LyrArc Article Gist
Belafonte is a rare activist from the civil rights era who brought much attention to civil rights and humanitarian issues. Entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte worked with Martin Luther King in the civil rights marches of the 1960's. He helped organize the March on Washington in 1963. Shown in WSJ is a rare black and white photo of Belafonte with the Rev. Martin Luther King and civil rights marchers in Montgomery Alabama in 1965. Belafonte enlisted in the US Navy and after discharge lived in New York City. He attended the Dramatic Workshop of The New School of Social Research where he discovered his passion for the theater. He won all four awards, Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Oscar and covered music, theatre, film with his versatility and skills. He helped popularize Caribbean style music in the US with the album Calypso in the 1950's with over a million copies sold, including Day-O (the Banana Boat Song). He was equally passionate in film about the emerging consciousness of black people in the Caribbean and Africa as countries became independent in the 50's and 60's. He was portrayed in that role in Island in the Sun in the changing politics of the colonial era in the Caribbean. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Black and white pictures from The Guardian of the roles played by Sidney Poitier, who died at age 94, showing black people with new dignity and freedom during the fifties and sixties. The struggles of this period ended segregation in the US. The struggles from the fifties started the fight against Apartheid in South Africa. Sidney Poitier played a role in the emancipation in South Africa with the 1951 movie made from the classic book Cry The Beloved Country portraying the troubles of Apartheid segregated society. In 1996 he played the role of Mandela with Sidney Caine as De Klerk in the movie on the reconciliation and the end of Apartheid South Africa. Between these years he took part with Harry Belafonte in the March on Washington made by Martin Luther King in 1963.