1
00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000
Downloaded from
YTS.MX

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

3
00:00:32,465 --> 00:00:33,566
[Man] Yes.

4
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:34,534
Rolling sound.

5
00:00:34,567 --> 00:00:35,435
Quiet.

6
00:00:38,471 --> 00:00:41,541
(Audience applauding)

7
00:00:44,544 --> 00:00:47,213
(Brassy music)

8
00:00:56,589 --> 00:00:58,525
[Announcer] From New
York, "The Tonight Show,"

9
00:00:58,558 --> 00:01:00,126
starring Johnny Carson.

10
00:01:01,161 --> 00:01:02,262
And now, here's

11
00:01:04,664 --> 00:01:05,865
the fabulous Harry Belafonte.

12
00:01:05,899 --> 00:01:06,433
Here he comes!

13
00:01:06,466 --> 00:01:09,869
(Audience applauding)

14
00:01:11,338 --> 00:01:13,640
(Brassy music)

15
00:01:39,232 --> 00:01:43,703
♪ The strong gets more

16
00:01:43,737 --> 00:01:48,475
♪ While the weak ones fade

17
00:01:48,508 --> 00:01:52,746
♪ Empty pockets don't
ever make the grade ♪

18
00:01:52,779 --> 00:01:57,484
I found out about that
week from Harry Belafonte.

19
00:01:57,517 --> 00:01:59,519
I went over to his home

20
00:01:59,552 --> 00:02:01,554
and all of a sudden,
effortlessly,

21
00:02:01,588 --> 00:02:04,424
he started talking about
this week of television

22
00:02:04,457 --> 00:02:05,525
and "The Tonight Show."

23
00:02:08,528 --> 00:02:10,196
And I'm thinking, wait a
minute,

24
00:02:10,230 --> 00:02:12,465
Harry Belafonte hosted a
week of "The Tonight Show?"

25
00:02:12,499 --> 00:02:13,133
What?

26
00:02:13,166 --> 00:02:15,235
What, how did I not know this?

27
00:02:15,268 --> 00:02:19,572
- That was probably the
most revolutionary move

28
00:02:19,606 --> 00:02:24,277
that mainstream television
could have done at the time.

29
00:02:24,310 --> 00:02:27,347
♪ That's right the woman is
smarter ♪

30
00:02:27,380 --> 00:02:28,348
♪ That's right ♪

31
00:02:28,381 --> 00:02:31,418
- I write about TV, I
write about politics.

32
00:02:31,451 --> 00:02:32,519
I should have known about it.

33
00:02:32,552 --> 00:02:34,688
Why is this history lost to
us?

34
00:02:35,655 --> 00:02:37,557
♪ That's right ♪

35
00:02:37,590 --> 00:02:41,227
Harry Belafonte takes an
existing white institution

36
00:02:41,261 --> 00:02:43,530
in American culture
and he turns it into

37
00:02:43,563 --> 00:02:46,299
something that
represents his
world,

38
00:02:46,332 --> 00:02:47,500
that it should be
multicultural,

39
00:02:47,534 --> 00:02:49,402
that it should be
politically engaged.

40
00:02:49,436 --> 00:02:51,805
What Harry Belafonte did,

41
00:02:51,838 --> 00:02:55,542
he combined politics
and entertainment.

42
00:02:55,575 --> 00:02:57,610
Like a forerunner
to "The Daily Show"

43
00:02:57,644 --> 00:02:59,312
and the Stephen Colbert show.

44
00:02:59,346 --> 00:03:02,349
Is that a fancy way
of saying I told you so?

45
00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:03,550
(Audience laughs)

46
00:03:03,583 --> 00:03:06,319
(Calypso music)

47
00:03:11,324 --> 00:03:13,560
I mean, this is early 1968.

48
00:03:13,593 --> 00:03:17,497
The nation was really
in crazy upheaval.

49
00:03:17,530 --> 00:03:21,701
There was increasing and
very appropriate Black anger.

50
00:03:21,735 --> 00:03:24,537
And Harry exposed
you as a white person,

51
00:03:24,571 --> 00:03:26,373
speaking as a white person,

52
00:03:26,406 --> 00:03:29,442
to this vibrant world
where Black people

53
00:03:29,476 --> 00:03:31,845
and white people
met as equals.

54
00:03:31,878 --> 00:03:35,815
This was a talented,
intelligent, sophisticated,

55
00:03:35,849 --> 00:03:38,718
passionate social
activist of a Black man

56
00:03:38,752 --> 00:03:41,855
in that chair that has,
through the years,

57
00:03:41,888 --> 00:03:43,857
been the seat of white males.

58
00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:46,793
My parents allowed me
to stay up late.

59
00:03:46,826 --> 00:03:48,795
They said,
you need to see this.

60
00:03:48,828 --> 00:03:53,767
I guarantee you, my
grandmother had her three kids

61
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:55,835
sitting in the
living room watching,

62
00:03:55,869 --> 00:03:58,438
even though they
should have been in bed.

63
00:03:58,471 --> 00:04:00,573
It was something that
was really inspiring,

64
00:04:00,607 --> 00:04:02,742
especially to a lot of Black
people who were watching,

65
00:04:02,776 --> 00:04:04,878
who had not seen themselves
necessarily represented

66
00:04:04,911 --> 00:04:07,747
in that way,
in that American institution

67
00:04:07,781 --> 00:04:09,082
that is "The Tonight Show".

68
00:04:09,115 --> 00:04:12,819
Harry Belafonte at
11 o'clock late night

69
00:04:12,852 --> 00:04:15,355
was saying, we're here,
we're Americans.

70
00:04:15,388 --> 00:04:17,624
We're part of this,
we're not going anywhere.

71
00:04:17,657 --> 00:04:19,492
Y'all brought us,
now we're here.

72
00:04:19,526 --> 00:04:21,528
So, get in your bed.

73
00:04:21,561 --> 00:04:24,397
Let me be the last thing you
see before you go to sleep.

74
00:04:27,701 --> 00:04:29,602
Mr. Belafonte,
would you like to look at

75
00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:31,805
your guest list
from that week?

76
00:04:31,838 --> 00:04:32,806
I'd love to see it.

77
00:04:34,541 --> 00:04:35,575
Oh, my God.

78
00:04:35,608 --> 00:04:36,910
I had all these people?

79
00:04:36,943 --> 00:04:39,612
(Bright music)

80
00:04:44,617 --> 00:04:48,722
When I was there I was a bit
overawed by the whole thing.

81
00:04:48,755 --> 00:04:51,424
(Bright music)

82
00:04:55,495 --> 00:04:58,865
It was so seldom in the
'60s that people of color

83
00:04:58,898 --> 00:05:02,535
were invited into
the homes of, you know,

84
00:05:02,569 --> 00:05:04,637
television viewers everywhere.

85
00:05:04,671 --> 00:05:07,340
(Bright music)

86
00:05:10,910 --> 00:05:13,680
First time on "The
Tonight Show," I'm scared.

87
00:05:13,713 --> 00:05:17,417
I'm sitting between Harry
Belafonte and Paul Newman.

88
00:05:17,450 --> 00:05:18,752
That was a special night.

89
00:05:18,785 --> 00:05:21,721
I knew I was with
the biggies that night.

90
00:05:21,755 --> 00:05:23,390
Me, too. (Laughs)

91
00:05:23,423 --> 00:05:25,392
As they say, stepping
in high cotton. (Laughs)

92
00:05:25,425 --> 00:05:27,727
(Bright music)

93
00:05:30,864 --> 00:05:33,867
You see how pivotal
this week was

94
00:05:33,900 --> 00:05:36,436
because you're watching
this man bring together

95
00:05:36,469 --> 00:05:38,838
all of his brothers and
sisters in the movement

96
00:05:38,872 --> 00:05:41,675
and say we deserve a space
and we deserve to be here

97
00:05:41,708 --> 00:05:43,943
and we deserve to
talk about these things.

98
00:05:43,977 --> 00:05:46,846
(Drum rolling)

99
00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,749
(Brassy music)

100
00:05:49,783 --> 00:05:52,485
[Announcer] From New
York, "The Tonight Show,"

101
00:05:52,519 --> 00:05:53,853
starring Johnny Carson.

102
00:05:53,887 --> 00:05:57,957
(Audience applauding)

103
00:05:57,991 --> 00:06:00,827
"The Tonight Show" was
one of the most powerful

104
00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:03,930
platforms of communication
in the world.

105
00:06:06,599 --> 00:06:07,867
If there's anything you
don't see, just ask for it.

106
00:06:07,901 --> 00:06:10,737
(Bright music)

107
00:06:10,770 --> 00:06:13,473
Okay, we have, fine,
a gentleman.

108
00:06:13,506 --> 00:06:16,943
Johnny Carson was the
rage of the evening.

109
00:06:18,011 --> 00:06:19,446
Thank you, love you all.

110
00:06:19,479 --> 00:06:21,881
If anybody was up
after 10 o'clock,

111
00:06:21,915 --> 00:06:24,651
they were watching
"The Tonight Show."

112
00:06:24,684 --> 00:06:25,618
One, two.

113
00:06:25,652 --> 00:06:26,086
(Bright jazz)

114
00:06:26,119 --> 00:06:27,721
Jump in anyway.

115
00:06:27,754 --> 00:06:29,022
Yah!

116
00:06:29,055 --> 00:06:31,991
(Audience laughing)

117
00:06:34,961 --> 00:06:36,629
Mr. Woody Allen.

118
00:06:36,663 --> 00:06:38,932
(Bright jazz)

119
00:06:41,835 --> 00:06:44,004
Carson would often
mention this on the air.

120
00:06:44,037 --> 00:06:46,706
"Hey, I know you're in bed
when you're watching me."

121
00:06:46,740 --> 00:06:49,476
And it's the most unique of
frames to watch television

122
00:06:49,509 --> 00:06:50,810
was between your feet.

123
00:06:50,844 --> 00:06:52,245
You're taking them
not just in your home,

124
00:06:52,278 --> 00:06:53,780
but actually
into your bedroom.

125
00:06:55,749 --> 00:06:57,817
The birth rate
in this country has

126
00:06:57,851 --> 00:06:59,886
dropped appreciably
and I'd like to feel

127
00:06:59,919 --> 00:07:02,555
that my show
is partly responsible.

128
00:07:02,589 --> 00:07:04,991
Carson was this
Midwestern very,

129
00:07:05,025 --> 00:07:07,861
sort of easy to
take kind of host.

130
00:07:07,894 --> 00:07:08,962
Hi, folks.

131
00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:11,698
(Audience laughs)

132
00:07:11,731 --> 00:07:13,500
He was as average
of an American

133
00:07:13,533 --> 00:07:15,602
as you could possibly get.

134
00:07:15,635 --> 00:07:16,870
[Announcer]
We'll be right back.

135
00:07:16,903 --> 00:07:18,905
[Harry]
It was part of his appeal.

136
00:07:18,938 --> 00:07:21,675
He was just the kid next door.

137
00:07:21,708 --> 00:07:23,810
Never seen a human cell.

138
00:07:23,843 --> 00:07:27,914
Johnny Carson helped define
what late night would be.

139
00:07:27,947 --> 00:07:31,918
Early on the 1950s,
'60s, as we really started

140
00:07:31,951 --> 00:07:33,953
to see these interview
programs with Jack Paar

141
00:07:33,987 --> 00:07:34,821
and all these
sorts of people...

142
00:07:34,854 --> 00:07:36,856
See, they don't
understand what, uh,

143
00:07:36,890 --> 00:07:37,824
how we do the show.

144
00:07:37,857 --> 00:07:39,025
We just keep talking

145
00:07:39,059 --> 00:07:40,293
with no script.
I know.

146
00:07:40,326 --> 00:07:41,294
It's agony.

147
00:07:41,327 --> 00:07:42,595
(Audience laughs)

148
00:07:42,629 --> 00:07:44,030
You would get
to see celebrities

149
00:07:44,064 --> 00:07:45,565
as you've never
seen them before.

150
00:07:45,598 --> 00:07:47,701
You get to see
them uncensored.

151
00:07:47,734 --> 00:07:50,003
So that started making
late night really special

152
00:07:50,036 --> 00:07:51,004
and hallowed ground.

153
00:07:52,105 --> 00:07:53,640
Why did you go into politics?

154
00:07:53,673 --> 00:07:55,909
I think that as
an interested citizen

155
00:07:55,942 --> 00:07:56,776
in the United States,

156
00:07:56,810 --> 00:07:59,012
I cannot think
of a greater privilege

157
00:07:59,045 --> 00:08:01,047
than serving in
the House or the Senate.

158
00:08:01,081 --> 00:08:02,115
[Announcer] Tonight!

159
00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:03,283
[Ron Simon] When "The
Tonight Show" first began,

160
00:08:03,316 --> 00:08:07,854
it was a comedy show and Steve
Allen became the first host.

161
00:08:07,887 --> 00:08:10,323
This is uh,
kind of a mild little show.

162
00:08:10,357 --> 00:08:13,593
I don't expect you to say,
"Boy, what a program!"

163
00:08:13,626 --> 00:08:17,030
Carson takes over
in October of 1962

164
00:08:17,063 --> 00:08:20,033
and it really is a whole

165
00:08:20,066 --> 00:08:24,871
different approach
to the show.

