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Harry Belafonte is not just one of the greatest entertainers of our time; he has led one of the great American lives of the previous hundred years. Now, this amazing icon explains to us the storyline of that life, providing us its full breadth, making us share in the problems, the tragedies, and, most of all, the inspiring triumphs. Belafonte grew up, poverty-ridden, in Harlem and Jamaica. His mom was a complicated girl - caring but withdrawn, eternally angry and almost never satisfied. His father was faraway and actually abusive. It had been not a simple life, but it instilled in young Harry the hard-nosed toughness of metropolis and the resilient spirit of the Caribbean lifestyle. In addition, it gave him the drive to make good and route his anger into actions that were positive and life-affirming. His journey led to the U.S. Navy during World Warfare II, where he came across an onslaught of racism but also fell in love with the girl he eventually hitched. After the conflict he moved back to Harlem, where he drifted between strange careers until he observed his first stage play - and found the life span he wanted to lead. Theater exposed a whole " new world ", one that was artistic and political and made him realize that not only do he have a need to express himself, he had too much to express. He started as an actor - and has always thought of himself as a result - but was quickly spotted in a musical, started a tentative nightclub career, and soon was on the meteoric rise to become one of the world's most popular singers. Belafonte was never content to simply be an entertainer, however. Even at gigantic personal cost, he cannot shy from activism. Initially it was a question of personal dignity: breaking down racial obstacles that acquired never been destroyed before, reaching an enduring attractiveness with both white and dark followers. Then his activism broadened to a lifelong, ardent involvement in the centre of the civil protection under the law movement and countless other political and social causes. The sections increasing of the civil protection under the law movement are possibly the most relocating the reserve: his close friendship with Martin Luther King, Jr.; his role as a conduit between Dr. King and the Kennedys; his up-close involvement with the demonstrations and awareness of the hatred and potential violence around him; his devastation at Dr. King's fatality and his continuing struggle for what he thinks is right. But My Song is a lot more than the annals of a activity. It is an extremely personal go through the people in that movement and the globe where Belafonte has long migrated. He has befriended many beloved and important statistics in both entertainment and politics - Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sidney Poitier, John F. Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Robert Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Tony Bennett, Expenses Clinton - and writes about them with the same exceptional candor with which he unveils himself on every page. That is a reserve that pulls no punches, and transforms both a loving and critical eyesight on our country's ethnical recent. As both an musician and an activist, Belafonte has touched countless lives. With My Song, he has found yet another way to amuse and inspire us. It is an electrifying memoir from a exceptional man.
