"Why should this septuagenarian going on octogenarian be more interesting than any other?"
Close readers of conservative drivel will immediately recognize that question as Roger "Hey Mom and Dad, Aren't My New Friends Just Whack?" Simon's.
In a perfect example of why Pajamas Media is almost without fail behind the curve, its "accidental" CEO is still kvetching about Harry Belafonte.
Anyway, to answer your question, Rog:
Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and one of Martin Luther King's confidants. In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark primetime television special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm, which made the show's sponsor, Plymouth Motors, nervous. Plymouth wanted to cut out the segment but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow the special to be aired. American newspapers published articles reporting the controversy and when the special aired it grabbed high viewing figures. Clark's gesture marked the first time in which two people of different races made friendly bodily contact on US television.
In 1987, he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. In 2002 Africare awarded him the Bishop John T. Walker Distinuished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa.
Harry, you see, has actually done shit. And it makes his a voice worth listening to. Whether you agree with him is pretty goddamn irrelevant.
By the way: it's the sign of a lesser man that you always need to whip out your Civil Rights bona fides -- "I have always been an optimist and, almost always, an interventionist, all the way back to my days in the Civil Rights Movement." -- in order to score a cheap point. Mr. Belafonte, you see, lets the public record speak for itself.
Apparently, your political conversion didn't bring with it any sense of modesty.
In a perfect example of why Pajamas Media is almost without fail behind the curve, its "accidental" CEO is still kvetching about Harry Belafonte.
Anyway, to answer your question, Rog:
Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and one of Martin Luther King's confidants. In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark primetime television special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm, which made the show's sponsor, Plymouth Motors, nervous. Plymouth wanted to cut out the segment but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow the special to be aired. American newspapers published articles reporting the controversy and when the special aired it grabbed high viewing figures. Clark's gesture marked the first time in which two people of different races made friendly bodily contact on US television.
In 1987, he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. In 2002 Africare awarded him the Bishop John T. Walker Distinuished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa.
Harry, you see, has actually done shit. And it makes his a voice worth listening to. Whether you agree with him is pretty goddamn irrelevant.
By the way: it's the sign of a lesser man that you always need to whip out your Civil Rights bona fides -- "I have always been an optimist and, almost always, an interventionist, all the way back to my days in the Civil Rights Movement." -- in order to score a cheap point. Mr. Belafonte, you see, lets the public record speak for itself.
Apparently, your political conversion didn't bring with it any sense of modesty.
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