How Harry Belafonte embraced Black culture in music | American Masters | PBS

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On September 21, 1998, Harry Belafonte spoke about the intersection of music and race and the influence that Paul Robeson had on his career and the Black community as a whole. Interview conducted for "American Masters—Paul Robeson: Here I Stand" (1999), directed by St. Clair Bourne.

Chapters:
00:00 The plight of African Americans
03:02 When Harry Belafonte met Paul Robeson
06:57 How Africa was represented through Robeson's music
07:51 Choosing to make Eurocentric music erases the "inner soul"
09:03 Robeson's embrace of the history and dignity of Black people
09:50 Spiritual music was a vehicle for the Black community to express themselves
11:16 The perception versus the reality of Caribbean music
12:33 How "The Banana Boat Song" represented the working class
13:53 Final conversations with Robeson
15:32 "The essence of life... is in fact, the journey itself."

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The American Masters Digital Archive includes over 1,000 hours of footage from more than 1,000 original, never-before-seen, full, raw interviews: a treasure trove of the movers and shakers of American culture, including Maya Angelou, Patti Smith, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Matthew Broderick, Carl Reiner, Joan Rivers, Audra McDonald, Lee Grant, Patricia Bosworth, Sidney Lumet, William Buckley and many others.

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Now in its 36th season on PBS, American Masters was recently nominated for an IDA Award, two Primetime Emmy® Awards and was awarded two News & Documentary Emmys. The series illuminates the lives and creative journeys of our nation’s most enduring artistic giants—those who have left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape—through compelling, unvarnished stories. Setting the standard for documentary film profiles, the series has earned widespread critical acclaim and 28 Emmy Awards—including 10 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special—14 Peabodys, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards, an Oscar, and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 250 masters past and present, the American Masters website offers full episodes, film outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast American Masters: Creative Spark, educational resources, digital original series and more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.