166
00:08:24,904 --> 00:08:28,308
[Bill] He managed to weave
in more contemporary news

167
00:08:28,341 --> 00:08:30,010
than anybody had tried before.

168
00:08:30,043 --> 00:08:33,947
Senator, Mrs. Kennedy are
expecting their tenth child.

169
00:08:33,980 --> 00:08:36,016
I understand
Ethel Kennedy is demanding

170
00:08:36,049 --> 00:08:37,584
a civilian review board.

171
00:08:37,617 --> 00:08:38,718
(Audience laughs)

172
00:08:38,752 --> 00:08:41,888
All of that would first be
the subject of a monologue.

173
00:08:41,921 --> 00:08:44,124
And then often guests
would talk about it.

174
00:08:44,157 --> 00:08:47,093
Our bloodshed will be
in our racial situation,

175
00:08:47,127 --> 00:08:49,896
not with Russia or Khrushchev
or any other country.

176
00:08:49,929 --> 00:08:52,632
But you probably, as most
people do in the world today,

177
00:08:52,665 --> 00:08:56,836
have some feelings on
the Vietnam situation.

178
00:08:56,870 --> 00:08:57,771
[Bill] And the
interesting thing about

179
00:08:57,804 --> 00:08:58,638
"The Tonight Show"

180
00:08:58,672 --> 00:09:01,041
was that the guests
stayed on the couch.

181
00:09:01,074 --> 00:09:03,076
They didn't just make
their appearance and leave.

182
00:09:03,109 --> 00:09:03,943
So they sat together.

183
00:09:03,977 --> 00:09:06,813
I wish now I'd
have been honest.

184
00:09:06,846 --> 00:09:08,048
(All laughing)

185
00:09:08,081 --> 00:09:09,883
So, "The Tonight Show"
now becomes

186
00:09:09,916 --> 00:09:12,385
kind of a national
gathering place at night.

187
00:09:12,419 --> 00:09:14,788
And whatever's going
on in pop culture,

188
00:09:14,821 --> 00:09:16,156
whatever's going
on in politics,

189
00:09:16,189 --> 00:09:17,957
obviously what's
going on in the news,

190
00:09:17,991 --> 00:09:21,194
it was a place for all
those things to come together

191
00:09:21,227 --> 00:09:23,663
in an entertaining way.

192
00:09:23,697 --> 00:09:26,900
11:30 at night, Eastern,
was the most segregated hour

193
00:09:26,933 --> 00:09:28,935
in America because white
people were watching

194
00:09:28,968 --> 00:09:32,005
white Johnny Carson
in their white homes.

195
00:09:32,038 --> 00:09:33,773
Black people were
doing it separately.

196
00:09:36,042 --> 00:09:38,411
Little Mister 1968.

197
00:09:38,445 --> 00:09:39,679
Let's welcome him.

198
00:09:39,713 --> 00:09:42,749
(Audience applauding)

199
00:09:45,251 --> 00:09:48,421
Tell me, 1968, what
can we expect from you?

200
00:09:48,455 --> 00:09:52,092
Well, there's riots,
brutality, poverty, sit-ins,

201
00:09:52,125 --> 00:09:53,727
overpopulation, famine.

202
00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:54,728
Hmm, I see.

203
00:09:54,761 --> 00:09:56,796
You want to hear the
bad news now? (All laugh)

204
00:09:56,830 --> 00:09:58,098
Hi, this is Johnny Carson.

205
00:09:58,131 --> 00:09:59,666
As you know this is
the usual starting time

206
00:09:59,699 --> 00:10:00,800
for "The Tonight Show,"

207
00:10:00,834 --> 00:10:03,937
but because of the critical
war situation in Vietnam,

208
00:10:03,970 --> 00:10:05,972
NBC for the next 15 minutes
is going to bring you

209
00:10:06,006 --> 00:10:08,742
a special news
program via satellite.

210
00:10:08,775 --> 00:10:10,677
[Newsreader] On the
morning of January 31st,

211
00:10:10,710 --> 00:10:12,912
both sides claimed victor
in the Tet Offensive,

212
00:10:12,946 --> 00:10:15,448
but 1100 American
soldiers lie dead.

213
00:10:15,482 --> 00:10:18,752
(Protesters shouting)

214
00:10:20,854 --> 00:10:22,922
Seven young and
earnest protestors

215
00:10:22,956 --> 00:10:24,791
burned draft cards
on the steps of...

216
00:10:24,824 --> 00:10:28,028
[King] In 1968,
there were many Americas.

217
00:10:28,061 --> 00:10:31,097
There was Black America
and White America.

218
00:10:31,131 --> 00:10:33,199
(Funky music)

219
00:10:33,233 --> 00:10:34,734
[Announcer]
For his running mate,

220
00:10:34,768 --> 00:10:36,736
Nixon chose Henry Cabot Lodge.

221
00:10:36,770 --> 00:10:38,271
There was
establishment America,

222
00:10:38,304 --> 00:10:40,073
anti-establishment America.

223
00:10:41,141 --> 00:10:42,275
And the culture was chaotic.

224
00:10:42,308 --> 00:10:43,777
The culture was complicated.

225
00:10:43,810 --> 00:10:45,145
The culture was divisive.

226
00:10:46,179 --> 00:10:48,148
(Funky music)

227
00:10:48,181 --> 00:10:52,752
The tension in the air of
1968 couldn't be ignored,

228
00:10:52,786 --> 00:10:56,289
no matter how many
blinders that you chose to

229
00:10:56,322 --> 00:10:58,224
put in front of your eyes.

230
00:10:58,258 --> 00:11:00,860
All kinds of changes
were pushed through.

231
00:11:00,894 --> 00:11:03,163
It's the time when women said,

232
00:11:03,196 --> 00:11:06,032
listen, we're not just this.

233
00:11:06,066 --> 00:11:07,901
We want to run
these companies.

234
00:11:07,934 --> 00:11:09,703
We're not playing
with you anymore.

235
00:11:10,837 --> 00:11:12,772
It's the year of the afro.

236
00:11:12,806 --> 00:11:14,240
Boom!

237
00:11:14,274 --> 00:11:15,208
Natural hair.

238
00:11:16,343 --> 00:11:18,244
Change.

239
00:11:18,278 --> 00:11:22,182
Things were no longer
going to be the status quo.

240
00:11:22,215 --> 00:11:24,918
(Upbeat music)

241
00:11:31,224 --> 00:11:37,063
♪ I never seen no road other
than the one from here ♪

242
00:11:37,097 --> 00:11:38,331
♪ Well we do it to others

243
00:11:38,365 --> 00:11:40,900
♪ Before them others
do it to us ♪

244
00:11:40,934 --> 00:11:43,103
It was that time of protests.

245
00:11:43,136 --> 00:11:46,506
The Black community had risen
up with righteous indignation.

246
00:11:48,541 --> 00:11:53,279
We could no longer tolerate
the racial indiscretions

247
00:11:53,313 --> 00:11:54,981
that were being
heaped upon us.

248
00:11:55,982 --> 00:11:58,818
As performers, we felt a need

249
00:11:58,852 --> 00:12:01,054
to begin to do more
than just sing.

250
00:12:01,087 --> 00:12:03,523
We had to have a point of
view and we had to speak out.

251
00:12:03,556 --> 00:12:05,959
♪ Highway men don't
have to fight ♪

252
00:12:05,992 --> 00:12:08,528
♪ For the thing they
called a human right ♪

253
00:12:08,561 --> 00:12:12,832
When you look
at the late '60s,

254
00:12:12,866 --> 00:12:14,868
the exposure that
white Americans

255
00:12:14,901 --> 00:12:16,836
were getting on the news

256
00:12:16,870 --> 00:12:19,339
was the covering of the
civil rights marches

257
00:12:19,372 --> 00:12:21,975
and the civil rights
movement that was happening.

258
00:12:22,008 --> 00:12:27,047
♪ Oh time

259
00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,383
But we were still watching
shows like "Bonanza,"

260
00:12:30,417 --> 00:12:33,086
"Beverly Hillbillies,"
"I Dream of Jeannie."

261
00:12:33,119 --> 00:12:35,355
Very, very white
television shows.

262
00:12:35,388 --> 00:12:38,358
We were really seeing these
pretty trivial depictions

263
00:12:38,391 --> 00:12:42,562
of the Old West, depictions
of suburban families.

264
00:12:42,595 --> 00:12:45,065
Television shows had
a always very difficult

265
00:12:45,098 --> 00:12:46,866
relationship with reality

266
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:50,270
and there were a lot of,
we'll say fantasy sitcoms

267
00:12:50,303 --> 00:12:52,939
that really sort
of avoided race

268
00:12:52,972 --> 00:12:54,374
and what was going
on in the country.

269
00:12:54,407 --> 00:12:57,277
My personal experiences
have been that there is

270
00:12:57,310 --> 00:13:00,580
an enormous reluctance
on the part of the media

271
00:13:00,613 --> 00:13:03,283
to expose Black life
as it really is.

272
00:13:03,316 --> 00:13:05,285
Hollywood reflects
the mood of the nation.

273
00:13:05,318 --> 00:13:07,287
It reflects our politics.

274
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,023
It reflects our culture.

275
00:13:10,056 --> 00:13:12,292
It reflects our hopes
and aspirations.

276
00:13:12,325 --> 00:13:15,995
And it lies a lot
about who we are.

277
00:13:16,029 --> 00:13:18,164
None of us thought we were
going to be in the future.

278
00:13:18,198 --> 00:13:20,367
If you were a sci-fi person,
which I am,

279
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,202
You never saw us represented

280
00:13:22,235 --> 00:13:25,138
in the future times
of America.

281
00:13:25,171 --> 00:13:27,407
For what we are about to
receive, we give thanks.

282
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,042
[Whoopi] We were never there.

283
00:13:29,075 --> 00:13:32,345
We were never at the
beach blanket bingo.

284
00:13:32,379 --> 00:13:33,413
Hello?

285
00:13:33,446 --> 00:13:35,115
We hear that the girls
are all over at your house.

286
00:13:35,148 --> 00:13:36,983
[Whoopi] We were never
where the boys were.

287
00:13:37,017 --> 00:13:40,053
We just weren't there,
we weren't represented.

288
00:13:40,086 --> 00:13:42,222
Television was a
medium that was still

289
00:13:42,255 --> 00:13:45,358
figuring out its relationship
to power in a lot of ways.

290
00:13:47,494 --> 00:13:48,595
TV wasn't crossover medium.

291
00:13:48,628 --> 00:13:49,562
There were a few Black stars
in television at the time

292
00:13:49,596 --> 00:13:52,365
who had been able to
kind of rise to the top.

293
00:13:52,399 --> 00:13:54,300
Harry Belafonte
was one of those.

294
00:13:54,334 --> 00:13:56,469
♪ Cannonball come
to the judgment ♪

295
00:13:56,503 --> 00:13:58,204
♪ Fare thee well
fare ye well ♪

296
00:13:58,238 --> 00:14:00,273
♪ Here's that great
gift of morning ♪

297
00:14:00,306 --> 00:14:02,242
♪ Fare thee well
fare ye well ♪

298
00:14:02,275 --> 00:14:04,477
♪ Here's that great
gift of morning ♪

299
00:14:04,511 --> 00:14:06,346
♪ Fare thee well
fare ye well ♪

300
00:14:06,379 --> 00:14:09,115
(Calypso music)

301
00:14:15,722 --> 00:14:19,225
♪ I say let us put man
and a woman together ♪

302
00:14:19,259 --> 00:14:21,995
♪ To find out which
one is smarter ♪

303
00:14:22,028 --> 00:14:25,699
Harry Belafonte was a
huge celebrity at the time,

304
00:14:25,732 --> 00:14:28,668
who produced record
setting album after album.

305
00:14:32,072 --> 00:14:34,140
First performer to sell
over a million copies

306
00:14:34,174 --> 00:14:35,342
of a single album.

307
00:14:35,375 --> 00:14:38,144
(Rhythmic music)

308
00:14:40,146 --> 00:14:42,949
♪ Woo hawk eyed woman
is going out ♪

309
00:14:42,982 --> 00:14:44,117
♪ Every day

310
00:14:44,150 --> 00:14:47,987
What Mr. Belafonte wound up
doing was taking the art form

311
00:14:48,021 --> 00:14:49,255
of calypso music.

312
00:14:49,289 --> 00:14:52,992
♪ Won't be back
for many a day ♪

313
00:14:53,026 --> 00:14:57,063
And making it mainstream
for America's taste.

314
00:14:57,097 --> 00:15:01,101
♪ Had to leave a little
girl in Kingston town ♪

315
00:15:01,134 --> 00:15:03,436
In the West Indies,
there are many languages

316
00:15:03,470 --> 00:15:04,437
that have invaded
those islands.

317
00:15:04,471 --> 00:15:07,273
I mean, the French,
the English, the Spanish.

318
00:15:07,307 --> 00:15:09,209
And when it's
all put together,

319
00:15:09,242 --> 00:15:12,012
it comes out in a strange
tongue we call Patois.

320
00:15:12,045 --> 00:15:17,083
Just say after me, "I wonder
why nobody don't like me."

321
00:15:17,117 --> 00:15:20,353
I wonder why nobody
don't like me.

322
00:15:20,387 --> 00:15:22,288
By George,
I think he's got it.

323
00:15:22,322 --> 00:15:23,723
Yes!

