Harry Belafonte talks on Civil & Human Rights, RFK, Bush , more

[G_j]

http://www.jfklibrary.org/forum_belafonte.html

Seeking Common Ground: Civil Rights and Human Rights
With Harry Belafonte
Moderated by Anthony Lewis

John F. Kennedy Library and Foundation
Challenges at Home and Abroad Series
March 15, 2002

Watch or listen to this forum. (Requires RealPlayer)
Includes a campaign commercial with Belafonte and JFK

DEBORAH LEFF: Normally when I'm up here I quote President John F. Kennedy. But tonight, as the Kennedy Library launches a multi-year effort to bring together America's civil rights movement and human rights efforts world-wide, I'm drawn to the words of the President's brother, and Harry Belafonte's friend, Robert Kennedy, who said:

"We must recognize the full human equality of all people, before God, before the law, and the councils of government. We must do this not because it is economically advantageous-- although it is, not because the laws of God command it-- although they do, not because people in other lands wish it to be so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is right."

<->

Dr. King asked some of us to discuss what this meant or would mean to us, and after many aired their feelings about Bobby Kennedy and their great doubts about coming to our assistance in some meaningful way, Dr. King made the observation that regardless of what his history had been up to that moment, we had to view him in a new context: a man whose hand was on the throttle of justice and who was going to have to be dealt with on the issues that we were facing. And that although there was much for us to bemoan about what his history had presented, it was to be our task to find his moral center, find if there was a greater truth in who he was and to work on that and to win him to our cause. And a lot of us looked at that moment with some sense of bewilderment and frustration, but we were given our direction and our directives, and we did just that.

We decided to approach Bobby Kennedy based upon the truth of our struggle and the honor of our mission, and to test his knowledge of us and his knowledge of poverty, his knowledge of racism, his knowledge of pain and see the extent to which we could grade him and know the extent which-- how much work we would have to do in order to get him to see our vision and to embrace our cause. Let me just say that as much doubt as all of us entered into this relationship with the Attorney General, it was to the same extent that we embraced him in the end.

<->

A lot has been written about meetings that we've had, one in particular, when he called for a meeting with James Baldwin and Lena Horne and Dr. Kenneth Clark and others. And at that meeting things took a fierce moment, and he was quite upset and quite angry and quite frustrated, and we were of the sense that we would lose him. But to the contrary, what that evening did was awakened a lot in him. I think it made him go back into life, into his own life, and begin to measure how he would do things, or would like to do things.

..much more..

[G_j]

1. ==

[Melodybe]

2. kick

[G_j]

3. btw, everything after the RFK quote

in the OP are the words of Belafonte.

Please check this out. I would recommend listening to it as his wise words just sort of flowed over and through me and soothed my aching soul. It is so comforting to know such focused intelligent activists exist in America. Harry Belafonte was the one who bailed MLK out of the Birmingham jail! He was always a courageous radical and remains one the to this day.
After Katrina I wanted to hear the words of a great civil rights activist. Though the presentation is from 2002, it is entirely relevant today. This talk is wonderful and sobering.

Compare his words with the compromised mush that most of our present political 'leaders' try to pass off.

[Wizard777]

4. Kick for a good message.

[G_j]

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[G_j]

6. kick