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<p><strong>Harry Belafonte</strong>, a singer, actor, and civil rights activist, has died at the age of 96, his publicist Ken Sunshine confirmed to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/25/entertainment/harry-belafonte-death/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.</p>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_2DEC070F-6F78-BDCF-142A-B8AF9577F038@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Sunshine said that Belafonte died Tuesday morning of congestive heart failure.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_2DEC070F-6F78-BDCF-142A-B8AF9577F038@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">&#8220;King Of Calypso&#8221; Dead At 96 From Congestive Heart Failure, Publicist Confirms</h3>
<p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_2DEC070F-6F78-BDCF-142A-B8AF9577F038@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Nicknamed the &#8220;King of Calypso&#8221; following his 1956 hit song “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” Belafonte went on to become a movie star after acting in the film adaption of &#8216;Carmen Jones.&#8217;</p>
<p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_2DEC070F-6F78-BDCF-142A-B8AF9577F038@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Additionally, he was equally well-known for being an activist and a fundamental supporter of the civil rights movement. Furthermore, he boldly jeopardized his career in entertainment for doing so.</p>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_A5C7D390-8B57-4AF4-757B-B8B353D688E1@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Harry Belafonte And His Friendship With MLK</h3>
<p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_A5C7D390-8B57-4AF4-757B-B8B353D688E1@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Belafonte ended up becoming a close friend of Rev. <strong>Martin Luther King Jr.</strong>. The two often met at the singer&#8217;s New York apartment to strategize about civil rights issues.</p>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_A5C7D390-8B57-4AF4-757B-B8B353D688E1@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">Growing up as the son of impoverished Jamaican parents in Harlem helped shape his political consciousness and contempt for injustice.</p>
<p data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_A5C7D390-8B57-4AF4-757B-B8B353D688E1@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">As widely recognized as he was for being an entertainer, Belafonte once said, &#8220;activism (comes) first.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder" data-uri="archive.cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/paragraph_14DE323D-8F59-BDB3-203B-B8B353DF6B53@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-analytics-observe="off">&#8220;I’ve often responded to queries that ask, &#8216;When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?'&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/books/2011/11/26/harry-belafonte-talks-about-his-life-as-an-activist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dallas Morning News</a> in 2011. &#8220;My response to the question is that I was an activist long before I became an artist. They both service each other, but the activism is first.&#8221;</p>
</blockquote>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">Belafonte&#8217;s Later Years, Awards, And Surviving Family</h3>
<p>In his older years, Belafonte continued his career in entertainment, despite walking with a cane. Additionally, he remained committed to racial and justice-related causes.</p>
<p>Belafonte was awarded the NAACP’s highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, in 2013, telling the audience that &#8220;radical thinking and voices&#8221; are crucial &#8220;to perfect our desire for greater democracy,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/25/entertainment/harry-belafonte-death/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a> reports.</p>
<blockquote><p>“America has never been moved to perfect our desire for greater democracy without radical thinking and radical voices being at the helm of any such quest,” he said.</p></blockquote>
<p>In 1989, Belafonte received a Kennedy Center Honor, a National Medal of Arts in 1994, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.</p>
<p>He is survived by his wife Pamela, his children Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, Shari Belafonte, Gina Belafonte, David Belafonte, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/25/entertainment/harry-belafonte-death/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.</p>
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