“A tree is best measured when it is down,” the poet Carl Sandburg once observed, “and so it is with people.” The recent death of Harry Belafonte at the age of 96 has prompted many assessments of what this pioneering singer-actor-activist accomplished in a long and fruitful life.
Belafonte’s career as a ground-breaking entertainer brought him substantial wealth and fame; according to Playbill magazine, “By 1959, he was the highest paid Black entertainer in the industry, appearing in raucously successful engagements in Las Vegas, New York, and Los Angeles.” He scored on Broadway, winning a 1954 Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical – John Murray Anderson's Almanac. Belafonte was the first Black person to win the prestigious award. A 1960 television special, “Tonight with Belafonte,” brought him an Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series, making him the first Black person to win that award. He found equal success in the recording studio, bringing Calypso music to the masses via such hits as “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.”
Harry Belafonte - Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) (Live)www.youtube.com
Belafonte’s blockbuster stardom is all the more remarkable for happening in a world plagued by virulent systemic racism. Though he never stopped performing, by the early 1960s he’d shifted his energies to the nascent Civil Right movement. He was a friend and adviser to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and, as the New York Times stated, Belafonte “put up much of the seed money to help start the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was one of the principal fund-raisers for that organization and Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that “he helped launch one of Mississippi’s first voter registration drives and provided funding for the Freedom Riders. His activism extended beyond the U.S. as he fought against apartheid alongside Nelson Mandela and Miriam Makeba, campaigned for Mandela’s release from prison, and advocated for famine relief in Africa.” And in 1987, he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador.
Over a career spanning more than seventy years, Belafonte brought joy to millions of people. He also did something that is, perhaps, even greater: he fostered the hope that a better world for all could be created. And, by his example, demonstrated how we might go about bringing that world into existence.
Fox News Boycotts Twitter–to Everyone's Relief
Rather than post its average of 100 posts per day, Fox News has issued a "Twitter Blackout" to support Tucker Carlson.
Fox News has boycotted Twitter after the social media company did not meet the network's demands to delete posts associated with a protest outside Tucker Carlson's home on Wednesday night.
Smash Racism DC, a self-described "anti-fascist" group, targeted Carlson by sharing his personal address on Twitter and congregating outside the Fox News commentator's home. The group of about 20 chanted, "Racist scumbag, leave town!" and "Tucker Carlson, we will fight! We know where you sleep at night!"
Carlson reported the incident to the police and has recounted the scene to various news outlets, telling the Washington Post, "It wasn't a protest. It was a threat." He also cited that an individual "actually cracked the front door." While Carlson himself was at his Fox News office, his wife was home alone at the time.
Sharing a user's personal information such as home address is in violation of Twitter's rules. In response, Twitter suspended the antifa group's account. However, this action was reportedly delayed by Twitter's technical support function, which did not immediately delete the posts containing Carlson's address, while Facebook acted quickly to do so.
In an act of protest, an internal email from Fox News details managing editor Greg Wilson instructing employees, "Please refrain from tweeting out our content from either section accounts or your own accounts until further notice."
Indeed, the Fox News Twitter account hasn't been active since Thursday. According to calculations posted by The Hill, the account has posted an average of more than 100 times per day since joining the site 11 years ago.
The only figure at Fox News who has been active on social media since the "Twitter blackout" is Carlson himself. On his personal Twitter account he recounted an altercation he had with a Latino man in Charlottesville, Virginia that initially prompted the protesters.
The man in question, Juan Granados, is represented by Michael Avenatti, an Anti-trump lawyer who Carlson often refers to on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight as a "creepy [expletive] lawyer."
In his post, Carlson alleges that Granados instigated a fight with him and his family by verbally assaulting his 19-year-old daughter, calling her words we can't even repeat here.
Last month one of my children was attacked by a stranger at dinner. For her sake, I was hoping to keep the incident… https://t.co/QdyJWiBZfl— Tucker Carlson (@Tucker Carlson) 1541978107.0
Avenatti, who's noted for representing Stormy Daniels and one of Brett Kavanaugh's accusers Julie Swetnick, took to Twitter on Sunday to post his client's statement against Carlson.
Granados is a self-described "proud gay member of the Latino community and...also an immigrant." Following an aggressive exchange at the Farmington Country Club, Granados stated that he intends to press charges against Carlson, his son, and an unidentified friend for assault after allegedly threatening him with physical violence and telling him, "Go back to where you came from."
Here is a statement from my client regarding the incident with Tucker Carlson and Tucker's fabricated version of ev… https://t.co/suf87r9DDg— Michael Avenatti (@Michael Avenatti) 1541953122.0
Twitter has not commented on the Fox News blackout.
Meg Hanson is a Brooklyn-based writer, teacher, and jaywalker. Find Meg at her website and on Twitter @megsoyung.
- Fox News Twitter accounts stop posting after protest against ... ›
- Fox News host Tucker Carlson's home targeted by protesters: 'They ... ›
- Avenatti takes on Tucker Carlson after bar incident involving Fox ... ›
- Tucker Carlson posts first tweet since Fox News' Twitter blackout that ... ›
- Fox News Twitter blackout: Tucker Carlson threats hit home ... ›
- Tucker Carlson broke Fox News' Twitter blackout that was ordered ... ›
- Fox News Twitter account dark for days due to Tucker Carlson home ... ›
- Twitter responds to Massachusetts mayor boycotting Sam Adams ... ›
- Fox News Goes Silent On Twitter And Doesn't Say Why But One ... ›
- Is Fox News Boycotting Twitter Due to Inaction on Tucker Carlson's ... ›
- Fox News boycotts Twitter for Tucker Carlson mob response ›