Legendary activist, actor still pushing black community forward

exception of the grass-roots activism of Black Lives Matters, Mr. Belafonte is not pleased by what he sees happening today on the civil rights front.

“I’ve been disappointed by the lack of passion and activism from the black community as a whole,” he said. “There should be a more robust response from our community when a young man like [former San Francisco 49er quarterback] Colin Kaepernick raises his voice for justice.

“We should hear more from the Congressional Black Caucus, black intellectuals and black culture. We’ve become distracted and now we’re paying the price for it. [President Donald] Trump has moved into the [White House].”

He believes this generation of civil rights activists aren’t as engaged because the older generation didn’t successfully hand off the baton to those who followed.

“They don’t have the [passion for activism] because there are no more legal lynchings. There are no more legally enforced segregation laws. We have the right to vote. All theses things are now ours. Now, we have to make a conscious effort to protect that progress from slipping away.

“Young people who feel they have nothing to be grateful for have only to look at our history to recover their passion,” he said.

Mr. Belafonte kept hitting upon themes that will be visited often in his speech on Friday.

“Those who have inherited the mantle of the civil rights movement have become distracted harvesting the fruits of the movement and have not been paying attention to what’s happening in the nation,” he said.

“They have forgotten the principles of resistance and now Trump is upon us. It will be up to this generation to reclaim the mantle of resistance.”

And it won’t be an easy problem to solve.

“Nothing is easy. Slavery wasn’t easy,” he said. “That’s the sorriest explanation that can be given for the condition we’re in. White folks aren’t ever going to make it easy for you.

“We have to stop being moved by the principles of greed and cashing in. People may have been more involved and educated about the issues several generations ago because we were fighting for our freedom. We were fighting for access, our humanity and our basic human rights. We thought we were going to be consumed by nuclear war, so we spoke up.”

Mr. Belafonte is skeptical about the ability of conventional political parties to turn things around.

“The Democratic Party is in jeopardy,” he said. “Even though the Republicans are in disarray, we’ve not been able to step to the table.”

He said he is impressed by various activists and individuals working outside the Democratic Party orthodoxy to bring change at the grass-roots level.

“Look, there has to be a greater sense of social consciousness,” he said. “We have to take our kids and nurture them and show them the history of the movement.”

As his activism winds down from the inevitable gravity of age, Mr. Belafonte continues to be resolute and cleareyed about his mission. When he decamps from this mortal coil sometime in the next decade, he doesn’t want his epitaph to say: “Friend of Martin Luther King, Paul Robeson and Eleanor Roosevelt. Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer and acclaimed actor who sold the first million-selling album.”

Mr. Belafonte wants his epitaph to simply say “Patriot.”

Tickets for the event at the Carnegie Music Hall are $25-$50. For the dinner package, tickets are $175. The lecture is 8 to 10. p.m.