324
00:15:23,757 --> 00:15:25,125
Whoop!

325
00:15:25,158 --> 00:15:27,761
♪ I wonder why nobody
don't like me ♪

326
00:15:27,794 --> 00:15:30,530
♪ Or is it the fact
that I'm ugly ♪

327
00:15:30,563 --> 00:15:33,466
♪ I wonder why nobody
don't like me ♪

328
00:15:33,500 --> 00:15:36,336
♪ Or is it the fact
that I'm ugly ♪

329
00:15:36,369 --> 00:15:38,204
Harry was also a movie star.

330
00:15:38,238 --> 00:15:40,407
He was a household name.

331
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:41,508
Black and white.

332
00:15:41,541 --> 00:15:44,377
In your heart,
deep down inside,

333
00:15:44,411 --> 00:15:46,513
don't you still think
of us as slaves?

334
00:15:46,546 --> 00:15:51,184
♪ At night I tell you people

335
00:15:51,217 --> 00:15:56,156
[Joan] We saw him in iconic
films like "Carmen Jones,"

336
00:15:56,189 --> 00:15:59,192
"Bright Road,"
"Odds Against Tomorrow,"

337
00:15:59,225 --> 00:16:00,593
"Island in the Sun."

338
00:16:00,627 --> 00:16:02,328
There are other countries.

339
00:16:02,362 --> 00:16:03,463
My skin is my country.

340
00:16:08,335 --> 00:16:09,269
Today we take it for granted,

341
00:16:09,302 --> 00:16:13,506
but in the 1950s,
that was a radical idea

342
00:16:13,540 --> 00:16:16,343
to have a Black artist
have a white fan base

343
00:16:16,376 --> 00:16:18,611
at a time in which there
was still legal segregation.

344
00:16:18,645 --> 00:16:20,814
(Audience cheering)

345
00:16:20,847 --> 00:16:23,350
♪ Everybody when the saints

346
00:16:23,383 --> 00:16:26,086
♪ Go marching in ♪
Oh when the saints go ♪

347
00:16:26,119 --> 00:16:28,088
If you look at some
of his early television

348
00:16:28,121 --> 00:16:31,091
musical sort of variety shows,

349
00:16:31,124 --> 00:16:34,461
I mean, there was just a
fascination and an appeal

350
00:16:34,494 --> 00:16:36,529
that you couldn't find it
anywhere else on television.

351
00:16:36,563 --> 00:16:39,833
♪ Not so beautiful

352
00:16:39,866 --> 00:16:44,137
♪ Not one so beautiful

353
00:16:44,170 --> 00:16:46,606
♪ Like my love is

354
00:16:46,639 --> 00:16:51,211
I know when those women,

355
00:16:51,244 --> 00:16:53,246
whatever nationality
they were,

356
00:16:53,279 --> 00:16:55,148
when they saw Harry,

357
00:16:56,182 --> 00:16:58,184
it was all about (Pants)

358
00:16:58,218 --> 00:17:01,154
'Cause sexy's sexy
no matter what.

359
00:17:01,187 --> 00:17:02,222
♪ When you see her

360
00:17:02,255 --> 00:17:04,624
He was one of the most
important and trailblazing

361
00:17:04,657 --> 00:17:07,594
cross-media superstars
of the 20th Century.

362
00:17:07,627 --> 00:17:11,297
There are many sides to the
legend of Harry Belafonte.

363
00:17:11,331 --> 00:17:14,367
Singer, actor, activist.

364
00:17:14,401 --> 00:17:17,437
As artists,
we rejoice in the knowledge

365
00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:19,839
that human experience
has no color

366
00:17:19,873 --> 00:17:23,143
and we believe that artists
have a valuable function

367
00:17:23,176 --> 00:17:26,246
in any society since
it is the artist

368
00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:29,449
who reveal the
society to itself.

369
00:17:29,482 --> 00:17:31,551
My father was
a political person

370
00:17:31,584 --> 00:17:33,687
before he became an artist.

371
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,423
His mother was
a political person.

372
00:17:36,456 --> 00:17:40,160
His environment that he grew
up in and was exposed to

373
00:17:40,193 --> 00:17:41,261
was political.

374
00:17:41,294 --> 00:17:44,864
He wanted to take every
opportunity that he could

375
00:17:44,898 --> 00:17:47,600
to bring forth the
civil rights movement.

376
00:17:47,634 --> 00:17:51,137
He always used
whatever platform he had

377
00:17:51,171 --> 00:17:53,540
as an opportunity
to educate and motivate

378
00:17:53,573 --> 00:17:56,343
and activate audiences.

379
00:17:56,376 --> 00:18:01,181
Our cause in America
is an honorable cause.

380
00:18:01,214 --> 00:18:05,285
And ofttimes, when we are
in the midst of the struggle

381
00:18:05,318 --> 00:18:08,455
for our liberation,
we sometimes feel that

382
00:18:08,488 --> 00:18:10,223
it is more than we can bear.

383
00:18:11,191 --> 00:18:12,492
Rosa Parks got me into this.

384
00:18:12,525 --> 00:18:15,261
Went down to meet
her and I came back

385
00:18:15,295 --> 00:18:17,197
and then one day
I got a phone call.

386
00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:18,198
"Mr. Belafonte?"

387
00:18:18,231 --> 00:18:19,599
I said, "Yes."

388
00:18:19,632 --> 00:18:22,402
They said,
"You may not know me,

389
00:18:22,435 --> 00:18:24,337
"there's no reason for you to,

390
00:18:24,371 --> 00:18:29,376
"except that I need
to talk to you."

391
00:18:29,409 --> 00:18:31,177
And I said, "Fine."

392
00:18:31,211 --> 00:18:33,613
"My name is
Martin Luther King Jr."

393
00:18:33,646 --> 00:18:35,482
He said, "The things
you have said and done,

394
00:18:35,515 --> 00:18:38,485
"I really believe you could
be an important component

395
00:18:38,518 --> 00:18:41,221
"to this adventure
that I'm embarking on."

396
00:18:41,254 --> 00:18:43,623
And listening to
what he had to say,

397
00:18:43,656 --> 00:18:46,493
I knew that forever
I'd be in his service.

398
00:18:46,526 --> 00:18:51,231
Ladies and gentlemen, the
Nobel Peace Prize winner,

399
00:18:51,264 --> 00:18:53,266
the Reverend
Dr. Martin Luther King.

400
00:18:53,299 --> 00:18:56,369
(Audience applauding)

401
00:18:57,337 --> 00:18:59,606
Once I took up with him,

402
00:18:59,639 --> 00:19:02,642
my life never went
anywhere else but there.

403
00:19:02,676 --> 00:19:05,245
Not only is Harry
a great artist,

404
00:19:05,278 --> 00:19:08,648
he is a great humanitarian.

405
00:19:08,682 --> 00:19:14,387
No performing artists in the
United States or in the world

406
00:19:14,421 --> 00:19:18,525
has raised as much money for
the civil rights movement

407
00:19:18,558 --> 00:19:19,959
as Harry Belafonte.

408
00:19:19,993 --> 00:19:23,997
I respond as often
as possible to Dr. King

409
00:19:24,030 --> 00:19:27,000
because I believe the
salvation of America

410
00:19:27,033 --> 00:19:28,601
and our potential

411
00:19:28,635 --> 00:19:32,238
is in our capacity
to deal humanistically

412
00:19:32,272 --> 00:19:35,275
and non-violently
with our difficulties.

413
00:19:35,308 --> 00:19:38,478
People who worked with
Johnny at the time would say

414
00:19:38,511 --> 00:19:42,415
he was conversant with
the civil rights movement.

415
00:19:42,449 --> 00:19:45,552
I can't sit here and say I
understand, because we can't.

416
00:19:45,585 --> 00:19:47,721
He understood many
of the issues,

417
00:19:47,754 --> 00:19:51,024
but he was not
comfortable enough to say

418
00:19:51,057 --> 00:19:53,326
I'm going to do
a week of shows

419
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:54,561
about what's going
on in the country.

420
00:19:54,594 --> 00:19:55,528
So when I was out
in Las Vegas,

421
00:19:55,562 --> 00:19:56,363
I did the thing with
the audience, you know,

422
00:19:56,396 --> 00:19:58,598
and the questions,
I get questions,

423
00:19:58,631 --> 00:20:00,400
you know, political, what
do you think of so and so.

424
00:20:00,433 --> 00:20:02,002
And I found out that no
matter which side you go,

425
00:20:02,035 --> 00:20:06,006
you got to end up, if you're
a straight entertainer,

426
00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:07,674
losing half your audience.

427
00:20:07,707 --> 00:20:10,577
He as an entertainer
did not feel like

428
00:20:10,610 --> 00:20:12,579
getting up on the soapbox.

429
00:20:12,612 --> 00:20:16,483
But he certainly supported
the other entertainers

430
00:20:16,516 --> 00:20:18,451
who were doing that.

431
00:20:18,485 --> 00:20:21,855
I also admire Marlon
Brando for his conscience

432
00:20:21,888 --> 00:20:23,723
as an American and
his moral commitment

433
00:20:23,757 --> 00:20:24,724
when he believes in something.

434
00:20:24,758 --> 00:20:27,527
Will you welcome, please,
Mr. Marlon Brando.

435
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:28,762
So I think he thought,

436
00:20:28,795 --> 00:20:31,865
I'm going to have
a guest host come on

437
00:20:31,898 --> 00:20:33,767
and the guest host can address

438
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,569
what I think are
serious issues.

439
00:20:36,603 --> 00:20:39,072
I do think Carson was
trying to make a statement.

440
00:20:39,105 --> 00:20:41,841
How can you not talk about all
the things that are going on

441
00:20:41,875 --> 00:20:45,311
in the craziest year
in American history?

442
00:20:45,345 --> 00:20:48,048
Even my Midwestern, middle
of the country audience,

443
00:20:48,081 --> 00:20:49,716
they need to see this.

444
00:20:49,749 --> 00:20:53,053
This is only six years into
Johnny Carson's tenure,

445
00:20:53,086 --> 00:20:53,787
that he did that.

446
00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:54,888
Goodnight.

447
00:20:54,921 --> 00:20:55,955
See you tomorrow.

448
00:20:55,989 --> 00:20:57,824
So it wasn't doing it
from the safe harbor of

449
00:20:57,857 --> 00:20:59,759
I'm the King of Late Night.

450
00:20:59,793 --> 00:21:02,362
He was still fairly
new in the job.

451
00:21:02,395 --> 00:21:04,464
But it was in his head
that Harry Belafonte

452
00:21:04,497 --> 00:21:05,532
was the right guy.

453
00:21:05,565 --> 00:21:07,567
(audience applauding)

454
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,402
I said no at first.

455
00:21:09,436 --> 00:21:10,704
Because I couldn't do
what Johnny did.

456
00:21:10,737 --> 00:21:13,306
I can't tell jokes
and whatnot.

457
00:21:14,507 --> 00:21:15,775
♪ I don't want nobody ♪

458
00:21:15,809 --> 00:21:17,777
We know Harry Belafonte
had been burned

459
00:21:17,811 --> 00:21:19,579
by television before.

460
00:21:19,612 --> 00:21:22,615
In 1959, he had
this special called

461
00:21:22,649 --> 00:21:24,384
"Tonight with Belafonte."

462
00:21:24,417 --> 00:21:26,820
It was fantastic,
it won an Emmy.

463
00:21:26,853 --> 00:21:29,422
And the sponsor,
which was Revlon,

464
00:21:29,456 --> 00:21:32,926
actually offered him an
ongoing series after that.

465
00:21:32,959 --> 00:21:35,395
He called it "New York, 19."

466
00:21:35,428 --> 00:21:38,431
♪ Well if it's so I don't
want to be a monkey ♪

467
00:21:38,465 --> 00:21:41,401
♪ I'll go to sleep
a mule or donkey ♪

468
00:21:41,434 --> 00:21:43,937
♪ My brother said that
he will come back a hog ♪

469
00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:47,540
♪ Not Harry I think
I'll be a bedbug ♪

470
00:21:47,574 --> 00:21:52,412
The first episode ran
in 1960 to rave reviews.

471
00:21:52,445 --> 00:21:55,482
But when he started to
plan the next episode,

472
00:21:55,515 --> 00:21:56,516
the sponsor called him in

473
00:21:56,549 --> 00:21:59,686
and had a problem with
the fact that Harry used

474
00:21:59,719 --> 00:22:00,920
multiracial casts.

475
00:22:00,954 --> 00:22:04,424
And the sponsor told
him pick a Black cast,

476
00:22:04,457 --> 00:22:06,493
but none of this mixing.

477
00:22:06,526 --> 00:22:07,927
And Harry walked away.

478
00:22:07,961 --> 00:22:10,397
Thank you for being with us.

479
00:22:10,430 --> 00:22:11,264
See you around.

480
00:22:11,297 --> 00:22:13,833
[Gina] My father
didn't always trust

481
00:22:13,867 --> 00:22:16,870
what the outcomes of a certain
opportunity might bring.

482
00:22:16,903 --> 00:22:18,905
And so he turned a
lot of things down.

483
00:22:18,938 --> 00:22:22,676
Tonight we take a look
at Negro humor in America.

484
00:22:22,709 --> 00:22:24,778
We call it "A Time
for Laughter."

