LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When people of a certain age hear the song phrase “Day-O, Day-O,” the singer Harry Belafonte immediately comes to mind. The 1956 single “Banana Boat,” from which it comes, was synonymous with the performer. Sales of the album it was on made Belafonte the first artist to sell 1 million albums. But there is more to the performer’s life than singing and acting.
During the Ali Institute’s Peace and Justice Week at the University of Louisville, Belafonte’s daughter, Gina, will host a screening of a documentary she helped produce about her father titled “Sing Your Song.” A 2011 Sundance award-winning film, it tells not just about the performer’s career, but also about his activism as a participant in the civil rights movement and as a humanitarian working for social justice.
The screening and Gina Belafonte’s keynote talk will be Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, lower level, Ekstrom Library, Belknap Campus. Admission is free and open to the public. The Ali Institute and vice provost for diversity and international affairs are sponsors.
Other Peace and Justice Week highlights include informal discussion by UofL faculty in brown-bag lunch talks at the Ali Institute, Room 280, Ekstrom Library. Attendees should bring a lunch. The institute will provide drinks and dessert. Topics are: