Harry Belafonte: Bush kept him from Coretta Scott King's funeral

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1141205812140360.xml&coll=2

Belafonte: Bush kept him from King rites

Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Joe Guillen
Plain Dealer Reporter

Legendary entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte on Tuesday explained his absence from Coretta Scott King's funeral.

Belafonte told reporters before a speech at Case Western Reserve University that President Bush influenced the King family to disinvite him from the funeral in suburban Atlanta on Feb. 7.

Belafonte, known to be a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., said he was told about the decision the day before the funeral, at which he had been scheduled to speak.

The King children made the final decision, Belafonte said, but they were "fiercely intimidated by the president's representatives."...




Thursday, 02/16/06

Belafonte's absence at King funeral is noticeable

By DWIGHT LEWIS

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060216/COLUMNIST0107/602160390/1101/NEWS

...

"I called Belafonte to find out for myself if it was true, and he said it was,'' the Rev. C.T. Vivian, a veteran civil rights activist, told me Friday after calling to see if I could find out why Belafonte was not at the funeral. "I asked were you disinvited, and he said, yes.

"The reason is that the president was not coming if Belafonte was going to be there. …''

That's just not true, according to a public relations spokesman who worked with the King family on services for Mrs. King...

I haven't been able to reach Harry Belafonte directly for comment, but Rev. Vivian told me it is unlikely he will respond publicly because he wants to maintain some relationship with the King children...



http://www.suntimes.com/output/washington/cst-edt-laura13.html

Mrs. King's funeral was all about politics

February 13, 2006

BY LAURA WASHINGTON
...King watchers opine that Belafonte was "disinvited" from the ceremony for fear that he would antagonize President Bush. The family knew Bush wouldn't sit on the same stage with Harry (the lion that roars) Belafonte after he pilloried the Bush presidency. In a speech last month, the lion declared that Bush was a "liar" and "the greatest terrorist in the world."...

[Wetzelbill]

1. that is pretty shitty

just another reason not to like The Chimp.

[Cha]

47. bush still had a bad time

at the funeral of Corretta Scott King. the bushits can't control everything!

[caledesi]

2. I am surprised King George didn't send Harry to the tower.

What a bastard!

[Wilms]

3. They're bullies, punks, and thieves.

[WinkyDink]

61. In that photo ^^^, you know Bush wants to smack Chavez in the back of the

head!

[Wilms]

63. Well I do see that now.

It looked to me as though he was skulking past, hoping that Hugo didn't slug him.

[saigon68]

68. You forgot MURDERER and WAR CRIMINAL

Hired killer Thugs in his regime did this

[aquart]

4. Scared of an old singer. Pathetic.

Still, they did get more than they bargained for, didn't they?

Might as well have let him come.

And Martin's kids? YOu should be ashamed.

[A Simple Game]

27. * and the Wife did appear unpleasantly surprised at the

theme of the eulogies, didn't they.

Don't remember if I watched the clips on CanOFun or Crooksandliars, but would again like to thank both of them for the service they provide us. They both do very good jobs. Thank you.

[nicknameless]

5. Horrible. Just like everything else they do.

R'ed

[Missy M]

6. I am disappointed in the King children. They should not have....

caved in to the Bush bullies. I don't think their father would have.

[NashVegas]

8. I Agree

So sad to see that Americans have lost the lessons Dr. King taught us.

[happyslug]

14. I disagree, don't you remember the Funnel?

The king Family wanted it to be a celebration of her life AND WHAT SHE FOUGHT FOR. If Bush did say he would NOT go if Belafonte was invited, then Bush would NOT have heard the other Speakers at the Funnel. The other Speakers all ATTACKED BUSH's PROGRAMS. Bush would NOT have heard that opposition and continued to be in his isolated position that his policies are supported by the American People.

No, if Bush said he would NOT show up if Belefonte was invited, dis-inviting Belefonte so Bush would show up and HEARD THE OTHER SPEAKERS was worth the dis-invitation.

[Vickers]

30. Excellent points.

But trust me, there are more people on DU who play checkers than chess. :thumbsup:

[alarcojon]

31. You're assuming, of course, that if Bush heard something

it actually registers, or he actually gives a shit.

[Pacifist Patriot]

34. As to the first...he sure looked uncomfortable.

Of course that could have been just from sitting in a room filled with a majority of black people. As to the second...nah, I doubt it too.

[SquireJons]

46. Exactly n/t

[psychopomp]

40. I think not

There were three other former Presidents, two of whom definately would have shown up, so I think it would have been difficult for Poppy and Junior to back out.

Furthermore, I invite any DU'ers to play chess online with me, pm me for details.