485
00:22:24,811 --> 00:22:27,847
If it wasn't going to
be in an inclusive way

486
00:22:27,881 --> 00:22:29,749
that he envisioned,

487
00:22:29,783 --> 00:22:33,520
both racially, but I
think most importantly,

488
00:22:33,553 --> 00:22:35,855
artistically, let
alone politically,

489
00:22:35,889 --> 00:22:38,992
he didn't want that to
be part of his legacy.

490
00:22:39,025 --> 00:22:41,528
♪ I believe that's
a bird dog ♪

491
00:22:41,561 --> 00:22:44,497
(all laughing)

492
00:22:44,531 --> 00:22:49,569
♪ That sounds like
a rabbit dog ♪

493
00:22:49,602 --> 00:22:52,205
♪ Woof woof woof

494
00:22:52,238 --> 00:22:55,442
♪ Oh that's an old
Civil Rights chaser ♪

495
00:22:55,475 --> 00:22:58,545
Being on television,
reaching a lot of people,

496
00:22:58,578 --> 00:23:01,781
and having this
amazing opportunity

497
00:23:01,815 --> 00:23:04,484
that might only come once
in your entire lifetime.

498
00:23:04,517 --> 00:23:08,188
And Harry Belafonte
had to be convinced.

499
00:23:08,221 --> 00:23:10,657
It was Johnny who
put me at ease and said

500
00:23:10,690 --> 00:23:12,659
we just want you
to be who you are.

501
00:23:12,692 --> 00:23:14,761
I said in order
to be who I am,

502
00:23:14,794 --> 00:23:17,697
I'd have to have guests on

503
00:23:17,731 --> 00:23:19,766
that share some of my beliefs.

504
00:23:19,799 --> 00:23:21,668
He agreed to that condition,

505
00:23:21,701 --> 00:23:24,738
with the understanding that
the network had the right

506
00:23:24,771 --> 00:23:26,206
to say no to anybody.

507
00:23:26,239 --> 00:23:29,609
But they wanted me
to submit my list.

508
00:23:29,642 --> 00:23:30,777
After a little
bit of wrangling,

509
00:23:30,810 --> 00:23:32,545
they gave him control
of the guest list,

510
00:23:32,579 --> 00:23:33,580
which was a huge deal.

511
00:23:33,613 --> 00:23:34,814
(brassy music)

512
00:23:34,848 --> 00:23:36,049
So was there trepidation?

513
00:23:36,082 --> 00:23:37,851
I'm sure there
was trepidation.

514
00:23:37,884 --> 00:23:39,886
I'm sure there
was trepidation.

515
00:23:39,919 --> 00:23:41,621
[Whoopi] And who knows
what's gonna happen?

516
00:23:41,654 --> 00:23:43,957
Is he going to have, you
know, a mix of people on?

517
00:23:43,990 --> 00:23:45,558
Is it gonna be Black
people and White people?

518
00:23:45,592 --> 00:23:47,794
Does he have restrictions?

519
00:23:47,827 --> 00:23:49,562
When you see pictures
of the guests,

520
00:23:49,596 --> 00:23:51,264
they didn't just
pass each other.

521
00:23:51,297 --> 00:23:52,999
They knew each other.

522
00:23:53,033 --> 00:23:56,236
So I envisioned Mr. Belafonte

523
00:23:56,269 --> 00:23:58,505
making half those
calls himself,

524
00:23:58,538 --> 00:24:00,674
saying, "Hey, I need
you to come on by here

525
00:24:00,707 --> 00:24:01,841
"and do this show."

526
00:24:01,875 --> 00:24:06,546
So he was probably his booker
and the host of the show.

527
00:24:07,714 --> 00:24:08,715
[Interviewer] Do you
remember how it felt

528
00:24:08,748 --> 00:24:09,683
to be on the show?

529
00:24:09,716 --> 00:24:11,785
I hardly knew what I
was yesterday, (laughs)

530
00:24:11,818 --> 00:24:13,887
much less 1968.

531
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,522
But, wow.

532
00:24:15,555 --> 00:24:16,990
That's like,
some nice company.

533
00:24:17,023 --> 00:24:17,791
Is he here?

534
00:24:17,824 --> 00:24:19,826
Floyd Bouncer
is here, friends.

535
00:24:19,859 --> 00:24:21,695
(audience cheering)

536
00:24:21,728 --> 00:24:24,064
When you were
in Selma, Alabama

537
00:24:24,097 --> 00:24:26,900
All of these people, not
only were great artists,

538
00:24:26,933 --> 00:24:28,868
but some of them were
also great thinkers.

539
00:24:28,902 --> 00:24:29,869
[Paul Newman] It's the
biggest feeling

540
00:24:29,903 --> 00:24:31,004
I ever had in my life

541
00:24:31,037 --> 00:24:35,575
to be actively involved in
being part of my own times.

542
00:24:35,608 --> 00:24:37,644
He had all types of
people on that week,

543
00:24:37,677 --> 00:24:42,549
but like the sheer volume
of activists that he had on

544
00:24:42,582 --> 00:24:43,583
is mind-blowing.

545
00:24:43,616 --> 00:24:46,619
Especially in such a
political hotbed at the time.

546
00:24:48,088 --> 00:24:50,557
Freedom!

547
00:24:50,590 --> 00:24:53,860
♪ He fights with missiles
and with spears ♪

548
00:24:53,893 --> 00:24:58,832
The fact that he was
able to fill in the space

549
00:24:58,865 --> 00:25:02,602
with people that had
substance was amazing to me.

550
00:25:02,635 --> 00:25:04,604
And to use that platform,

551
00:25:04,637 --> 00:25:06,873
that's unprecedented
for the times.

552
00:25:06,906 --> 00:25:10,744
I wanted to bring a political
dimension to the evening

553
00:25:10,777 --> 00:25:14,614
that was not quite "The
Tonight Show" thing.

554
00:25:14,647 --> 00:25:15,482
I want to make this
announcement.

555
00:25:15,515 --> 00:25:17,617
So I said, if anybody
wants to hear

556
00:25:17,650 --> 00:25:19,619
what Dr. King has to say

557
00:25:19,652 --> 00:25:21,821
and Bobby Kennedy has to say,

558
00:25:21,855 --> 00:25:23,757
it'll be good
for your ratings.

559
00:25:23,790 --> 00:25:25,892
They were considered
the spokespersons

560
00:25:25,925 --> 00:25:28,161
for the mood of the nation.

561
00:25:28,194 --> 00:25:30,697
There's a story of somebody
with the network asking,

562
00:25:30,730 --> 00:25:32,799
"Dr. King isn't going to talk
about that civil rights stuff,

563
00:25:32,832 --> 00:25:34,034
"is he?"

564
00:25:34,067 --> 00:25:35,935
It was a silly question.

565
00:25:35,969 --> 00:25:36,903
We've got him here.

566
00:25:36,936 --> 00:25:40,340
What would you like
him to do, sing a song?

567
00:25:40,373 --> 00:25:44,644
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King.

568
00:25:44,678 --> 00:25:47,747
(audience applauding)

569
00:25:50,083 --> 00:25:51,985
How old were you
when you started the

570
00:25:52,018 --> 00:25:53,753
Montgomery Alabama Montgomery,
Alabama bus strike?

571
00:25:53,787 --> 00:25:58,925
Well, I was 27 at that
time, that was back in 1956.

572
00:25:58,958 --> 00:26:00,126
Can I ask one other question?

573
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,961
(gentle music)

574
00:26:01,995 --> 00:26:05,165
After this uh, word
from your local station.

575
00:26:05,198 --> 00:26:08,902
(audience applauding)

576
00:26:08,935 --> 00:26:10,170
Harry had an agenda.

577
00:26:10,203 --> 00:26:12,672
And he had the people
to back it up.

578
00:26:12,706 --> 00:26:14,074
The winner is Sidney Poitier.

579
00:26:14,107 --> 00:26:15,408
(audience cheering)

580
00:26:15,442 --> 00:26:17,877
[Wesley] Harry had
Sidney Poitier,

581
00:26:17,911 --> 00:26:21,648
who by '68 was the biggest
movie star in Hollywood.

582
00:26:21,681 --> 00:26:24,718
There's a good angel
looking after me somewhere.

583
00:26:24,751 --> 00:26:28,021
Sidney was pushing back
against the type

584
00:26:28,054 --> 00:26:32,759
that the industry assumed
he was and needed him to be.

585
00:26:32,792 --> 00:26:36,162
I'm so pleased to meet you.

586
00:26:36,196 --> 00:26:38,732
I'm pleased to meet
you, Mrs. Drayton.

587
00:26:38,765 --> 00:26:39,766
I am artist,

588
00:26:41,267 --> 00:26:42,936
a man,

589
00:26:42,969 --> 00:26:44,004
American.

590
00:26:44,037 --> 00:26:45,839
[Wesley] When he makes
"In the Heat of the Night,"

591
00:26:45,872 --> 00:26:46,973
he's playing a cop.

592
00:26:47,007 --> 00:26:49,042
(slaps landing)

593
00:26:49,075 --> 00:26:50,710
And at some point
he winds up slapping

594
00:26:50,744 --> 00:26:52,712
this old white man
in the face.

595
00:26:52,746 --> 00:26:56,149
That was the year
of the smack!

596
00:26:56,182 --> 00:27:01,688
(laughs) Heard all
through the neighborhood.

597
00:27:01,721 --> 00:27:02,589
You saw it.

598
00:27:02,622 --> 00:27:03,990
[Whoopi] When that man
smacks Sidney...

599
00:27:04,024 --> 00:27:04,624
[Sheriff] Oh, I saw it.

600
00:27:04,657 --> 00:27:06,126
And Sidney smacked him back?

601
00:27:06,159 --> 00:27:07,961
Change! (laughs)

602
00:27:07,994 --> 00:27:11,131
Just the way Sidney
Poitier was changing movies

603
00:27:11,164 --> 00:27:13,133
at the time,

604
00:27:13,166 --> 00:27:15,935
another one of Harry's
guests that week, Bill Cosby,

605
00:27:15,969 --> 00:27:17,437
was also changing television.

606
00:27:18,505 --> 00:27:21,041
(brassy music)

607
00:27:22,208 --> 00:27:24,010
- He wasn't doing a thing

608
00:27:24,044 --> 00:27:26,112
that you had seen
Black men do before.

609
00:27:26,146 --> 00:27:28,081
He was on "I Spy"
with Robert Culp,

610
00:27:28,114 --> 00:27:29,416
they were both equals.

611
00:27:29,449 --> 00:27:34,054
He was playing an
undercover agent
alongside this white man.

612
00:27:34,087 --> 00:27:34,954
Hello, sir.

613
00:27:34,988 --> 00:27:35,855
Now!

614
00:27:35,889 --> 00:27:36,923
(gun fires)

615
00:27:36,956 --> 00:27:41,828
And he was a very
important emblem

616
00:27:41,861 --> 00:27:43,763
of integration
in this country.

617
00:27:43,797 --> 00:27:44,397
Yes, sir.

618
00:27:44,431 --> 00:27:46,166
Now, that's what I like!

619
00:27:46,199 --> 00:27:48,101
Let the women work, too.

620
00:27:48,134 --> 00:27:50,904
In the late sixties,
television was shifting

621
00:27:50,937 --> 00:27:52,872
in this powerful way.

622
00:27:52,906 --> 00:27:56,976
It was no longer
the terrain of
just white people.

623
00:27:57,010 --> 00:27:59,012
You can get rid
of the uniform.

624
00:27:59,045 --> 00:28:01,781
It makes me feel a
little self conscious.

625
00:28:01,815 --> 00:28:02,916
You should know how
it makes me feel.

626
00:28:02,949 --> 00:28:05,852
So now for the first time,

627
00:28:05,885 --> 00:28:08,822
white people who probably
never even came in contact

628
00:28:08,855 --> 00:28:12,926
with Black people were
now in contact with us

629
00:28:12,959 --> 00:28:14,227
in their homes.

630
00:28:14,260 --> 00:28:17,964
Tomorrow night, my
guests are Robert Goulet,

631
00:28:17,997 --> 00:28:21,334
George Kirby, Aretha
Franklin, Buffy Sainte-Marie.

632
00:28:21,368 --> 00:28:24,204
My job was to bring the
best that Black America

633
00:28:24,237 --> 00:28:25,205
had to offer.

634
00:28:25,238 --> 00:28:26,106
Nipsey?

635
00:28:26,139 --> 00:28:27,240
[Nipsey] Yes?

636
00:28:27,273 --> 00:28:29,042
I want to thank Mr. Harry
Singer for permitting you

637
00:28:29,075 --> 00:28:31,077
to come up tonight and
to be on this show.

638
00:28:31,111 --> 00:28:33,313
Never mind, Harry
Singer, thank me.

639
00:28:33,346 --> 00:28:36,950
[Harry] And to put us out
in one concentrated period,

640
00:28:36,983 --> 00:28:39,953
which all of this
magnificence burst out.

641
00:28:39,986 --> 00:28:43,056
(audience applauding)

642
00:28:44,090 --> 00:28:46,860
(static buzzing)

643
00:28:49,963 --> 00:28:54,234
The shocking thing
is that through 1971,

644
00:28:54,267 --> 00:28:59,205
NBC simply recorded over
and over, reused its tape.

645
00:29:00,273 --> 00:29:01,474
Night after night.

