Most of us know Harry Belafonte as a legendary singer and entertainer, but how many of us know him as a freedom fighter, relentless searcher for change, and compassionate humanitarian bringing aid to stricken people around the globe?
With Belafonte himself narrating “Sing Your
Song,” we are taken on a journey through the life and times of the man, beginning with his birth in Harlem and his upbringing in Jamaica, where his immigrant mother sent him when she was unable to care for him alone in New York.
When WWII broke out, Belafonte enlisted in the Navy, only to return after the war to a job as a janitor’s assistant.
With excerpts of early clips of his first roles, to current interviews with him, the movie details a life of tremendous creativity and courage.
We follow along as Belafonte gets President Kennedy and his brother Robert, who was an assistant prosecutor under Sen. McCarthy during the darkest period in American democracy, to come to understand the civil rights struggle.
The brothers went from negative skeptics to Dr. Martin Luther King’s staunchest supporters.
Belafonte’s work in drought-ravaged Africa will break your heart; his bravery when confronting biogtry and segregation along with his white colleagues will make you stand and cheer. And his singing will make your heart soar.
Interviews include Tony Bennett, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, Quincy Jones, Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela, Sidney Poitier and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The clips of the old TV shows in which Belafonte broke the color barrier are astonishing — most especially on “The Smothers Brothers Show,” which was yanked by CBS when Belafonte sang a Vietnam War protest song.
An intriguing, well-done documentary.