| Last month, during a trip to
{ris to tape a television ap-
edrance and to prepare a series of
erformances scheduled for
vember, singer Harry Belafonte
Was interviewed by Guy Silva, re-
ter for the French Communist
ily, E’Humanite. From France,
j *elafonte went to Cuba where,
flong with actor Sidney Poitier
th whom he and his wife were
Gtioning, he spoke with
rters at a press conference in
Cuban Institute of Cinema
r The following are excerpts
| “9m the two interviews, giving a
Wely-seen glimpse of the in-
Mationally-known artist.

i Perhaps one of the main reasons
t Belafonte’s enduring appeal to
lidiences is his wide range of

he chose his repertoire and his
Wer is illuminating:

Art is universal. When the
ple of one culture are able to
‘PPreciate another culture, they
derstand what each has in
“Ommon. . . .

K. W. McDonough, Victoria,

rites I am enclosing a money

‘Ger for $15 — part of it to go for

ther one-year subscription and

rest as my contribution to help

pe the Tribune making its voice
rd.

just received a pay cheque
| “tay — my first real cheque in
Quite a while. Although my job is
}*Mporary (till August 31), I
Nanted to help celebrate my
} Pertial victory over unemployment
f Contributing to the Tribune’s
| Und drive. I ‘had hoped to be
| “orking before but I’m happy that
| 80t it in and that you did so well.
Though I don’t always agree with
Your analysis, I find the Tribune
Mformative, especially in its
est 2ee of the labor scene. At
ast one paper in B.C. will try to

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tA

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Concessions, sports, games and |
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Admission $1.00

~ BARBEQUE SALMON SUPPER
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' “GOOD CLEAN

“Wherever I am, I lookvat what’s
going on around me afd+I say to
myself, ‘What can I sing that-will
really touch-the audience?’ In each
country I try to find one or two of
their songs which reflect, so to
speak, my own philosophy. Where
my research is fruitless, I'll sing
about the things that matter to
most of us. Right now, it seems
that Chile falls in this category. I
have four songs which denounce
the Pinochet regime which, despite
his pretensions, is the opposite of
democracy. The responsibility of
the artist is to express these deep
feelings.”

Reporter Silva recalled that the
occasion of Belafonte’s last visit to
Paris had been a benefit for the
civil rights movement, at which he
appeared along with Reverend
Martin Luther King Jr. Silva
reminded him of a comment he had
made during a press conference:
“My Blackness pulls me toward
politics and my temperament
toward artistic activities, but
everything merges.” The reporter
asked if the statement still held
true. Belafonte responded:

explain. the workers’ problems!

Ray Garneau, Vancouver,
writes: Postmaster-general Bryce
Mackasey, in a statement on the
increases in postal rates, is quoted
in the press as saying: “For some
time, I’ve insisted that any in-
crease in postal rates shall only
come after I’m satisfied that the
post office has achieved a
- satisfactory level of efficiency.”

Here are a few examples of
“efficiency” in regard to second
class mail which I receive from the
following three places.

e Toronto — publication dated
June 7, received in Vancouver July
12.

e Montreal — publications dated
May 19.and June 16, both received

July 8.
e Wainright, Alta. — publication

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Food, refreshments, dancing

Sat., August 7
- 7:30 p.m.

Admission $2.00

“Yes and no. More than my

‘being Black, it is my sense of class

which guides my thought and
actions. Ever since I was a little
boy I have dreamed of an in-
dependent Africa which would
thrust a new spirit into the world.
Some of the newly independent
countries, alas, have governments
with Black heads of state and they
are still reactionary.

‘You have to fight the exploiting
class in power.”

Asked to comment on his own
professional career, Belafonte
said:

“Without any question, I owe it to
Paul Robeson. He influenced me
tremendously, both artistically
and politically as did W. E. B.
DuBois, a great black scholar. We
havelost a great man and my grief
is'deep.. ..

‘America has been ungrateful
to Robeson. At the time of his
death, a number of generations did
not know who he was. This is not so
today. We have created an
organization whose purpose is to
publish his letters and speeches —
his work. We want to keep alive the

dated June 9, received July 12
along with another issue dated
June 23. Wainright is one day’s trip
from Vancouver.

These are only.a few examples
but are indicative of the general
trend in mail service.

This kind of ‘‘efficiency’’ can

only result in many readers can- -

celling their subscriptions as news
and information received so late
after publication is rather stale. I
for one intend to cancel my sub-
scriptions to several publications.

If this is efficiency, what can we
expect if services become inef-
ficient? May I suggest that in
addition to mechanizing the ser-
vices — supposedly done to im-
prove efficiency — the postmaster-
general hire more workers and
treat them to better wages and
working conditions.

H. D., Vancouver, writes: Your
issue of July 9, 1976 carried a most
topical and enlightening article
entitled-‘‘Lebanon: historic origins
in a war for justice.”’ The article, I
gather, is the summation of an
interview with Nabil Haoui.

The last paragraph is the nub of
the situation when it points out that
reactionaries are frightened by the
rise of the left.

However, what must not be lost
sight of is the fact that it was only
possible for these countries to win
their independence because of the
assistance of progressive forces
and, first and foremost, the
socialist countries. The im-
perialists and their Zionist agents
are still menacing them. The task
of the imperialists is to create
fratricidal warfare among the
Arabs ‘and to break their ties with
the socialist countries. Kissinger’s
‘slithering’? diplomacy . un-
fortunately has met with some
success in this regard.

Belafonte: the artist and his views

HARRY BELAFONTE

memory and the deeds of one who
was a great man for all humanity.
We intend to show all governments
that it is not possible to meddle
with the truth indefinitely. To
speak of Robeson is much more
important than to speak of me. If
there had been no Robeson, there
would have been no Belafonte.”

Belafonte echoed many of this
thoughts on Robeson during the
press conference in Cuba where he
told reporters:

“Both Sidney and I are sure we
would not be here today if it were
not for Paul Robeson. He was not
only a great artist but a great
leader in the struggle for black
liberation in the U.S. Because of
his great sacrifices as a man and
as an artist, we were able to enjoy
many of our_own successes as
artists. And we have tried
whenever possible to follow in
many of his footsteps.”’

One of the little known aspects of
Belafonte’s political life is his
participation in the movement to
reopen the Roseburg case
spearheaded by the orphaned sons
of Ethel and Julius Rosenburg,
Robert and Michael Meeropol. “‘T
have always felt that the punish-
ment given the Rosenburgs was a
great miscarriage of justice,’’ the
singer commented. ‘All through
the years, I have supported the
right to reopen the case.”

Poitier and Belafonte both gave
their impressions of Cuba,
gathered over their nine-day visit
prior to the press conference.
Poitier said that he had come to

Cuba “‘especially to explore the
Guban people. through their
culture.

‘Nine million people must have,
I figured, film theatre, dance,
music, folklore that must be the
aggregate of their cultural ex-
perience. I have learned a great
deal about the Cuban people,
having listened to their music and
watched their dances and seen
their films... .”

Belafonte said that his most
profound impression was ‘the
great unity among the people, the
great sense of purpose that comes
from people, inthat there seems to
be a hope for the future of Cuba
that is expressed as I have never
seen it expressed anywhere else.”’

He mentioned having talked with
a young man of 21 who remem-
bered little of the country before
the revolution. ‘In him, I saw a

young man with one of the greatest -

hopes for the future,” he em-
phasized, ‘ta man who has the
opportunity to study wherever he
wants, to work wherever he wants.

“T don’t think any people could
ask any more of a society.”

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Dinner $2.50 Ph. 642-5120
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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 23, 1976—Page 7

- See