Belafonte recalls M.L.K. Jr.

Legendary performer Harry Belafonte owned the Eynon Ballroom in the Mark C. Chamberlain Student Center on Martin Luther King Day 2010, capturing the attention of close to 400 audience members with stories of the slain civil rights leader and his assessment of how far people have yet to travel to defeat not only racial discrimination but also economic discrimination.

Belafonte, 82 - singer, actor, activist and friend of Dr. King - was the guest speaker at Rowan University's 24th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast on Jan. 18. The event, which always draws a packed house, was sponsored by the Rowan University Foundation to honor Dr. King's achievements. The breakfast benefits the William H. Myers Scholarship Endowment Fund, which provides financial support for high-achieving minority students at Rowan. Since 1987, the annual breakfast has raised about a quarter of a million dollars, assisting 84 scholars. Today there are 14 scholars.

At the beginning

Belafonte recalled an early phone call from Rev. King asking the entertainer for a few minutes of his time. After hearing Rev. King speak, those few minutes turned into a five-hour conversation in a church basement. "(I) was absolutely fascinated and overwhelmed by what he had to say," recalled Belafonte, who met Rev. King in the 1950s. "What he was seeking was to have alliances (to end inhumanity to others)."

"He was a great leader," Belafonte said. "What you in this room do not know are those moments that he wept . . . He always doubted his capacity. He felt the calling, but he doubted the capacity."

On any given day, Belafonte said, any of Rev. King's flock could have been asked to go to their deaths. Indeed, more than 2,000 civil rights activists are still unaccounted for, Belafonte said.

In addition to a storied career as concert singer, recording artist, movie star, Broadway performer, television star and producer, Belafonte himself has a long history as an activist and public servant. President John F. Kennedy appointed him cultural advisor for the Peace Corps, and such diverse groups as the American Jewish Congress, the NAACP and the Boy Scouts of America honored him. The entertainer also contributed to ending apartheid in South Africa and assisting in the release of Nelson Mandela. Disturbed by war, famine, drought and more in Africa, Belafonte helped spearhead "We Are the World" in 1985. In 1987, Belafonte accepted the appointment as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He earned the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize and the Kennedy Center Honors for excellence in the performing arts. He was the first recipient of the Nelson Mandela Courage Award and was honored at the White House with the 1994 National Medal of Arts. Today, the father of four and grandfather of five continues to devote himself to civil and human rights issues, particularly in the United States and Africa.

Activist and artist

"I was an activist before I was an artist," said Belafonte, who was born in Harlem and raised in part in his mother's native Jamaica. "I was an activist because I was born (in) poverty," During his presentation at Rowan, he also touched on the horrors of war, prison populations and the current earthquake devastation in Haiti.

Rowan President Dr. Donald Farish told the audience that it was particularly important for young people to hear Belafonte, who could provide for them "a reality that cannot be gleaned from their textbooks." He noted that while discrimination is not dead, society as a whole condemns it and voiced sentiments similar to Belafonte when he said discrimination is still discrimination even if it shifts from race to economics.

Young people made up part of the Rowan crowd, from a pre-schooler to teens and college students. The audience also included officials from Glassboro and Lawnside, church and civic groups, Rowan staff, county and state officials, various business leaders and representatives from the breakfast's sponsors: Sodexo, PSEG Nuclear, Atlantic City Electric, Holman Automotive Group, Liberty Mutual, NuStar Energy LP, Valero and Fort Nassau Graphics.

An impact

Bob Braun, senior vice president of nuclear operations, PSEG Nuclear, said his company has sponsored the Rowan breakfast for 15 years. "PSEG is very strongly committed to the ideals Rev. Martin Luther King stood for and demonstrates our commitment to those ideals through functions such as this."

The Glassboro Orchid Club filled two tables this year. According to club president Denise Williams, the group has attended the breakfast every year since it started. "We keep coming to support Rowan University in its efforts (with) the scholarship program and in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King," said Williams, an administrative assistant in Rowan's History Department.

Edith Myers-Spearman, sister of the late Bill Myers - a long-time Rowan staff member and devoted mentor to Rowan students for whom the Rowan scholarship is named - joined three tables of family at the breakfast. "We're very humbled by the idea they named this after Bill. We're very grateful that Dr. Farish and Rowan University continue Bill's legacy."

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