646
00:29:01,508 --> 00:29:06,246
Oh, this show's over, let's
just record on this same tape

647
00:29:06,279 --> 00:29:07,847
the next night.

648
00:29:07,881 --> 00:29:09,315
That's one thing I
could not believe.

649
00:29:09,349 --> 00:29:11,551
You know, whether it's
to save money or space.

650
00:29:11,584 --> 00:29:15,088
I mean, they were big
two inch tapes back then.

651
00:29:15,121 --> 00:29:17,390
It shocked Johnny Carson
when he found out about it

652
00:29:17,424 --> 00:29:20,927
and it shocked the staff
of the entire show.

653
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,063
- My first month at
"The Tonight Show,"

654
00:29:23,096 --> 00:29:27,000
I kind of came in with
hopeful expectations

655
00:29:27,033 --> 00:29:30,570
of watching all the
old footage of anything

656
00:29:30,603 --> 00:29:33,239
that's ever been shot
in the 30 Rock building.

657
00:29:33,273 --> 00:29:35,909
(Questlove playing drums)

658
00:29:35,942 --> 00:29:39,112
However, when I looked
on the video database,

659
00:29:39,145 --> 00:29:44,150
there were only two episodes
hosted by Harry Belafonte.

660
00:29:44,184 --> 00:29:48,054
So I guess no one ever
thought of reruns.

661
00:29:48,088 --> 00:29:51,124
So all of this
is lost to history

662
00:29:51,157 --> 00:29:53,293
except these two half hours,

663
00:29:53,326 --> 00:29:55,895
one with Dr. King,
one with Bobby Kennedy.

664
00:29:55,929 --> 00:29:59,599
And five minutes with
folksinger Leon Bibb.

665
00:29:59,632 --> 00:30:02,602
There's a handful of shows
that I, as a curator,

666
00:30:02,635 --> 00:30:04,170
would love to find.

667
00:30:04,204 --> 00:30:06,406
The week that Harry Belafonte
hosted "Tonight Show"

668
00:30:06,439 --> 00:30:09,175
is one of the gems
that we're missing.

669
00:30:09,209 --> 00:30:12,612
- When I discovered this week,
I wrote an article about it

670
00:30:12,645 --> 00:30:15,348
and I became borderline
obsessed with it.

671
00:30:15,382 --> 00:30:18,418
I started searching
for what might exist.

672
00:30:18,451 --> 00:30:20,320
I started interviewing people

673
00:30:20,353 --> 00:30:23,390
and I got introduced to
this man named Phil Gries.

674
00:30:25,158 --> 00:30:27,093
(bright music)

675
00:30:27,127 --> 00:30:29,396
[Announcer] This is
News 12 Long Island.

676
00:30:29,429 --> 00:30:31,664
Now, the morning edition.

677
00:30:31,698 --> 00:30:33,299
The time right now is 6:18 and

678
00:30:33,333 --> 00:30:35,335
we're rewinding some
television history.

679
00:30:35,368 --> 00:30:39,639
There is a collection of
early TV audio in Old Westbury

680
00:30:39,673 --> 00:30:40,640
and Christina's there now.

681
00:30:40,674 --> 00:30:41,741
Christina.

682
00:30:41,775 --> 00:30:44,077
- Phil Gries has collected
thousands of audio tapes

683
00:30:44,110 --> 00:30:46,246
of old TV shows from the '60s.

684
00:30:46,279 --> 00:30:48,114
Phil, tell us, how
did you get started?

685
00:30:48,148 --> 00:30:50,417
How many tapes do you have?

686
00:30:50,450 --> 00:30:51,985
- Well, there are
about 2,000 programs

687
00:30:52,018 --> 00:30:54,254
that I collected
over the years.

688
00:30:54,287 --> 00:30:57,290
(gentle piano music)

689
00:31:09,703 --> 00:31:14,274
This is the Harry Belafonte
tape from February 5th and 6th

690
00:31:14,307 --> 00:31:16,042
at 25 minutes.

691
00:31:16,076 --> 00:31:18,144
This would be the
quarter inch tape.

692
00:31:19,379 --> 00:31:21,448
This was only audio.

693
00:31:21,481 --> 00:31:26,086
The first experience with
audio recording television

694
00:31:26,119 --> 00:31:28,988
was when I was 14 years old

695
00:31:29,022 --> 00:31:32,959
and I recorded things
that nobody else has.

696
00:31:32,992 --> 00:31:34,961
I taped a lot of
"Tonight Shows."

697
00:31:34,994 --> 00:31:39,232
I recorded the first two
nights with Harry Belafonte.

698
00:31:39,265 --> 00:31:43,136
(gentle music)

699
00:31:43,169 --> 00:31:46,439
[Announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen, Harry Belafonte.

700
00:31:46,473 --> 00:31:50,243
(audience applauding)

701
00:31:50,276 --> 00:31:52,145
So thanks to
these audio tapes,

702
00:31:52,178 --> 00:31:54,280
we have a real sense of
what the show was like.

703
00:31:54,314 --> 00:31:56,016
You get to hear
Harry sing a song.

704
00:31:56,049 --> 00:31:59,719
He apparently opened
every episode with a song

705
00:31:59,753 --> 00:32:02,355
and we hear him sing the
folk song "Rock Island Line."

706
00:32:02,389 --> 00:32:05,225
♪ The Rock Island line
is a mighty good road ♪

707
00:32:05,258 --> 00:32:08,194
♪ Oh, the Rock Island
line is the road to ride ♪

708
00:32:08,228 --> 00:32:11,131
I'm regretful that I didn't
record that whole week,

709
00:32:11,164 --> 00:32:15,168
because it was
the first time

710
00:32:15,201 --> 00:32:19,172
that an Afro American
was asked to host

711
00:32:19,205 --> 00:32:22,776
five consecutive days
of "The Tonight Show."

712
00:32:22,809 --> 00:32:25,412
[Harry] I am very, very
self conscious about the fact

713
00:32:25,445 --> 00:32:28,014
that I am in this
seat of power.

714
00:32:28,048 --> 00:32:29,549
It does give you a
feeling of power.

715
00:32:29,582 --> 00:32:32,352
But I tell you, my
greatest comfort

716
00:32:32,385 --> 00:32:34,387
is to get up and do the
thing that I love most.

717
00:32:34,421 --> 00:32:38,158
We have a film that I
would like to show you.

718
00:32:38,191 --> 00:32:40,460
One of the things
that stands out to me

719
00:32:40,493 --> 00:32:43,029
was that he showed home movies

720
00:32:43,063 --> 00:32:45,031
of him and his
family on vacation.

721
00:32:45,065 --> 00:32:47,367
(gentle music)

722
00:32:48,835 --> 00:32:50,437
[Harry] People have
asked me all the time,

723
00:32:50,470 --> 00:32:52,806
what do I do with
my spare time?

724
00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:53,707
This is what I do.

725
00:32:53,740 --> 00:32:55,475
[Man] Watch the monitors
in the studio.

726
00:32:55,508 --> 00:32:58,178
(gentle music)

727
00:33:03,249 --> 00:33:04,484
(audience laughing)

728
00:33:04,517 --> 00:33:07,420
[Harry] That's my wife and
that's my 10 year old son.

729
00:33:09,155 --> 00:33:10,223
And that's my daughter.

730
00:33:11,257 --> 00:33:14,561
(gentle music)

731
00:33:14,594 --> 00:33:16,496
This is a young man by
the name of Ken White,

732
00:33:16,529 --> 00:33:20,567
who was the United States
water ski trick
skiing champion.

733
00:33:21,601 --> 00:33:23,403
Look at those muscles!

734
00:33:23,436 --> 00:33:25,605
He would perform for
about a month at a time

735
00:33:25,638 --> 00:33:29,509
in those days at Caesar's
Palace in Las Vegas.

736
00:33:29,542 --> 00:33:33,146
One of the perks of his
service to the hotel

737
00:33:33,179 --> 00:33:35,415
was that they gave us a
yacht every other day.

738
00:33:35,448 --> 00:33:38,518
And we would go out on
Lake Mead and water ski

739
00:33:38,551 --> 00:33:42,122
and he would also bring
a lot of folks.

740
00:33:42,155 --> 00:33:44,190
Celebrities, activists
on the boat.

741
00:33:44,224 --> 00:33:47,827
[Harry] It wasn't just
seeing us as Black people

742
00:33:47,861 --> 00:33:50,463
who were in show business,

743
00:33:50,497 --> 00:33:54,367
but seeing Black people
living their lives

744
00:33:54,401 --> 00:33:57,370
in ways that were more than
just being a performer.

745
00:33:59,139 --> 00:34:01,307
Ladies and gentlemen,
Miss Lena Horne.

746
00:34:01,341 --> 00:34:03,543
(audience applauding)

747
00:34:03,576 --> 00:34:05,545
Lena, I never ceased to
be amazed at the fact

748
00:34:05,578 --> 00:34:08,314
that you are a grandmother.

749
00:34:08,348 --> 00:34:09,349
[Lena] The thing that kept me

750
00:34:09,382 --> 00:34:11,317
from coming apart at the seams

751
00:34:11,351 --> 00:34:14,521
was the fact that I
wanted to stay married

752
00:34:14,554 --> 00:34:18,425
and I wanted to
raise my children.

753
00:34:18,458 --> 00:34:20,493
And in a very tough,
competitive business.

754
00:34:21,695 --> 00:34:26,599
♪ Ever since that day

755
00:34:26,633 --> 00:34:27,600
♪ When the world

756
00:34:27,634 --> 00:34:28,668
Well, I guess you've
gotten right to the top

757
00:34:28,702 --> 00:34:31,471
in every single phase of
show business there is,

758
00:34:31,504 --> 00:34:35,275
Movies and records, radio,
television, now the stage.

759
00:34:35,308 --> 00:34:38,445
Well, yes, and I'm very
happy now on the stage.

760
00:34:38,478 --> 00:34:42,182
♪ That I'm beholding ♪

761
00:34:42,215 --> 00:34:43,316
♪ A vision

762
00:34:43,350 --> 00:34:46,453
Lena Horne was a pioneering
African American superstar

763
00:34:46,486 --> 00:34:49,255
who had been very, very
outspoken politically.

764
00:34:49,289 --> 00:34:51,324
I don't feel like a
movie star particularly,

765
00:34:51,358 --> 00:34:54,260
but I'm a New Yorker and
what happens in the South

766
00:34:54,294 --> 00:34:56,896
happens to my state
and for my state, too.

767
00:34:56,930 --> 00:34:58,631
It's a communal
effort, I'm sure.

768
00:35:00,333 --> 00:35:03,236
Lena Horne became
very active in politics

769
00:35:03,269 --> 00:35:05,472
in the early civil
rights movement

770
00:35:05,505 --> 00:35:08,575
and she even found
herself blacklisted.

771
00:35:08,608 --> 00:35:12,712
In 1963, Lena was invited to
a secret civil rights meeting

772
00:35:12,746 --> 00:35:15,482
with then Attorney
General Bobby Kennedy.

773
00:35:15,515 --> 00:35:18,284
She was with Harry, the
author James Baldwin,

774
00:35:18,318 --> 00:35:19,919
playwright Lorraine Hansberry,

775
00:35:19,953 --> 00:35:23,323
and some younger Black
civil rights workers.

776
00:35:23,356 --> 00:35:25,325
It did not go well.

777
00:35:25,358 --> 00:35:29,229
Bobby Kennedy was appalled
by some of their suggestions

778
00:35:29,262 --> 00:35:32,232
about the measures that
the US should take

779
00:35:32,265 --> 00:35:34,434
around race, especially
in the South

780
00:35:34,467 --> 00:35:37,370
and the activists and
the artists were appalled

781
00:35:37,404 --> 00:35:39,639
at his lack of deep
understanding

782
00:35:39,673 --> 00:35:43,343
of the extent of the problem
of racism in the country

783
00:35:43,376 --> 00:35:45,645
where he was the chief
law enforcement officer.

784
00:35:45,679 --> 00:35:48,415
Will you please welcome
Senator Robert Kennedy?

785
00:35:48,448 --> 00:35:51,451
(audience applauding)

786
00:35:55,655 --> 00:35:59,259
I ride up and down
in my building

787
00:35:59,292 --> 00:36:01,261
every day in the elevator
and I see a man

788
00:36:01,294 --> 00:36:03,530
that says he's Johnny Carson.

789
00:36:03,563 --> 00:36:05,598
So it's great
to see you finally.

790
00:36:05,632 --> 00:36:06,733
It's not, really?

791
00:36:06,766 --> 00:36:09,469
(audience laughing
and applauding)

792
00:36:09,502 --> 00:36:12,405
For the most part, my
father's relationship

793
00:36:12,439 --> 00:36:15,375
to Robert Kennedy
had been adversarial,

794
00:36:15,408 --> 00:36:17,577
given who Robert
Kennedy really was

795
00:36:17,610 --> 00:36:20,580
before he made the
choice to learn more

796
00:36:20,613 --> 00:36:22,649
about the plight
of poor people.

797
00:36:24,317 --> 00:36:27,387
(gentle music)

798
00:36:27,420 --> 00:36:29,389
[Harry] Well, when we first
got word that Bobby Kennedy

799
00:36:29,422 --> 00:36:31,024
had been appointed
as Attorney General

800
00:36:31,057 --> 00:36:32,692
for the United
States of America,

801
00:36:32,726 --> 00:36:36,563
many of us saw that as an
unfortunately dark choice.