[Missy M]

54. I'm sorry but Harry Belafonte helped MLK and Coretta fight...

for civil rights. He is still doing it. I hardly think Bush did. It was wrong to dis-invite Belafonte to accommodate Bush. Everyone who spoke had it put over the airwaves so Bush or his handlers would have heard it.

[EFerrari]

42. They did the right thing. They let us all watch that Felon squirm

Their parents would have been proud of them.

[Hekate]

7. I wondered where Belafonte was that day

"Fiercely intimidated by the president's representatives"?! Makes me want to rant and scream. On behalf of the rest of America, let me apologize to the King family for the thuggishness of the Bushes.

Little Lord Pissypants and his gang of thugs just had to throw their weight around on a grieving family,didn't they? As if they had the slightest right to make a single demand. This behavior stinks to high heaven.

Well, I am more glad than ever that George and Laura had to sit through the eulogies that pointed a finger right at them. Disgusting excuses for fake royalty that they are.

Hekate

[China_cat]

11. You have to wonder if the threats didn't include

not allowing Mrs. King to lie in state in the capital.

[qanda]

9. Well, he still got an earful

I guess Bush should have been the only one there. Bush meant absolutely NOTHING to that family or the Civil Rights Movement and it's a real shame that they allowed a good man to be cast aside for the idiot in chief.

[LizW]

12. That's the truth!

He still had to sit there and take it from Jimmy Carter and others. :D

I guess in the future, Bushco will insist on private services with only himself and the television cameras present.

[calimary]

56. Hell, I woulda had him come ANYWAY. Tell the bushes and their

intimidating "representatives" Harry Belafonte wasn't going to be there. Tell 'em whatever they wanna hear. Yessir. You bet. Anything you say. And then... oh, MY-MY-MY! OOOPSIE!!! Gee whiz, well lookee-here - look who just showed up ANYWAY! We just had NO IDEA!!! SooPRIZE, sooPRIZE, sooPRIZE!!!

Then when the imperial stormtroopers grouse and complain, just throw up your hands, shrug your shoulders, and bat your eyelashes in all "innocence." I just don't know HOW that coulda happened, mr. president. SOOOOOOOOO sorry (NOT!!!!). If they don't like it, let 'em get up and walk out in the middle of it with all the TV cameras on and all the mikes open. Their choice. They surely weren't being forced to sit there. (And MAN-oh-MAN would I have LOVED to have seen that!)

Open defiance, or something more passive-aggressive, either way works for me. :evilgrin:

[qanda]

62. Works for me too

I like the way you think!!!!

[Raine]

70. Sounds good BUT

things have a way of 'happening' to those that displease the chimperor. :scared:

[xchrom]

10. pissypants can't stand the heat

that would come from a real lion.

bush and his lack of courage shows more with every day that goes by.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Leave it to ol' Uniter, Not a Divider to do the right thing, right?

It would seem Harry Belafonte had a far better case for being there himself than did the voter purge opportunist, New Orleans destroyer, etc., etc.



Rev. King's funeral

Click: http://stevenkasher.com/html/Detail.asp?WorkInvNum=1173&whatpage=exhib
Harry Belefonte guarding Mrs. King at the King Memorial



Memorial March
http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/man/9Memorial.htm

[Judi Lynn]

36. I just recognized I forgot to delete "Rev. King's funeral" from under

the photo of Dr. King with Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett.

I had posted another photo right above it which would not appear, which I did delete.

Sorry for that clumsy mistake.

[wakeme2008]

15. sorry dup proxy error

.

[wakeme2008]

16. Tells me everything I want to know about the King kids

Bush is more important to them than Belafonte.

[0007]

20. I hope that isn't true....the proof is in the pudding sometimes!

[peacefreak]

17. A liar & a coward

has everything to fear from an honest man.

[Divernan]

18. So does Bush have exclusion lists ready for future funerals of others?

Now let's see. Bush would have to put in an appearance at the funerals of former presidents, heads of state, first ladies, etc. (although god forbid ANY of them pre-decease him!). Now, who would he try to exclude from, for example, Nancy Regan's funeral? JImmy Carter's? I just hope the entire black American community hears about this.

I was out of the country (and on a sailboat with no computer access) for the week following Mrs. King's death. So someone please tell me, was Colin Powell there? Condoleeza? Clarence Thomas? IMHO they were the ones who should have been excluded for turning Republican, and thereby turning their backs on the principles for which Martin Luther King lived and died.

And now that the funeral is over, I hope the King family reveals who from the administration contacted them and exactly what threats were made.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. Coretta Scott King never would have stood for that. She'd tell * to go

ahead and skip her service.

[MoJoWorkin]

21. Maya Angelou made reference to Belafonte's absence in her remarks

at the funeral. She did not thoroughly explain why he wasn't there, but I remember her looking back toward Bush with scorn then, and later when she was saying. "I want peace, and I want it now," etc.

