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Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Bellanfanti, Jr. (born March 1, 1927), better known as Harry Belafonte, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful Caribbean American pop stars in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) is the first million selling album by a single artist. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". He has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, most notably in Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957) and Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and '60s, and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s confidants. Throughout his career he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Since 1987 he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In recent years he has been a vocal critic of the policies of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations. Harry Belafonte now acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.

Jamaica

Jamaica (i/əˈmkə/) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, comprising the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island, 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island containing the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jamaica is the fifth-largest island country in the Caribbean.

Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Named Santiago, it remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa, followed later by Chinese and Indian indentured labour. All slaves were fully emancipated in 1838, with independence from the United Kingdom achieved on 6 August 1962.

Jamaica (song)

"Jamaica" is a song by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive that appears on the 1979 album Rock n' Roll Nights. It features Jim Clench on lead vocals. It was written by well-known songwriter Jim Vallance. It was released as a single but did not chart. The song, along with "Heartaches," was played live on American Bandstand in February 1979 to support the Rock n' Roll Nights album release.

Using different lyrics, Rick Springfield remade the song under the title "Kristina" on his 1982 album Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet.

References

Jamaica (novel)

Jamaica : A Novel (2007) is a novel by Australian author Malcolm Knox. It won the Colin Roderick Award in 2007, and was shortlisted for the Fiction category of the 2008 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

Plot summary

A group of 6 Australian friends - white, middle-aged males - combine to compete in a marathon relay swim in treacherous waters off Jamaica. But even before the race begins fractures appear in the relationships, with drug-taking, hidden secrets and personal crises coming to dominate.

Notes

  • Dedication: The Jamaica portrayed in these pages, and all those who exist there, are works of fiction. This book is dedicated to the facts who got out of the way of a good story.
  • Reviews

  • Patrick Ness in The Guardian found that "Alongside Tim Winton's Breath, this is the second excellent novel in as many months to examine masculinity and male friendship in Australian sport, a subject that might seem of limited intrinsic interest. But it's not the song, it's how it's sung, and if Winton is an aria, Knox is early Rolling Stone.."
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    Goin' Down Jordan

    by: Harry Belafonte

    We are going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan
    Let's walk the heavenly road
    I was livin' me life as an Anglican
    Let me tell you how I changed to a Baptist man
    I was livin' me life as an Anglican
    Let me tell you how I changed to a Baptist man
    One night I was walking down Fred'rick street
    Poor and hungry, no shoes on me feet
    I passed a door that said "Down with sin"
    It was the smell of food that pull me in
    We are going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan
    Let's walk the heavenly road
    Well, the leader walked up and he shook my hand
    Said "I want you to be a holy man"
    Right away I made a big decision
    Me stomach was a growling for this new religion
    I started over to get some food
    When some sisters approached me in a mystic mood
    They dunked me in the water 'bout four, five times
    I couldn't see a thing 'cause I was almost blind
    Singing I've got a sword in my hand
    I'm going to use it well
    I was drenched to me skin and I was feeling cold
    But the sight of the food made me take a hold
    The sisters started to break away
    They said "Kneel, believers, kneel and pray"
    I prayed and I prayed in a new-found style
    In the meantime me taste buds was running wild
    I was about to fall clear out of me seat
    When a man jumped up and said "Before you eat
    You got to mourn, children, mourn
    You got to mourn, children, mourn
    And if you want to go to Heaven when you die,
    You got to mourn, children, mourn
    Well, before I baptized I had plenty pain,
    Now I find myself a free man again
    Well, before I baptized I had plenty pain,
    Now I find myself a free man again
    Don't talk 'bout the leaders they treat me good,
    Plenty sweet oil and plenty food
    Brother it was then that I realized
    Ev'ry man on earth should be baptized
    Going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan
    We are going down, Jordan




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