802
00:36:36,596 --> 00:36:38,832
With his record of
anti-liberalism,

803
00:36:38,865 --> 00:36:41,368
with his class interests
and having had

804
00:36:41,401 --> 00:36:44,738
no real history or background
with peoples of color.

805
00:36:46,473 --> 00:36:48,041
Dr. King, upon listening
to all of us

806
00:36:48,074 --> 00:36:50,477
and how we criticized
Bobby said

807
00:36:50,510 --> 00:36:53,279
go out and find
his moral center.

808
00:36:53,313 --> 00:36:55,482
And we reached out to to him,

809
00:36:55,515 --> 00:36:57,584
gave him opportunity
to look at

810
00:36:57,617 --> 00:36:59,753
what was happening to
the poor white children

811
00:36:59,786 --> 00:37:01,654
and in the Black community.

812
00:37:01,688 --> 00:37:04,591
And wed him to our cause.

813
00:37:04,624 --> 00:37:08,762
My father's advice was to
actually go to the South.

814
00:37:10,764 --> 00:37:13,366
You see him coming
upon a young boy

815
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,770
leaning against a building
and asks had he had breakfast.

816
00:37:16,803 --> 00:37:18,738
The boy very warmly
told him he didn't.

817
00:37:18,772 --> 00:37:22,409
And I remember Bobby
Kennedy going to him

818
00:37:22,442 --> 00:37:25,078
and putting his hand
against the boy's cheek.

819
00:37:25,111 --> 00:37:28,314
I saw in that moment
that Bobby Kennedy

820
00:37:28,348 --> 00:37:31,317
was now deeply
touched and moved.

821
00:37:31,351 --> 00:37:36,523
He showed a deeper sense
of his own humanity.

822
00:37:36,556 --> 00:37:41,795
He came back with new
eyes and a new perspective.

823
00:37:41,828 --> 00:37:43,797
I think my father
felt an opportunity

824
00:37:43,830 --> 00:37:46,099
to create intimacy there,
in conversation

825
00:37:46,132 --> 00:37:47,634
and to get his feedback.

826
00:37:48,935 --> 00:37:50,637
I think that there
are many areas

827
00:37:50,670 --> 00:37:53,473
in which we have problems
in the United States.

828
00:37:53,506 --> 00:37:55,508
There is this great
wealth that I talked about

829
00:37:55,542 --> 00:37:57,677
and yet there's great poverty.

830
00:37:57,711 --> 00:37:59,546
There are speeches
made about the fact

831
00:37:59,579 --> 00:38:01,081
that we're going to
treat everybody equally,

832
00:38:01,114 --> 00:38:03,650
and yet we don't treat
everybody equally.

833
00:38:03,683 --> 00:38:07,821
He came on and spoke
to issues of race

834
00:38:07,854 --> 00:38:11,791
through the eyes
of Black children.

835
00:38:11,825 --> 00:38:12,892
Well, then I was out in Watts

836
00:38:12,926 --> 00:38:15,662
and I went by to
see some young men

837
00:38:15,695 --> 00:38:17,664
and one of them was
talking about the fact

838
00:38:17,697 --> 00:38:18,598
that he lived at
home with his mother

839
00:38:18,631 --> 00:38:20,400
and nobody ever
cleaned the garbage out.

840
00:38:20,433 --> 00:38:24,137
He said, "They can
draft me and send me off

841
00:38:24,170 --> 00:38:26,573
"to fight for this
country at the age of 18,

842
00:38:26,606 --> 00:38:28,141
"but they won't
let me complain about

843
00:38:28,174 --> 00:38:30,810
"the garbage out front beside
my mother's house at 19."

844
00:38:30,844 --> 00:38:34,147
He spent a good number
of minutes talking about

845
00:38:34,180 --> 00:38:37,384
what he saw America's
future to be.

846
00:38:37,417 --> 00:38:40,687
If we didn't, perhaps, tell
untruths about ourselves,

847
00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:41,755
then I think that er,

848
00:38:41,788 --> 00:38:43,723
and faced up to reality,

849
00:38:43,757 --> 00:38:46,393
then I think our country
would be much better off

850
00:38:46,426 --> 00:38:47,927
and our people would
have much more confidence

851
00:38:47,961 --> 00:38:49,896
in those of us who
are public officials

852
00:38:49,929 --> 00:38:51,831
and in our government
as a whole.

853
00:38:51,865 --> 00:38:53,433
(audience applauding)

854
00:38:53,466 --> 00:38:55,769
Bobby Kennedy became
sort of this spokesman

855
00:38:55,802 --> 00:38:59,172
for civil rights and the
whole progressive movement

856
00:38:59,205 --> 00:39:01,441
and the antiwar movement.

857
00:39:01,474 --> 00:39:03,677
This war has been handed
down and has been

858
00:39:03,710 --> 00:39:06,179
the delinquent child of a
number of presidents.

859
00:39:06,212 --> 00:39:08,515
Absolutely, including
the administration in which

860
00:39:08,548 --> 00:39:10,583
I was a member and served.

861
00:39:10,617 --> 00:39:12,886
You had the Tet Offensive
in January of 1968,

862
00:39:12,919 --> 00:39:16,523
where people finally see
this is going terribly

863
00:39:16,556 --> 00:39:17,424
for Americans.

864
00:39:17,457 --> 00:39:18,525
It's war is a disaster.

865
00:39:18,558 --> 00:39:20,493
The fact that there are
those who've been killed

866
00:39:20,527 --> 00:39:23,830
who are innocently involved
in this great struggle.

867
00:39:29,469 --> 00:39:31,538
Senator, there are increasing
reports out of Washington

868
00:39:31,571 --> 00:39:33,006
that your advisors
are now telling you

869
00:39:33,039 --> 00:39:36,543
that you should run against
President Johnson this year.

870
00:39:36,576 --> 00:39:40,613
Johnson had become extremely
unpopular with young people.

871
00:39:40,647 --> 00:39:43,883
The war is going so badly
that he's vulnerable.

872
00:39:43,917 --> 00:39:44,751
I have no plans.

873
00:39:44,784 --> 00:39:47,854
I have no plans to
change the statement

874
00:39:47,887 --> 00:39:48,755
that I've already made.

875
00:39:48,788 --> 00:39:49,756
Will you endorse--

876
00:39:49,789 --> 00:39:51,524
[Bill] There was all
kinds of speculation about

877
00:39:51,558 --> 00:39:53,827
would he move on to
challenge Lyndon Johnson

878
00:39:53,860 --> 00:39:55,528
for the presidency?

879
00:39:55,562 --> 00:39:58,198
It was a massive story.

880
00:39:58,231 --> 00:39:59,833
(dramatic music)

881
00:39:59,866 --> 00:40:02,969
I had tried to get Bobby
to use "The Tonight Show"

882
00:40:03,003 --> 00:40:05,772
to say that he was
running for the presidency

883
00:40:05,805 --> 00:40:09,509
and that I would have had,
like you journalists say,

884
00:40:09,542 --> 00:40:10,477
I'd had a scoop!

885
00:40:10,510 --> 00:40:12,846
You said only those who
dare to fail greatly

886
00:40:12,879 --> 00:40:14,981
can ever achieve greatly.

887
00:40:15,015 --> 00:40:19,986
Do you believe that in 1968,
in the coming elections,

888
00:40:20,020 --> 00:40:22,822
that we will have a
choice to back a candidate

889
00:40:22,856 --> 00:40:24,591
who will dare greatly?

890
00:40:24,624 --> 00:40:27,494
(audience applauding)

891
00:40:27,527 --> 00:40:29,763
I think you were nice
to do that, weren't you?

892
00:40:29,796 --> 00:40:32,766
(audience laughing)

893
00:40:32,799 --> 00:40:35,502
[Man] In this campaign
year, political figures are

894
00:40:35,535 --> 00:40:37,771
throwing their hats
into the ring.

895
00:40:37,804 --> 00:40:39,673
Bobby Kennedy
definitely will...

896
00:40:39,706 --> 00:40:41,241
Come on, Bobby,
make up your mind.

897
00:40:41,274 --> 00:40:43,943
(audience laughing)

898
00:40:43,977 --> 00:40:47,814
[Announcer] It's
"The Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour."

899
00:40:47,847 --> 00:40:50,016
Our government is
asking us as citizens

900
00:40:50,050 --> 00:40:52,819
to refrain from traveling
to foreign lands.

901
00:40:55,588 --> 00:40:57,924
- Okay, all you guys in
Vietnam, come on home.

902
00:40:57,957 --> 00:41:00,527
(audience applauding)

903
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:02,762
[Harry] Over the last couple
of years I've come to know

904
00:41:02,796 --> 00:41:04,564
and come to respect
two young men

905
00:41:04,597 --> 00:41:07,067
who have honored me by being
my guests this evening.

906
00:41:07,100 --> 00:41:09,836
They're quite popular
and quite controversial.

907
00:41:09,869 --> 00:41:12,105
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Smothers Brothers.

908
00:41:12,138 --> 00:41:13,039
(audience applauding)

909
00:41:13,073 --> 00:41:15,709
♪ Now Ho Chi Minh
sure aint no friend ♪

910
00:41:15,742 --> 00:41:17,777
♪ That's plain
for all to see ♪

911
00:41:17,811 --> 00:41:19,779
♪ And I know someone's
gotta fight over there ♪

912
00:41:19,813 --> 00:41:21,548
♪ But why does it
have to be me ♪

913
00:41:21,581 --> 00:41:22,916
The Smothers Brothers
became very political

914
00:41:22,949 --> 00:41:24,651
and they wanted
to deal with issues

915
00:41:24,684 --> 00:41:26,720
that were happening
in society.

916
00:41:26,753 --> 00:41:28,021
Look, what can
the president do

917
00:41:28,054 --> 00:41:30,123
to make people want to
stay in this country?

918
00:41:30,156 --> 00:41:31,591
Well, he could quit.

919
00:41:31,624 --> 00:41:33,026
(audience laughing)

920
00:41:33,059 --> 00:41:34,861
[Bill] The Smothers
Brothers were in the middle

921
00:41:34,894 --> 00:41:37,597
of this massive
controversy with CBS

922
00:41:37,630 --> 00:41:39,599
because of their
opposition to the war.

923
00:41:39,632 --> 00:41:42,736
They would be doing jokes
and mocking the president

924
00:41:42,769 --> 00:41:44,137
that you didn't
see anywhere else.

925
00:41:44,170 --> 00:41:46,806
My fellow citizens.

926
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,310
Because they were directly
criticizing Lyndon Johnson,

927
00:41:50,343 --> 00:41:53,813
he wound up calling the
head of CBS, William Paley,

928
00:41:53,847 --> 00:41:57,017
at three o'clock in
the morning and saying,

929
00:41:57,050 --> 00:41:58,685
"You gotta stop this."

930
00:41:58,718 --> 00:42:00,620
Paley did tell those
guys to knock it off.

931
00:42:00,653 --> 00:42:01,554
The Smothers Brothers said,

932
00:42:01,588 --> 00:42:02,655
"This is the show
we're going to do.

933
00:42:02,689 --> 00:42:04,090
"We're not gonna back off."

934
00:42:04,124 --> 00:42:06,126
Harry Belafonte had them on.

935
00:42:06,159 --> 00:42:07,193
[Harry] What are
some of the jokes

936
00:42:07,227 --> 00:42:10,630
that CBS will not permit
you to tell on the air?

937
00:42:10,663 --> 00:42:11,264
[Smothers] They've
been kind enough

938
00:42:11,297 --> 00:42:12,198
to let us come on this show

939
00:42:12,232 --> 00:42:14,668
and do some of our
distasteful material.

940
00:42:14,701 --> 00:42:15,969
(audience laughing)

941
00:42:16,002 --> 00:42:22,042
♪ Make love not war

942
00:42:22,075 --> 00:42:24,611
I think what was
interesting about the week

943
00:42:24,644 --> 00:42:26,880
and something that
appealed to me personally,

944
00:42:26,913 --> 00:42:30,750
even at that age, was this
mix of art and politics.

945
00:42:30,784 --> 00:42:33,753
(crowd cheering)

946
00:42:37,090 --> 00:42:40,160
♪ Chain chain chain

947
00:42:40,193 --> 00:42:42,062
Throughout her career
in the 1960s,

948
00:42:42,095 --> 00:42:46,066
Aretha Franklin was not afraid
to make both entertainment

949
00:42:46,099 --> 00:42:48,968
and political music and to
tie those things together

950
00:42:49,002 --> 00:42:51,905
in a way that would be
forever transformative

951
00:42:51,938 --> 00:42:53,907
to popular music.

952
00:42:53,940 --> 00:42:58,378
♪ Oh you're treating
me cruel ♪

953
00:42:58,411 --> 00:42:59,746
♪ Chain chain chain

954
00:42:59,779 --> 00:43:01,815
Just one month before
"The Tonight Show"

955
00:43:01,848 --> 00:43:05,085
with Harry Belafonte, Aretha
Franklin released her album,

956
00:43:05,118 --> 00:43:06,252
"Lady Soul."

957
00:43:06,286 --> 00:43:07,287
"Chain of Fools," "You Make
Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,"

958
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:10,724
"Since You've Been Gone,"
"Ain't No Way."