[sattahipdeep]

22. "the greatest terrorist in the world" Belafonte said he

doesn't take back his Venezuela statements about Bush.
"I said what I said because I truly believe it," he said.
"There's a war out there. People are dying, not just in Iraq,
but in the United States of America."

He called the president "the greatest terrorist in the world" during a
January trip to Venezuela. He has also criticized the war in Iraq and the
government's response to Hurricane Katrina. :patriot:

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1141205812140360.xml&coll=2

[AuntiBush]

23. Belafonte Should Feel Blessed

In a sense that the world got to see * slouch and slime in his chair before the camera as pickles sat in a tizzy. Had he attended, the media might have concentrated moreso on Belafonte, rather then that "liar."

Real class act, them two. :sarcasm:
:puke:

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

65. I agree. This turned out to be the best situation...

... * showed up and was roasted by Rev. Lowery and Pres. Carter.

Now Mr. Belafonte gets to take another swing at him. Brilliant!

[FloridaPat]

24. * had no business being there. If he was that much of a coward

too bad. They should have had Belafonte come and * stay home and tell the world what a coward our great leader is.

[trapper914]

25. Kinda makes...

...all that right wing hysteria after the funeral look even MORE hypocritical.

[AndyA]

26. Shame on the King children, if this is true!

If they bowed to pressure from Bush, a known enemy of the people, and kept a long time family friend away from Mrs. King's funeral, shame on them! I'm sure their parents are very disappointed in them for doing this.

In my opinion, Bush had no business being there. He does not stand for any of the values Mrs. King stood for. I'm glad things didn't turn out the way he expected, and I'm glad it wasn't the glorious photo op that had been planned, although the photos of the First Family at the funeral were quite revealing.

I'm disappointed to hear that the King children allowed this to happen, if indeed it is true. :(

[sattahipdeep]

28. Belafonte said...."fiercely intimidated by the president's representatives

The King children made the final decision, Belafonte said, but they
were "fiercely intimidated by the president's representatives."

"I received a phone call which told me that since the president of the
United States made the statement that he was coming to the
ceremonies, the invitation that was extended to me would be
withdrawn," Belafonte said.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1141205812140360.xml&coll=2

[skypilot]

38. I'm kinda wondering...

...what the administration would have or could have done if Belafonte had not been disinvited. Would they have caused a scene at Mrs.King's funeral?

[Dora]

44. There may have been an implied threat to funding/support.

I'm no expert, just somebody who sometimes listens to the radio and reads the newspaper occasionally. Oh, and I read DU.

It's my understanding that the King center is currently under the protection/umbrella of our country's National Park Service. It's also having a very difficult time with money and donor support. I think I read somewhere that some of the children want to turn all control over to the National Park Service, but other children think that control should remain with the family/organization. I may be wrong, and that would make my theory only idle speculation.

If the govment said "disinvite or else we yank NPS funding/support," then I bet they disinvited Mr. Belafonte pretty darn quick.

This is not fact, only a guess.

[Cha]

48. Good question! Maybe

the bushits would have taken their toys and gone home..wouldn't that have been a shame. In reality, bush would have been better off not to have gone so Harry did the world a favor.

[elehhhhna]

29. yup.

[Just Me]

32. Well, ((HA-HA-HA)) Bush received a COLD reception, anyway!!!!

:rofl:

I'll never forget his "what the hell?" reaction at the fact there was, at minimum, a chilly attitude towards him AND audible protestors against him could be heard down the street!!!

:rofl:

Bush is such a spoiled and sheltered, self-centered child. He has little clue just how much he is loathed and is so surprised to find himself in a situation where he's not surrounded by an arranged, faux, cheerleading audience.

:rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

35. A little different from the time he said, "Some call you the elites,

I call you my base," at the Al Smith Dinner.



Al Smith Dinner

I hope it shook him down to his shoes, and will only be the first of many to come.

[Danascot]

33. Belafonte has shown incredible courage

in speaking the truth about this administration continuously and from very early on. If he'd been on the podium, you can bet he would have said something that would have given B* heart failure on the spot.

He has also worked tirelessly over the last couple of decades and raised many millions for the less fortunate. He's a true American hero and much to be admired. No wonder he's a threat to B*.

[JohnyCanuck]

37. You wanna know what the buck-naked emperor was scared of?

Check out Harry's remarks at the Black State of the Union from a few days ago courtesy Canofun.com.

http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/2006/HarryBelafonteOnTerrorismatBlackSOTU.asx

[LibDemAlways]

39. Too bad the King family bowed to the pressure.

They should have stood their ground and said Belafonte's a family friend. He's invited, period. If chimp doesn't like it, too bad. If chimp decides not to come that's his call. Wonder what kind of threats the Bush Crime Family made to get Belafonte disinvited. Must have been like a scene right out of The Godfather.

