A BURNING HOUSE

A legendary singer’s candid commentary on race, civil rights, and social movements.

Drawn from a series of conversations with journalist Baker, Belafonte’s reflections on political activism begin with his heroes. Recounting his time with Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte constructs a genealogy for his own style of celebrity activism. Like his show business success, that activism peaked during the civil rights era but continued for decades after that. Racial inequality was his key issue, and, after mentioning his disadvantaged youth, he marvels at the opportunities he had to speak out. “Rather than let issues of race smother me,” he says, “they became a platform that allowed me to make alliances with men who sought my favor, and I’ve had some victorious experiences.” His triumphant note is meant to correct our understanding of the Civil Rights Movement—or at least his contributions to it. Although he occasionally seems frustrated that show business and movement politics had passed him by, the entertainer’s reflections are substantive, forthright, and push beyond easy platitudes. The book’s title offers a case in point. Toward the end of his life, a despondent King concluded that racial integration alone would not create the America of their dreams. He told Belafonte they were integrating into “a burning house.” An alarmed Belafonte asked King what they should do. “We just have to become firemen,” King replied. As Belafonte notes, “It was a simple answer to a complicated question, but it needed very little elaboration.” When Belafonte died in 2023, the tide of history was pulling away from his ideals. “I did not anticipate that the reign of Trumpism would be this long and that it would be this volatile,” he admits. Despite this “cruel turn of history,” or perhaps because of it, many readers are likely to benefit from Belafonte’s experiences and insights.

Savvy reflections on a lifetime of celebrity activism.