I met Harry Belafonte thanks to Pete Seeger.
Many of you already know this story, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. In November of 2013, I opened for Pete Seeger. That evening I met his grandson, we stayed in touch, and when Pete died a few months later, this grandson reached out to ask if I’d be involved in a festival celebrating both of his grandparents. In the summer of 2014, I found myself getting ready to go on stage at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and bumping into Harry Belafonte back stage.
This meeting led to a series of other encounters, with the most exciting being an invitation by Mr. B himself to come and perform at his music festival Many Rivers to Cross, held in Georgia to promote voting rights and boost voter registration in advance of the 2016 presidential election.
The festival was amazing. The artist barn was one of the most random groupings of people containing Carlos Santana, Rosario Dawson, Dave Matthews, Danny Glover, Common - needless to say, I did not feel cool enough to be in that barn.
With that said - after the finale, which ended with a big sing-along including (you guessed it) “We Shall Overcome”, I made my way backstage and bumped into Mr. B himself. I figured that it had been a busy few days, and he would have no way of remembering who I was, so I was prepared to re-introduce myself. His daughter pulled me in his direction saying: “Dad, Kristen wants to say hello to you,” and without missing a beat he said: “Oh, It’s so nice to see you! How have you been? I haven’t seen you since Lincoln Center!”
We chatted for a few minutes about shows and plans, and he wanted to know about my new music, but I can remember thinking the entire time - “Harry Belafonte knows who I am, and Harry Belafonte cares about who I am!”
This man was the biggest star of that festival. Everyone from John Legend to Maxwell to Wanda Sykes wanted a chance to say hello to him, and he acted like it was just another day, just another chance to meet with some friends, and just another chance to celebrate humanity and fight for justice.
Of course, I’ll remember Mr. B’s contributions to the world. I think of him as a great model for the way that we should push ourselves to use our talents and make this world a better place. But I will most remember him as someone who was kind to an “unknown” folk singer, and saw her as someone worth spending time with. I appreciate so much when famous people remember that they are human too. And I think that he appreciated that all I wanted from him was a human chat - nothing more.
We stayed in touch after the festival, I signed on as an artist partner for his non-profit Sankofa.org, and I attended some meditation sessions that his family hosted over zoom during COVID, but that festival was the last time that I saw him.
The world will remember Harry Belafonte as an artist and an activist, and in addition I will remember him as a kind man who really cared.
Rest easy, Mr. B.
