Jr’s confidants and his extraordinary advocacy for political, civil rights, and humanitarian causes.Īs a demonstration of his deep compassion and conviction, Harry Belafonte was an ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union and The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for many decades. Atlanta, GA, Ap(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - The King Center joins the world in mourning the loss of a great philanthropist, activist, singer, actor, and friend – Harry Belafonte.

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