Warmth & Hope
Harry Belafonte's
By Burl Burlingame
musical message endures
through changing times
Star-BulletinFor a guy whose very name is a code word for the warm Caribbean, who seems at home at any place on this planet and would be welcome on others, Harry Belafonte hasn't moved very far. Exactly the distance from birthplace Harlem to Times Square. "Oh! I'm looking out the window now," said Belafonte, by phone from his office on the famous New York City crossroads. "It's warm, it's nice and cloudy, and everyone looks kind of gray. Except some people from out-of-town. They look blue."
Belafonte will tear himself away from the "hustle and bustle in New York, the amazing energy that's essential to my existence," and perform here tomorrow.
Belafonte often visits Hawaii, even when he's not performing. "Oh God -- Hawaii is as close as I can get to the Caribbean in the Pacific."
He has recently entered into another cycle of recording, performing and acting, after largely devoting his time to charities such as UNICEF for the last decade. The message of hope colors his work.
His classic "Day-O," the banana boat song, has grown as well. "There are huge differences in the way I do it now from the way it was done in 1956. The rhythms, the nuances, the harmonies -- we all change and grow."
Acting has again become a priority. In the last few years, Belafonte has appeared in "White Man's Burden" and Robert Altman's "Kansas City." Next up is Altman's "Amos and Andy," about the black comedians that "ratifies the existence of those men."
"America is a very different place," mused Belafonte. "It has gotten more segregated and more distressed in the last couple of decades. The aspects are tragic. People are in search of identity. An onslaught of promise in a place as fruitful as America that hasn't come to pass, the sense of promise from Kennedy and Johnson has dissolved in meanness.
"It's ironic. We fought the enemy in World War II so that fascism would end, and we thought it was gone forever. In our evolution, all signs pointed to that we'd be in a better place. We haven't. We haven't moved on. Look at OJ. Look at Rodney King. The fact that we aren't at each other's throats more than we are is considered a miracle.
"There's no moral center of courage. Leaders aren't leading us -- except into moral dilemmas. We need someone with the moral compass of Martin Luther King. One or two more Nelson Mandelas would help too!"
In these hard, confusing times, Belafonte believes that "the arts are the MOST vital component in understanding the world. But there are those that use art poorly. Look at TV. Its only goal is to 'entertain' and to sell things, not to inform and enlighten. The process is corrupted.
"Politics is not doing the job of bringing us together. Religion is not doing the job, either. Fundamentalism destroys culture in its wake -- the Falwells of America want to keep you from learning more about the world.
"The need, the basic yearning for international camaraderie is there. 'Star Trek' achieves multibillion-dollar box office because it speaks to that need, and 'Star Trek' is about very different people -- and aliens -- working together for the common good. 'Star Trek's' message is far healthier than most of what you see in the theater or on TV. There's a nobility to it as they open vistas of the human mind. It's quite unique."
Belafonte recently had a close call from cancer of the prostate -- "I'm at that age; me and Arnold Palmer and Sidney Poitier and Desmond Tutu" -- but says it was treated in time. "I'm clean. No radiation. No meds. No chemicals. No nothing. Given the other option -- death -- I'm doing great!"
In concert
Harry Belafonte performs:
Time: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow
