Why read Becoming Belafonte?

Book cover of Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical

Book description

A son of poor Jamaican immigrants who grew up in Depression-era Harlem, Harry Belafonte became the first black performer to gain artistic control over the representation of African Americans in commercial television and film. Forging connections with an astonishing array of consequential players on the American scene in the decades…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Becoming Belafonte as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jonathan Shandell

Author

As I was writing my book, I delved more into the professional singing career of Harry Belafonte. I knew him as the singer of familiar, toe-tapping, globally-inspired hits (i.e. “The Banana Boat Song,” “Jump In the Line,” “Matilda”). I didn’t know about the depth and breadth of his commitment to racial justice. Nor did I realize, more importantly, how his Civil Rights activism informed and shaped his artistic career as an actor and a musician. An eye-opening read about a cultural icon.

From Jonathan's list on Black culture and history in the Civil Rights era.