‘We are all a direct result of his legacy.’ Local theater artists and Robeson House & Museum officials remember Harry Belafonte
Philadelphia area theater artists and officials at the Paul Robeson House & Museum remember Harry Belafonte's dedication to using art to call for justice.
During the last 10 years of Paul Robeson’s life, a number of well-known actors, singers, and musicians visited Robeson at the Philadelphia house on Walnut Street where Robeson lived with his older sister, Marian Forsythe.
Among those celebrities were Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and Harry Belafonte, who considered Robeson an important mentor in his life.
Belafonte, who died Tuesday at age 96, had served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific at the end of World War II when he returned to New York when he was about 20 years old.
One story has it that Belafonte was working as a janitor when he attended a play at the American Negro Theater in Harlem. It captivated him so much he decided then to become an actor.
In another interview with PBS, Belafonte said he was working at the American Negro Theater with a group of actorswhen Robeson entered and changed his perspective on art and social justice.
During a discussion on Democracy Now, Belafonte called Robeson part of his “moral compass.”
“For me, Mr. Robeson was the sparrow. He was an artist who made those of us in the arts understand the depth of that calling, when he said, ‘Artists are the gatekeepers of truth.’ We are civilization’s radical voice,” Belafonte said during the broadcast.
On Tuesday, officials at the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. which owns the Paul Robeson House & Museum, issued a statement of condolences to Belafonte’s family:
“We are saddened to learn of the passing today of Harry Belafonte. In addition to being a wonderful singer and actor, he was also an activist and humanitarian who has left an indelible mark on all who came to know him.
“We are grateful that Mr. Belafonte cochaired our 125th Birthday Celebration for Paul Robeson just two weeks ago. While he was unable to physically attend the event, his daughter Gina Belafonte attended as our keynote speaker.
“She shared such fond memories of the close relationship between her father and Paul Robeson and the impact Robeson had on Mr. Belafonte’s career as well as how they both used their public platforms for social-justice causes. We will forever remember Mr. Belafonte as a national treasure and icon.”
“What I’ve known about his work and his life has defined everything I’ve done.”
When Belafonte visited Robeson, who lived at 4951 Walnut Street from 1966 until his death in 1976, Belafonte often stayed with Vernoca Michael’s family, across the street at 4918 Walnut.
“He loved him. He almost worshiped Uncle Paul,” Michael said of Belafonte. “He [Belafonte] was a wonderful person to be around.”
Michael is vice president of the board of the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the former executive director of the Robeson House. Her father, the Rev. E. Raphael Michael, the pastor of Wesley AME Zion Church, and Robeson were close friends. That is why Michael calls Robesonher “adopted uncle.”
“People in the industry were telling [Belafonte] if you visit Paul Robeson, you’re going to ruin your career. But it never hurt his career,” she said.
Robeson had been blacklisted during the 1950s’ McCarthy era because of his labor union activism and visits to the Soviet Union.
Belafonte and Robeson “would get together and talk about the racial issues of the time,” Michael said. In the 1970s, Belafonte was protesting apartheid in South Africa and they would talk about that, she said.
At the Shipley School Tuesday afternoon, Ozzie Jones, a director who heads the theater department at Shipley’s Middle School, was about to go into an afternoon session with students when he took time to talk about Belafonte’s impact as an artist.
“I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but what I’ve known about his work and his life has defined everything I’ve done,” Jones said in a telephone interview.
“I have based my whole career, in using art and education, to make direct change on what the nature of the world looks like. I don’t think there’s been anyone who has been a more direct example of that than him.”
“I have worked with Spike Lee, and [Belafonte] was a direct mentor of Spike Lee’s. I don’t think we can grasp yet how far Harry Belafonte’s fingers reach into American culture,” Jones added.
Walter DeShields, the cofounder and co-artistic director of Theatre in the X, which is based in West Philadelphia, said he considers both Belafonte and Paul Robeson heroes.
Theatre in the X is a community-based theater that was created in 2013 to provide the people of West Philadelphia and Black people at large the opportunity to see professional quality theater in their neighborhood for no cost.
“I think like Belafonte that art is always activism,” DeShields said. “You can use the platform to show society another perspective that might be helpful for freeing people from oppression, or opening people’s eyes.”
He also pointed out that Belafonte’s most famous song, “Day O: The Banana Boat Song,” is a work song about the poor working conditions and poor pay of the men who labored to ship the bananas.
“I have benefited from many of the choices he [Belafonte] made for his career and the barriers he broke,” DeShields said. “We are all a direct result of his legacy.”