Harry Belafonte 1927-2023

I can recall feeling sad a few years ago that he won't be around forever. Piri' Miri Muli' readers know that I am hyperattuned to the art and politics of the Caribbean, and Belafonte was one of the rare figures that showed you can create great art for a large audience and never compromise your principles, never betraying the legal and economic emancipation of the people, in times and island places that have become contemporary laboratories for celebrity con artistry. Modernissmo and Negritude are that and only that, despite the robust tradition of prominent pretenders.