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RedditOn March 3 several hundred people gathered at a New York restaurant to honor Harry Belafonte on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Attendees included Wyclef Jean, Representative Charlie Rangel, Susan Sarandon, Tony Bennett, Amy Goodman and... Bill Clinton, who dropped by. Frequent Nation contributor and bestselling author Walter Mosley was there as well and gave the following tribute. --The Editors
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TransAfrica's Tribute to Ruby Dee
Walter Mosley: "She is our elder and our sister and our daughter. We celebrate her as we celebrate the moon: our guide through the dark, dark night."
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Shouting Underwater
Walter Mosley: Two years ago, Katrina shed light on a harsh truth--we are all victims of a failed government.
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King of Calypso
Walter Mosley: In praise of Harry Belafonte, on his eightieth birthday.
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The Sounds of Silence
Walter Mosley: Voting is a privilege and a responsibility that every American bears. Allowing prisoners to vote will keep us honest.
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Show Me the Money
Walter Mosley: A man can be rich, but only a nation can be wealthy. And if anyone suffers from poverty, our whole country bears the shame.
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Cultural Famine: A Cycle
Walter Mosley: Famine is at its worst when people waste away and die. But there is another kind of famine: the death of the human soul--the emptiness and senseless cynicism in this country that has taken up residence in our hearts.
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A New Black Power
Walter Mosley: It's time to transform the two-party system into something more equitable by introducing smaller political groups based on special interests: Consider the power of a black voting bloc led by young people.
But Harry is much more than simply our better; more than a political black man who has defied a system that was once seemingly unassailable and invulnerable to the rebellions of our dark flesh. His exploits are mythic in the political arena (because he is Beowulf and Gilgamesh rolled up into one, and everything we do is weighed down by politics).
But Harry has gone beyond all that. Harry has not just defied the status quo, the man, the house Negro and the world's biggest terrorist. He has also challenged and defeated old age and the death of spirit, youth and optimism. While the rest of us have become old and begun, like all our ancestors, to blame our mistakes on our children, Harry Belafonte has found a fountain of youth in his heart and has refused to give up on the children who needed us and were abandoned by most of us. He's gone out among gangs and young hopefuls, the orphaned and criminalized, the nascent organizers and the forgotten youth, and he has given them his time, his money, his brilliance and, most important, access to his limitless reservoir of hope.
Harry Belafonte is truly a man of the people. And I believe that as a people, beyond our corrupt oligarchic government, we should name a day for our best and brightest and most beautiful. I think we should spread the word that the first day of spring is Harry Belafonte Day, or Day-O, because he is our beginning and our hope forever.
