"We Must Unleash Radical Thought": Harry Belafonte's Stirring Speech Accepting NAACP Spingarn Medal

Рет қаралды 7,121

11 жыл бұрын

DemocracyNow.org - Along with his rise to worldwide stardom, the musician and actor Harry Belafonte has been deeply involved in social activism for decades. One of Dr. Martin Luther King's closest confidants, Belafonte helped organize the March on Washington in 1963. On Friday, the NAACP awarded Belafonte their highest honor, the Spingarn Medal. "Numerous strategies in the quest of our freedom have been played out at all levels of the social spectrum," Belafonte says in his acceptance speech. "What is missing I think from the equation in our struggle today is that we must unleash radical thought... America has never been moved to perfect our desire for greater democracy without radical thinking and radical voices being at the helm of any such a quest."
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Пікірлер: 26

@Bonobo3D 11 жыл бұрын

Profoundly moving speech from a brilliant man. Thank you Mr. Belafonte.

@eddasimon1427 2 жыл бұрын

Great man🍀🌹❤️

@Streunekater 11 жыл бұрын

A moving speech. Thanks for this video from Germany! I hope soon the peoples of the world will just MAKE democracy instead of hoping that our politicians will... (They never would...)

@steviebob459 11 жыл бұрын

Speech without action is just a speech.

@richardlynch1094 Жыл бұрын

It makes me so happy to know that Mr. Belafonte lived long enough to see an African-American become president. As a gay man, I'm hoping for an open LGBT president before I die. RIP King!

@Just-Human Жыл бұрын

I'm the first Wookie to drive a car....i want my deserved recognition.

@ljwoolley1950 11 жыл бұрын

How old are you Mr. Marine?

@ljwoolley1950 11 жыл бұрын

Really?

@ljwoolley1950 11 жыл бұрын

yes, I know very well what the military gets. My brother died for this country when I was 17 years old. I am against socialism for many reasons, but mostly because all the foreigners come here and live off the US people. This to me is dispicable. This should be reserved for American Citizens only. Foreigners are taking over this country. We have foreigners working in our government. Do you really think that they are loyal to the US while they hold citizenships to foreign countries?

@The10thManRules 2 жыл бұрын

Your comment is that of an ignorant child, lacking any sort of intellectually honest world view, while clutching at your mother's apron strings. Communism, socialism, and capitalism are like Ford, Chevy, and Dodge. One is not inherently better than the others. Loyalty to one or another is as subjective and as vapid as a heated argument of school kids about which ones father more tough. It's as ridiculous as it is juvenile. A healthy democracy cannot be made up of profiteering politicians, religious zealots, media pundits, and apathetic spectators. Those apathetic spectators are as useless to a healthy democracy as a truck owner who doesn't maintain his vehicle on the most basic ways. The difference between politics and economics and a truck is that the owner of one should be the of the other. Meaning that the common citizenry should be educated to the point of enlightenment and self motivated enough to exercise critical oversight of government and make it works for the welfare of the common citizenry first and foremost. When the American common citizenry stops being apathetic, the distinct between communism, socialism, and capitalism will be as insignificant as the distinction between chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream.

@ljwoolley1950 11 жыл бұрын

Are you getting everything free here?

@kingjae1498 10 ай бұрын

No such thing as radical speech....there's controlled speech that appears radical....once u get to a certain level u play ball or life becomes difficult....once u realize that...u will realize it's all a show and everyone's acting....