Spotlight on Humphrey Nominee: Harry Belafonte

On May 12, legendary entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte will receive the civil rights community’s highest honor, the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil and Human Rights Award, for his lifelong commitment to civil and human rights.

Belafonte began his career as a club singer in New York in the 1940s and went on to be one of the most respected and successful artists of the 1950s and 1960s.  He won a Tony Award in 1954 for “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” and in 1959 became the first Black man to win an Emmy Award for his first solo TV special “Tonight with Belafonte.”  Also in 1959, his breakthrough album, “Calypso,” was the first album to sell more than one million copies. 

Beyond his success as an artist,  Belafonte became a strong and dedicated advocate for civil and human rights.  He was an early supporter of the movement and a confidant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963, financed numerous voter registration drives, and raised funds to free imprisoned civil rights protesters, including bailing King out of Birmingham City Jail during the 1963 Birmingham campaign.

Belafonte was a cultural advisor to the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy and was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987.  He was an outspoken opponent of apartheid and is known for his longstanding advocacy for the people of Haiti.

Visit our Hubert H. Humphrey Civil and Human Rights Award Dinner page for more information on tickets, sponsorship, and the honorees.