Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“But what about the lurkers?”

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Everybody saw this coming.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Bark louder, little dog.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Republicans in disarray!

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Respite Open Thread: Happy 95th Birthday, Harry Belafonte

Respite Open Thread: Happy 95th Birthday, Harry Belafonte

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Interesting photos / recap, if you can stand the format (I didn’t know Belafonte “was named Grand Marshal at the N.Y.C. Pride Parade” in 2013):

Reader Interactions

15Comments

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    Happy Birthday.

    Liked this snippet from the Nation article. Belafonte came up with his list of guests, including Dr King.

    Shortly after Belafonte turned in his list, “we got a visit from an NBC VP,” Schultz recalls. “He said, ‘That’s great—you’re having Dr. King. But he’s not gonna get into that civil-rights stuff, is he?’ Harry just deadpanned, ‘No, he’s going to talk about opera.’ That was really the end of it—Harry solved it with a joke, right there in the office.”

    Just amazing.

  6. 6.

    SmallAxe

    Happy Birthday to him. I used to be a doorman at the Ritz and checked he and his fam in during Kennedy Center Honors way back when. Out of hundreds of celebrities he remains one of the top 3 with the most instant charisma I ever saw. Absolutely lit up a room with his glow and charm. Love him

  8. 8.

    SmallAxe

    @eclare: thanks, glad I could share here. I always mention him as one of my favorites and that whole weekend he shined. Easy to see why he’s been so successful as a humanitarian

  9. 9.

    Anotherlurker

    “Jamaica Farewell” is a song of firsts for me.  I pestered my mother to buy me the 45. It was also the first song I learned to play on the guitar.  Even as a 7 year old, the lyrics made me smile but also brought a tear to my eye.

    His social consciousness and activism, combined with the beauty of his music has been an inspiration to me.

    Thank you, Mr. Belafonte.

  10. 10.

    JMG

    Pretty amazing he’s still going when he’s one of the musicians I remember my parents playing on their “hi-fi” system when I was a little kid. Best wishes.

  11. 11.

    realbtl

    I took my 8 year old daughter to see him in the early 90s as I figured he was old then.  Also took her to Louis Armstrong around the same time.

    Congrats Mr. Belefonte.

  14. 14.

    J R in WV

    Many years ago (in the 1970s) I worked for WV public TV with a young woman who was Mr Belafonte’s daughter. She was a wonderful person to work with, and I have no doubt Harry is just as great to work with as she was.

    Everyone who ever met Harry loves him, which says it all, doesn’t it?

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