Belafonte was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in April 2013Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist who broke down racial barriers, has died aged 96.
As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled numerous 1960s initiatives to bring civil rights to Black Americans; campaigned against poverty, apartheid and Aids in Africa; and supported leftwing political figures such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.
The cause of death was congestive heart failure, his spokesman told the New York Times.
Belafonte was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 2013, for his work in music and civil rights. Belafonte walked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1965, in the third and successful Selma-to-Montgomery march. Read more