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August 10, 2008 - A quick update....

The Gathering For Justice web page has been re-made, and become a Community....
In the works.... The Film Biography on Mr. B's Life is in Post-Production.... It will be "months" before a distribution network is established.... Stay tuned....

Belafonte calls for greater civic involvement in policy decisions

Thursday, June 19, 2008: RENOWNED singer-actor and seasoned civil rights activist Harry Belafonte says civil society needs to get more involved in the policy-making process and lessen the influence of private sector lobbyists for the benefit of the young..... engage the man who could become America's first black president on Election Day in November.

"It is interesting to me, not only intellectually but politically, that that idea of change remains very much abstract. He (Obama) has said much and will continue to say much that is required, but nobody still has a handle on what does he mean by change. if each and everyone of you have a sense of the need for change and see in him the instrument of change you bring your concept to him of what you think that change should be," .... it is pointless just to expect Obama to bring change without any civic assistance.

LGen The Honorable Roméo A. Dallaire, Good Will Ambassador Harry Belafonte, and UNICEF Canada President Nigel Fisher first met eachother in Rwanda in 1994. Fourteen years later, they meet again in Quebec for a humanitarian cause: that of children affected by war. Le Soleil, Patrice Laroche

Harry Belafonte in quebec City

by Judy Paul

June, 4, 5 & 6, 2008 - Harry Belafonte was in Quebec City for two UNICEF Fundraisers and the UNICEF General Annual Meeting & Conference.

Thursday Evening

The first fundraiser was on Thursday Night at le Musée national des Beaux-arts du Québec. The $1,000.00 a plate evening started with the 65 guests gathered for cocktails. Mr. Belafonte and his wife Pam arrived soon after, shaking hands with the predominately french crowd who, for the most part, where not too aware of his entrance or importance.

General Roméo Dallaire (who served as Force Commander of the ill-fated United Nations peacekeepers in Rwanda between 1993 and 1994) and his wife were also there, mingling quietly with the crowd.

The 5-course supper was organized by Quebec UNICEF leader and event initiator Michel Bell, and his wife Nathalie Christiaens. Mr. Bell was master of ceremonies, and, also an artist, had created a large original oil painting representing Mr. Belafonte to be auctioned off with all proceeds of the evening going to support programs for children in conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


A close-up of the painting by Michel Bell showing Harry connecting with Akimane, an 11-year-old Rwandan refugee, in a UNICEF truck at Buhimba. Zaire, 1994. The original painting sold for $35,00.00. A few prints, individually signed by Mr. Belafonte, are still available through Bellattitude.com

After the painting was unveiled, a bid for $10,000 dollars was quickly made on a piece of paper left at the back of the room.

As the supper progressed and the conversation flowed, we were privy to three most extraordinary events:

• General Daillaire spoke at length in french about his work in Rwanda from 1993 to 1994. While much of what he said was lost on me - so many words not in my every-day "hello" french vocabulary - the effect of his comments on the people in the room was profound;

• Mr. Belafonte declared his admiration and gratitude to Canada and Canadians, and the significance of Mr. Bell's painting to him, and thanked everyone for being there;

• The renowned Quebec singer Martin Fontaine, taking a break from Elvis Story, performed songs as recorded by Mr. Belafonte which had the audience singing, standing, and swaying in recognition. Mr. Belafonte also rose, and, when handed the mike, closed off the song to tremendous applause.

And the main course had not yet been served.

click to view quicktime move

At the back of the room, a quick succession of bids topping off at $35,000.

Plate 4 (Mignon et ris de veau grillés, glace de gibier au Mistelle de poires et Brie Claude; Étagé de légumes biologiques, gratin de pommes de terre douces au lait de chèvre - my best guess with the help of a dictionary: Cute and happy grilled veal (OK, someone ruined it for me and explained that it was really Sweetbreads - the thymus glands), iced juice of pear in which FERMENTATION has been stopped by the addition of ALCOHOL, Brie "Claude" (a SPECIALTY CHEESE FROM QUEBEC), Layers of biological vegtables, grated mild potatoes in goat's milk), and plate 5 (let's call it Dessert).

As a last bonus, at 10:00 PM, guests were invited to tour the Louvre exhibition (the first time in Quebec) which had opened the night before to a crowd of 4,000.

The evening was nothing short of magical.

Friday Afternoon

Many familiar faces from the night before were on hand as Michel and Nathalie opened the doors of their Galerie Bellattitude for a 4 to 6 cocktail. At $100.00 a ticket, and after the success of the night before, the room was full and buzzing with anticipation long before Mr. Belafonte arrived to meet everyone individually, to thank the buyer of the painting, and to sign the original and a small number of prints available for $2,500.00.

Though not originally scheduled to be there, Martin Fontaine and two of his band members also returned for a song.

Though the guests would have loved to hold on to Mr. Belafonte for just a bit longer, he and others had to slip away for the first in the series of meetings at the UNICEF Annual General Meeting in near-by Château Mont-Sainte-Anne which would continue on through all of Saturday.

From Michel Bell's web site

It was reported in the papers the next day that the event at the Muse raised between 80 and 100,000.00 for UNICEF.

And Michel, our host, was awarded the UNICEF Volunteer of the Year Award.

DOUBLE CLICK here to visit a photo gallery - photos by Martin Martel, courtesy of Nathalie Christiaens of Gallery Bellattitude

Abolitionist's letter up for auction

A 150-year-old letter evoking an extraordinary episode in Canadian and American history -- famed abolitionist John Brown's Ontario-based plot to spark a slave rebellion just before the U.S. Civil War -- is set to be auctioned this month in New York....

...the letter, which is being sold from a collection of slave-era artifacts held by singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, highlights Canada's key role as a haven for escaped slaves and abolitionists in the years leading to the calamitous U.S. conflict between North and South. ...Sotheby's manuscripts specialist Joshua Lipton said "John Brown letters are quite rare," adding that the Tubman connection could make this one particularly attractive to collectors

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