Harry Belafonte’s famous quote is “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth; we are
civilization’s anchor, we are the compass of humanities conscience”, so it is indeed a disgrace and a shame when the Grammy
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Awards, in their memorial segment of 2024 failed to recognize or to pay tribute to one of the world’s greatest artist entertainers and one of the greatest fighters for humanity of this century. It is unbelievable that the ignorance is so deep within an organization such as the Grammy Awards that they would fail to recognize and pay tribute to Harry Belafonte who has done so much for the industry and for humanity. Right after the memorial section, phones were ringing as to what could have happened and why this is so, and clearly there was this buzz on social media as to this omission of Belafonte from the tribute that he so truly deserved, and we join with members of his family in expressing their disgust and outrage, and that disgust and outrage is throughout the international community who knows not only Harry Belafonte’s talent but his
commitment and work in the area of
human and civil rights.
For the Grammys to miss the first recipient of any color, the first record to sell over 1,000,000 copies is difficult to even comprehend. For them to miss the first black man to ever win the Emmy is hard to understand and for them to overlook an entertainer artist that has won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, not to mention the numerous Grammys, and not to pay proper tribute to this individual is beyond comprehension. It is beyond just plain
ignorance and it is incomparable in and difficult to understand what ever reason there might be, one cannot suggest ignorance, and it is difficult to even suggest racism or lack of full appreciation for
Belafonte’s contribution.
The very movement that was celebrated at the Grammy in We are the world, and it’s value and impact internationally was the idea of Harry Belafonte. It was not just an idea but he used his influence, connections and funds, time and talent to see to it that this concept We are the world came to fruition and indeed provided hundreds of millions of dollars to help starving children in Africa; that is the measure of the man, not to mention his early support of the civil rights movement where he contributed constantly and was the first to put down over $60,000 then, it could end up a half $1,000,000 today, to fund the start of costs of the civil rights movement and to embrace Dr. Martin Luther King and his drive and commitment to justice and freedom. Here again he organized and reached out to artists performers and laid his own influence on the line to bring about resources for the plight of black people and the fight that was to take place in the United States, and stayed with that up to his death. It was his fight too for the elimination of apartheid and he brought artists and athletes together to achieve this goal and of course he brought to the entertainment platforms many international talents such as Odetta, Miriam Makeba and so many, selling out houses in Germany, Japan, and was always a pioneer in bringing in new talent and new ideas to the entertainment front. Many of the artists receiving Grammys today got their start because of Harry Belafonte. The Grammy cannot be silent on this oversight, and should immediately apologize to the family of Belafonte with a commitment for a full recognition of his contribution to the entertainment industry and in fact to the Grammy itself and to his impact internationally, from UNESCO to civil rights to abolishment of apartheid, to feeding hungry children in Africa, should commit themselves to providing the proper tribute that the next generation will fully understand the width and breadth of this man and his contribution to the world’s development. We are not questioning the tributes being made to the other performers/ entertainers, but if you put them all together they would not collectively have the impact and the contribution that
Belafonte has made to the entertainment world and to the world of human kindness. The Grammys can make this commitment now and not stay silent on this outrageous and shameful omission of this great man’s name, Harry Belafonte