959
00:43:10,757 --> 00:43:12,959
This is just one month
before "The Tonight Show,"

960
00:43:12,992 --> 00:43:14,928
so Aretha Franklin was
at the height of her

961
00:43:14,961 --> 00:43:16,830
creative and commercial
success.

962
00:43:16,863 --> 00:43:20,767
She is selling more
records than any woman

963
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:23,069
in music at that
time and still,

964
00:43:23,103 --> 00:43:26,773
and she's using that money
to fund the movement,

965
00:43:26,806 --> 00:43:27,974
to fund the activism.

966
00:43:28,008 --> 00:43:30,977
♪ I believe

967
00:43:31,011 --> 00:43:35,949
♪ I do believe

968
00:43:35,982 --> 00:43:40,086
♪ People get ready
♪ There's a train coming ♪

969
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,455
You're so seduced by her voice

970
00:43:42,489 --> 00:43:47,727
that sometimes her activism
is seen as a second tier.

971
00:43:47,761 --> 00:43:51,664
("Respect" by Aretha Franklin)

972
00:43:54,968 --> 00:43:55,869
♪ What you want

973
00:43:55,902 --> 00:43:57,137
A song like "Respect,"
which we all know

974
00:43:57,170 --> 00:43:58,271
and associate with
Aretha Franklin,

975
00:43:58,304 --> 00:44:02,075
that became a huge political
anthem for so many things,

976
00:44:02,108 --> 00:44:03,209
including the
feminist movement,

977
00:44:03,243 --> 00:44:04,277
but also civil
rights movement.

978
00:44:04,310 --> 00:44:07,781
[Dr King] Tonight we are
gonna have a great night

979
00:44:07,814 --> 00:44:09,716
in the city of Philadelphia

980
00:44:09,749 --> 00:44:12,152
and I know you've heard
of Harry Belafonte

981
00:44:12,185 --> 00:44:15,755
and Aretha Franklin and
all of these other

982
00:44:15,789 --> 00:44:17,891
great and outstanding artists.

983
00:44:17,924 --> 00:44:20,026
She was very close to
Dr. Martin Luther King.

984
00:44:20,060 --> 00:44:23,063
Detroit is proud of
its native daughter.

985
00:44:23,096 --> 00:44:25,131
[Jason] He was willing
to work with her a lot

986
00:44:25,165 --> 00:44:29,135
to try to get his message
to a wider group of people.

987
00:44:29,169 --> 00:44:33,106
[Presenter] Do hereby proclaim
Friday, February the 16th

988
00:44:33,139 --> 00:44:35,742
as Aretha Franklin Day.

989
00:44:35,775 --> 00:44:37,110
Martin Luther King understood,

990
00:44:37,143 --> 00:44:38,778
coming from the Black church,

991
00:44:38,812 --> 00:44:42,248
how important music was
to conveying messages.

992
00:44:42,282 --> 00:44:45,151
And so Martin
Luther King cultivated

993
00:44:45,185 --> 00:44:47,120
these deep relationships
with artists

994
00:44:47,153 --> 00:44:49,756
who he saw as being
key and vital

995
00:44:49,789 --> 00:44:52,325
to the spreading
of his message.

996
00:44:52,359 --> 00:44:55,295
So many artists are
willing to stand up

997
00:44:55,328 --> 00:44:58,064
on these particular issues

998
00:44:58,098 --> 00:45:01,301
and it represents a real
and genuine courage.

999
00:45:01,334 --> 00:45:06,306
And not only does he have
the right to take a stand,

1000
00:45:06,339 --> 00:45:09,909
but a moral responsibility
to do it.

1001
00:45:09,943 --> 00:45:13,546
(guitar strumming)

1002
00:45:13,580 --> 00:45:16,816
I was a college
girl writing songs

1003
00:45:16,850 --> 00:45:19,152
that I thought audiences
really deserved to hear

1004
00:45:19,185 --> 00:45:21,221
because who, how are
they going to find out

1005
00:45:21,254 --> 00:45:23,356
about the things that
politicians and businessmen

1006
00:45:23,390 --> 00:45:24,858
are trying to cover up?

1007
00:45:24,891 --> 00:45:27,027
This is called
"Welcome Emigrante,"

1008
00:45:27,060 --> 00:45:29,095
which means
welcome immigrants.

1009
00:45:29,129 --> 00:45:32,098
And it's pretty silly for...

1010
00:45:32,132 --> 00:45:35,568
maybe a first or second or
third generation American

1011
00:45:35,602 --> 00:45:40,306
to be making fun of and
refusing help to

1012
00:45:40,340 --> 00:45:43,209
newly arrived immigrants
when the fact is

1013
00:45:43,243 --> 00:45:45,245
they haven't been here
that long themselves.

1014
00:45:45,278 --> 00:45:48,014
♪ And they came
from far away ♪

1015
00:45:48,048 --> 00:45:50,383
♪ To a land they didn't know ♪

1016
00:45:50,417 --> 00:45:52,819
♪ The same way you
do my friends ♪

1017
00:45:52,852 --> 00:45:55,388
When Harry invited me to
come on "The Tonight Show,"

1018
00:45:55,422 --> 00:45:57,390
of course I was thrilled.

1019
00:45:57,424 --> 00:46:01,594
Harry was like the heart and
brains of a lot of things.

1020
00:46:01,628 --> 00:46:05,265
He always brought people
from indigenous communities

1021
00:46:05,298 --> 00:46:07,100
all over the world onto stage.

1022
00:46:07,133 --> 00:46:10,970
And he brought those cultures
to audiences in cities,

1023
00:46:11,004 --> 00:46:14,374
in big fancy halls, who
otherwise would never have

1024
00:46:14,407 --> 00:46:18,078
been able to
hear those groups.

1025
00:46:18,111 --> 00:46:19,579
♪ Now the girls up at Cripple
Creek about half-grown ♪

1026
00:46:19,612 --> 00:46:20,513
♪ Jump on a boy

1027
00:46:20,547 --> 00:46:23,850
Harry gave me the idea
that you could be

1028
00:46:23,883 --> 00:46:26,152
an entertaining entertainer,

1029
00:46:26,186 --> 00:46:28,355
even if I'm doing
hard-hitting material.

1030
00:46:28,388 --> 00:46:30,223
You're not trying to
scold or hurt people,

1031
00:46:30,256 --> 00:46:31,858
you're trying to
give them something

1032
00:46:31,891 --> 00:46:33,426
that otherwise they
wouldn't have known.

1033
00:46:33,460 --> 00:46:37,030
When it came to discuss what
I was going to play and sing,

1034
00:46:37,063 --> 00:46:39,099
I suggested "Now That
the Buffalo's Gone"

1035
00:46:39,132 --> 00:46:44,237
♪ Remember the times

1036
00:46:44,270 --> 00:46:46,139
♪ That you have held
your head high ♪

1037
00:46:46,172 --> 00:46:49,075
"Now That the Buffalo's
Gone," which is a song about

1038
00:46:49,109 --> 00:46:51,077
the building of
the Kinzua Dam,

1039
00:46:51,111 --> 00:46:53,179
which is a government
project that's taken the land

1040
00:46:53,213 --> 00:46:54,614
away from the Seneca Indians.

1041
00:46:55,682 --> 00:46:57,417
America needed to see

1042
00:46:57,450 --> 00:47:01,254
what we were struggling
about as people of color.

1043
00:47:01,287 --> 00:47:06,893
♪ It's here and it's now
you must help us dear man ♪

1044
00:47:06,926 --> 00:47:11,131
♪ Now that the
buffalo's gone ♪

1045
00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:15,969
Art without content
is not art.

1046
00:47:18,004 --> 00:47:22,008
The truth of the matter is
that I quit being a pop star.

1047
00:47:22,042 --> 00:47:23,643
You can't go there and
sing protest songs

1048
00:47:23,677 --> 00:47:26,112
and sell a million, it
ain't going to happen.

1049
00:47:26,146 --> 00:47:29,416
I knew that I had
to go find an art

1050
00:47:29,449 --> 00:47:32,919
that would tell what
life should be.

1051
00:47:32,952 --> 00:47:38,458
And nothing did that better
than to be in the folk world.

1052
00:47:38,491 --> 00:47:42,062
♪ Gotta pull this timber
before the sun go down ♪

1053
00:47:42,095 --> 00:47:44,931
♪ Get it cross the river
before the boss come round ♪

1054
00:47:44,964 --> 00:47:48,034
♪ Drag it on down
that dusty road ♪

1055
00:47:48,068 --> 00:47:50,337
♪ Come on Jerry let's
tote that load ♪

1056
00:47:50,370 --> 00:47:53,239
In the history of folk music,
it's often seen as a kind of

1057
00:47:53,273 --> 00:47:56,109
white music, but that's
not actually true at all.

1058
00:47:56,142 --> 00:47:57,243
You have to remember,

1059
00:47:57,277 --> 00:48:01,047
folk music represented a
kind of political engagement,

1060
00:48:01,081 --> 00:48:02,949
especially for
African Americans,

1061
00:48:02,982 --> 00:48:05,318
that a lot of R&B music
didn't at the time.

1062
00:48:05,352 --> 00:48:08,188
R&B music, while it was
incredible music

1063
00:48:08,221 --> 00:48:10,256
and it's fun and exciting
and danceable,

1064
00:48:10,290 --> 00:48:13,026
was not necessarily
explicitly political.

1065
00:48:13,059 --> 00:48:16,129
The folk singers had
much more latitude.

1066
00:48:16,162 --> 00:48:19,199
♪ When we got there the
hills were steep ♪

1067
00:48:19,232 --> 00:48:22,268
♪ It would make a
tender person weep ♪

1068
00:48:22,302 --> 00:48:25,138
Leon Bibb was a
southern folksinger.

1069
00:48:25,171 --> 00:48:27,540
He was not a household name,

1070
00:48:27,574 --> 00:48:30,243
but he was somebody that
Harry Belafonte felt

1071
00:48:30,276 --> 00:48:33,013
could make an impact if he was
in front of a wide audience.

1072
00:48:33,046 --> 00:48:34,414
Ha! Ha! Ha!

1073
00:48:34,447 --> 00:48:38,184
America was awakened
to a whole new group

1074
00:48:38,218 --> 00:48:41,187
of Black artists they
never heard before.

1075
00:48:41,221 --> 00:48:43,156
And Leon was one of them.

1076
00:48:43,189 --> 00:48:46,126
Ladies and gentlemen, my
dear friend, Mr. Leon Bibb.

1077
00:48:46,159 --> 00:48:49,262
There was a song
called "Suzanne."

1078
00:48:49,295 --> 00:48:52,165
And I just adored that song.

1079
00:48:52,198 --> 00:48:54,501
♪ Suzanne takes you down

1080
00:48:54,534 --> 00:48:57,270
♪ To a place by the river

1081
00:48:57,303 --> 00:49:00,040
♪ You could hear
the boats go by ♪

1082
00:49:00,073 --> 00:49:02,475
♪ You can spend the
night forever ♪

1083
00:49:02,509 --> 00:49:04,544
When Leon Bibb came on,
I suggested to him

1084
00:49:04,577 --> 00:49:06,379
that he sing that song

1085
00:49:06,413 --> 00:49:08,248
and it blew everybody away.

1086
00:49:10,417 --> 00:49:14,754
♪ Suzanne takes you down

1087
00:49:14,788 --> 00:49:19,192
♪ To a place by the river

1088
00:49:19,225 --> 00:49:24,097
♪ You can hear
the boats go by ♪

1089
00:49:24,130 --> 00:49:25,065
♪ You can spend
the night forever ♪

1090
00:49:25,098 --> 00:49:27,334
I remember getting that call.

1091
00:49:27,367 --> 00:49:29,502
God, it was a thrill.

1092
00:49:29,536 --> 00:49:31,338
♪ And night grows sweeter

1093
00:49:31,371 --> 00:49:34,574
The guests that night
were Leon Bibb,

1094
00:49:34,607 --> 00:49:36,776
me, Freda Payne,

1095
00:49:38,445 --> 00:49:43,216
Paul Newman, Nipsey
Russell, Aaron and Freddie

1096
00:49:43,249 --> 00:49:46,786
and Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King.

1097
00:49:46,820 --> 00:49:49,089
Dr. King, how old are you?

1098
00:49:49,122 --> 00:49:51,124
- I'm 39 years old.

1099
00:49:51,157 --> 00:49:55,061
In fact, I was 39 just
three weeks ago.

1100
00:49:55,095 --> 00:49:56,162
[Man] What's the date?

1101
00:49:56,196 --> 00:49:58,198
Do you know that everybody
sitting on this panel--

1102
00:49:58,231 --> 00:50:00,367
The 15th of January.

1103
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:02,068
[Harry] Do you believe--

1104
00:50:02,102 --> 00:50:03,203
You're a young fellow,
what are you talking about?

1105
00:50:03,236 --> 00:50:06,373
[Harry] Everybody on this
panel is older than you are.

1106
00:50:06,406 --> 00:50:07,507
Wait a minute!

1107
00:50:07,540 --> 00:50:10,143
(all laughing)

1108
00:50:10,176 --> 00:50:12,145
There's no room here
for black protest.

1109
00:50:12,178 --> 00:50:15,115
(all laughing)

1110
00:50:15,148 --> 00:50:18,084
The idea that you'd
have Harry Belafonte...