[KnaveRupe]

41. How DARE * politicize her FUNERAL?!?!

Right wingers are hypocritical fuckheads.

In other news, grass is green, and farts are smelly. Details at 11.

[leveymg]

43. Dubya didn't belong there, Harry definitely did. Bad choice. eom

[SquireJons]

45. Shame on the family

If they would rather hear a scumbag lier fart from his mouth than be inspired by a corageous man like Belafonte, then fuck them, and they can rot.

[dflprincess]

49. I've seen this problem in Dear Abby's column many times

You know person A says they won't come to your party if person B is going to be there. Abby always says it's your party and you can invite whoever you want. If person A chooses not to show up, that's their choice.

That's what the King Family should have told Bush. I'll bet Mrs. King would have preferred to have Belafonte there.

Though, if the family had any inkling that other speakers might take a few swipes at Dimson maybe they thought having him there, even if it meant leaving Belafonte out, was worth it.

[librechik]

50. Bush crashed. He was specifically NOT invited, but crashed anyway

he deserved every crusty look and bold remark he received.

[Rocknrule]

55. He's a funeral crasher

like Will Farrel in "Wedding Crashers"

Except he does it to score with voters instead of chicks :evilgrin:

[crikkett]

58. Has that been published anywhere?

Can you please send a link? Thanks..

[librechik]

60. I had a good source at the time, but can't find it

someone within the King contingent said it right out--now, though, I can only find a blogger quoting a source. So, if you google, maybe you'll have better luck than me--I was about to go plunder huffpost looking for it, i bet it's there or firedoglake.

[Victimerican]

51. Harry Should have gone anyway..

If he bothers Bush that much, imagine Bush's suprise when he got there and was seated NEXT TO Belafonte.

Could you imagine the fallout of Bush walked out of King's funeral? :D

[Joe Chi Minh]

64. Truth to tell, when I saw Bush there,

I half expected to see the Head of the CIA and that Bull Connor, the bent police chief, there sitting there, or his ghost, if he's already in Hell. Thank goodness the preacher and others laid it on the line so uncompromisingly though. Bush was not a happy camper. He looked as if John Kerry had slapped him on his dowager's hump again. (I'm sure that would have been Rove's explanation for the protuberance).

[Dervill Crow]

52. It's great that this has come out.

Bush had to sit there squirming while the whole world watched. Every time he is forced out in public without his bubble it is a chance for everyone to see what we DUers have known for so long, that he is a mean little bully who doesn't have the integrity or the brains to be in the position he is in.

Kudos to Harry Belafonte for his willingness to sacrifice his attendance so * could face a group of real live US citizens who aren't bushbots. And good for him for speaking out now.

:applause:

[MellowOne]

53. Antagonize Bush?

Poor baby, if he dishes it out, he should have to take it as well.

[stepnw1f]

57. Bush is a Fucking Wuss

I can't wait for the piece of shit megolomaniac to be forcefully retired.

[superconnected]

59. Both of Kings daughters are against gay marriage

and One of them came here (Seattle) last year and led a march against gay marriage.

My idiot fundy coworker attended it.

I have a feeling those two daughters are against more than just gay civil rights.

and they WERE the ones who bowed to the prezs wishes.

[Matilda]

66. A poor decision by the family.

I wondered at the time whose decision it was to have the funeral at the mega-church instead of
the smaller church where MLK preached - was this Coretta King's wish, or was it her family wanting
to big-note themselves?

In view of what happened to Belafonte, I rather suspect the latter to be the case.

[Hoping4Change]

72. I didn't know they had the service at a megamall, oh I mean megachurch.

Sorry but anything associated to a mega-(church-in-name-only) smells of profit motive. Have the offspring decided that MLK's memory is a great brand product?:(

[cliss]

67. Here's my take on it:

The King children made the decision to invite Bush. It was no doubt a compromise decision. It was either a) invite Belafonte and lose Bush, or b) invite Bush and skip Belafonte. They weren't going to get them both at the same funeral, obviously.

Was it the right choice? I think so. I think the slamming they got to do was well worth sacrificing Belafonte. It's not that I'm discounting Harry's input, it's just that FOR ONCE Bush was going to get it.

And I thank the King children for giving it to the bastard.

[goforit]

69. So much for the weak second generation of the King family.

It just amazes me how the King Family could do
such a disservice to there outstanding parents.

In many ways they haven't earned the right to carry
their last name.

[progressivebydesign]

71. Bush's temper... that's what this is all about.

He can't tolerate any type of criticism, at all. I keep hoping that a cheeky reporter will ask Bush about Michael Moore during a live press conference... just to watch him flip out. Bush gets it in his mind that he hates someone, and cannot control his temper.