1111
00:50:18,118 --> 00:50:20,520
talking to Nipsey Russell.

1112
00:50:20,553 --> 00:50:21,521
Here's a little news.

1113
00:50:21,554 --> 00:50:24,591
If you think that
medicine has to taste bad

1114
00:50:24,624 --> 00:50:27,394
in order to be good,
just watch.

1115
00:50:27,427 --> 00:50:30,530
To have Martin Luther
King talking to Paul Newman

1116
00:50:30,563 --> 00:50:34,367
where a white person is
a minority on the stage.

1117
00:50:34,401 --> 00:50:36,336
Come on, that's crazy!

1118
00:50:36,369 --> 00:50:39,873
Paul Newman, one of the
great actors of the time,

1119
00:50:39,906 --> 00:50:42,308
very celebrated
internationally,

1120
00:50:42,342 --> 00:50:44,377
had never done a
talk show before.

1121
00:50:44,411 --> 00:50:46,413
I know that all of the artists

1122
00:50:46,446 --> 00:50:49,282
who sit on this panel
tonight feel very strongly

1123
00:50:49,315 --> 00:50:52,619
about the war in Vietnam
and we oppose it.

1124
00:50:52,652 --> 00:50:54,621
We also have been
through the years

1125
00:50:54,654 --> 00:50:58,191
as committed to civil rights
as you could possibly be.

1126
00:50:58,224 --> 00:51:00,126
I know I've put this
question to Paul before,

1127
00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:02,462
but Paul, how do you handle
some people who say to you

1128
00:51:02,495 --> 00:51:06,466
that as a top star, living
the luxury of American life,

1129
00:51:06,499 --> 00:51:10,136
that you could turn your
back against the nation?

1130
00:51:10,170 --> 00:51:11,471
What do you do?

1131
00:51:11,504 --> 00:51:13,707
You give up your
citizenship because
you've become an actor?

1132
00:51:13,740 --> 00:51:17,243
I remember the night
with Dr. King.

1133
00:51:17,277 --> 00:51:19,913
Unlike the coverage
that was in the papers

1134
00:51:19,946 --> 00:51:21,247
and on TV, too,

1135
00:51:21,281 --> 00:51:23,883
this was a different
side of Dr. King.

1136
00:51:23,917 --> 00:51:26,319
He was relaxed,
he was smiling.

1137
00:51:26,353 --> 00:51:28,688
Well, I'm delighted
to be here, Harry

1138
00:51:28,722 --> 00:51:29,689
and I'll tell you,

1139
00:51:29,723 --> 00:51:32,592
one of the reasons I'm
so happy to be here.

1140
00:51:32,625 --> 00:51:35,195
I flew out of Washington
this afternoon

1141
00:51:35,228 --> 00:51:38,932
and as soon as we started
out, they notified us

1142
00:51:38,965 --> 00:51:42,635
that the plane had
mechanical difficulties

1143
00:51:42,669 --> 00:51:44,604
and I don't want to
give you an impression

1144
00:51:44,637 --> 00:51:46,706
that as a Baptist preacher

1145
00:51:46,740 --> 00:51:49,409
I don't have faith
in God in the air,

1146
00:51:49,442 --> 00:51:51,611
it's simply that
I've had more experience

1147
00:51:51,644 --> 00:51:52,679
with Him on the ground.

1148
00:51:52,712 --> 00:51:55,181
(audience laughing)

1149
00:51:55,215 --> 00:51:58,284
I was kind of amused that
he knew how to get laughter.

1150
00:51:58,318 --> 00:52:01,187
Which is something that you
don't see in his speeches

1151
00:52:01,221 --> 00:52:02,655
because he's so serious.

1152
00:52:02,689 --> 00:52:07,227
My thing was like, "Oh,
he can tell a good joke."

1153
00:52:07,260 --> 00:52:09,696
What do you have in
store for us this summer?

1154
00:52:09,729 --> 00:52:13,433
I feel that we
are in the midst

1155
00:52:13,466 --> 00:52:16,569
of the most critical
period in our nation

1156
00:52:16,603 --> 00:52:19,639
and the economic problem

1157
00:52:19,673 --> 00:52:23,510
is probably the most
serious problem confronting

1158
00:52:23,543 --> 00:52:27,213
the Negro community and
poor people, generally.

1159
00:52:27,247 --> 00:52:29,382
His new project that very week

1160
00:52:29,416 --> 00:52:32,352
was the Poor People's
Campaign.

1161
00:52:32,385 --> 00:52:35,221
He knew that the civil
rights movement itself

1162
00:52:35,255 --> 00:52:37,657
would have to give way to
something much more profound,

1163
00:52:37,691 --> 00:52:39,259
economic rights.

1164
00:52:39,292 --> 00:52:40,427
But bringing the
people together

1165
00:52:40,460 --> 00:52:42,429
in a much more fundamental way

1166
00:52:42,462 --> 00:52:44,264
around issues that
affected everybody,

1167
00:52:44,297 --> 00:52:46,733
regardless of race,
class, or color.

1168
00:52:46,766 --> 00:52:49,502
The week that Dr. King
was on "The Tonight Show,"

1169
00:52:49,536 --> 00:52:52,238
he was traveling all
over the country

1170
00:52:52,272 --> 00:52:54,341
to support the
Poor People's Campaign.

1171
00:52:54,374 --> 00:52:58,511
It is my hope that
we will really stand up

1172
00:52:58,545 --> 00:53:01,514
to gain power for poor people.

1173
00:53:01,548 --> 00:53:05,652
Black people, Mexican
Americans, American Indians,

1174
00:53:05,685 --> 00:53:10,557
Puerto Ricans, Appalachian
whites, all working together

1175
00:53:10,590 --> 00:53:14,027
to solve the
problem of poverty.

1176
00:53:14,060 --> 00:53:15,695
He got it from all sides.

1177
00:53:15,729 --> 00:53:17,697
His own staff said
we haven't finished

1178
00:53:17,731 --> 00:53:19,699
a Black lib movement
in the South.

1179
00:53:19,733 --> 00:53:22,435
Now you're saying this
campaign is going to have

1180
00:53:22,469 --> 00:53:24,637
white coal miners
and Mexicans?

1181
00:53:24,671 --> 00:53:27,407
You're taking my budget and
giving it to white folks?

1182
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:30,677
I think the time has
come to bring to bear

1183
00:53:30,710 --> 00:53:33,480
the nonviolent direct
action movement

1184
00:53:33,513 --> 00:53:37,517
on the economic conditions
that we face

1185
00:53:37,550 --> 00:53:38,852
all over the country.

1186
00:53:38,885 --> 00:53:40,754
[Taylor] He finally
got his staff preparing

1187
00:53:40,787 --> 00:53:44,324
to go up to Washington
to start the campaign.

1188
00:53:44,357 --> 00:53:47,527
And then the garbage
strike in Memphis happened.

1189
00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:50,764
A public official orders
men to get back to work

1190
00:53:50,797 --> 00:53:53,366
and treats them as
though they are not men.

1191
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:55,735
That's a racist point of view.

1192
00:53:55,769 --> 00:53:57,671
They said we are
treated like garbage.

1193
00:53:57,704 --> 00:53:59,873
That's where the slogan
"I am a man" comes from.

1194
00:53:59,906 --> 00:54:02,475
I'm a man, not garbage.

1195
00:54:02,509 --> 00:54:04,744
And Dr. King said if
this is not what the

1196
00:54:04,778 --> 00:54:07,747
Poor People's Campaign
is about, nothing is.

1197
00:54:07,781 --> 00:54:09,582
We have to go to Memphis.

1198
00:54:09,616 --> 00:54:14,387
You are demanding that
this city will respect

1199
00:54:14,421 --> 00:54:16,589
the dignity of labor.

1200
00:54:16,623 --> 00:54:18,692
[Joan] There was a rising
Black Power movement.

1201
00:54:18,725 --> 00:54:21,594
There was a perception
that Dr. King

1202
00:54:21,628 --> 00:54:25,532
was not moving fast enough
for the younger Black folks

1203
00:54:25,565 --> 00:54:27,500
and the Black nationalists.

1204
00:54:27,534 --> 00:54:28,902
Certainly Black people
in this country

1205
00:54:28,935 --> 00:54:32,439
were deeply frustrated by
existing Black leadership.

1206
00:54:32,472 --> 00:54:36,576
There was really no aggressive
voice doing for us

1207
00:54:36,609 --> 00:54:39,512
what youth felt
should be done.

1208
00:54:39,546 --> 00:54:41,114
They were going to
become the provocateurs,

1209
00:54:41,147 --> 00:54:43,650
they were going to
become the radical voice.

1210
00:54:43,683 --> 00:54:44,684
Do you think you'll
be able to keep it

1211
00:54:44,718 --> 00:54:46,119
nonviolent, Dr. King?

1212
00:54:46,152 --> 00:54:47,153
Yes, I think so.

1213
00:54:47,187 --> 00:54:50,523
I don't have any doubt
in my mind about that.

1214
00:54:50,557 --> 00:54:51,891
Mr. Carmichael,
are you as committed

1215
00:54:51,925 --> 00:54:54,094
to the nonviolent
approach as Dr. King is?

1216
00:54:54,127 --> 00:54:55,395
No, I'm not.

1217
00:54:55,428 --> 00:54:56,496
No one in this
country is asking

1218
00:54:56,529 --> 00:54:59,599
the white community in the
South to be nonviolent.

1219
00:54:59,632 --> 00:55:01,868
And that, in a sense, is
giving them a free license

1220
00:55:01,901 --> 00:55:03,670
to go ahead and
shoot us at will.

1221
00:55:03,703 --> 00:55:06,473
(dramatic music)

1222
00:55:08,441 --> 00:55:10,610
Harry would host
meetings in his apartment

1223
00:55:10,643 --> 00:55:13,747
in which Dr. King would
have truce talks.

1224
00:55:13,780 --> 00:55:15,682
Harry was somebody
who was trusted

1225
00:55:15,715 --> 00:55:18,752
by the radical young
kids and by Dr. King.

1226
00:55:18,785 --> 00:55:21,955
He had this ambassador role.

1227
00:55:21,988 --> 00:55:24,524
The week that Dr. King
was on "The Tonight Show,"

1228
00:55:24,557 --> 00:55:27,527
I don't think anybody in
America knew all the strains

1229
00:55:27,560 --> 00:55:28,762
that were colliding.

1230
00:55:28,795 --> 00:55:32,699
He extended all of
the movements that
he was involved with

1231
00:55:32,732 --> 00:55:34,668
beyond the capacity
of any man.

1232
00:55:34,701 --> 00:55:37,170
He had denounced
the Vietnam War.

1233
00:55:37,203 --> 00:55:43,410
The fact is we spend
approximately $500,000

1234
00:55:43,443 --> 00:55:46,680
to kill each
Viet Cong soldier.

1235
00:55:46,713 --> 00:55:51,584
While we spend only
about $53 a year

1236
00:55:51,618 --> 00:55:56,623
for every person categorized
as poverty stricken.

1237
00:55:56,656 --> 00:55:59,726
The cruel truth is
that Dr. King had been

1238
00:55:59,759 --> 00:56:01,661
denounced in the media.

1239
00:56:01,695 --> 00:56:03,563
New York Times and the
Washington Post said

1240
00:56:03,596 --> 00:56:04,764
he's trying to be
a peace leader,

1241
00:56:04,798 --> 00:56:05,999
he should stick
to civil rights.

1242
00:56:06,032 --> 00:56:07,667
We'll never respect him again.

1243
00:56:08,902 --> 00:56:10,670
He was a very
beleaguered person

1244
00:56:10,704 --> 00:56:12,539
when he came on
"The Tonight Show"

1245
00:56:12,572 --> 00:56:15,608
because he was having trouble
getting people to understand

1246
00:56:15,642 --> 00:56:17,911
how all of his messages
fit together.

1247
00:56:17,944 --> 00:56:21,881
And there was a sense that the
zeitgeist had moved past him.

1248
00:56:22,982 --> 00:56:24,751
Do you fear for your life?

1249
00:56:26,653 --> 00:56:29,489
It was well known that Dr.
King was getting death threats

1250
00:56:29,522 --> 00:56:32,759
and Dr. King went through a
period of being very fearful,

1251
00:56:32,792 --> 00:56:34,594
actually, he was only human.

1252
00:56:34,627 --> 00:56:37,831
We have lived with this
a number of years now,

1253
00:56:37,864 --> 00:56:43,236
since we started out in
Montgomery, Alabama in 1956.

1254
00:56:43,269 --> 00:56:44,704
I had to deal
with this problem

1255
00:56:44,738 --> 00:56:48,008
because if I moved
around, worrying about it,

1256
00:56:48,041 --> 00:56:50,677
it would completely
immobilize me.

1257
00:56:50,710 --> 00:56:53,947
And so I've come to the point
that I take this whole matter

1258
00:56:53,980 --> 00:56:55,882
very philosophically.

1259
00:56:55,915 --> 00:56:59,886
I'm more concerned about
doing something for humanity

1260
00:56:59,919 --> 00:57:04,924
and what I consider the will
of God than about longevity.

1261
00:57:04,958 --> 00:57:08,728
Ultimately, it isn't so
important how long you live,

1262
00:57:08,762 --> 00:57:12,032
the important thing
is how well you live.

1263
00:57:12,065 --> 00:57:14,601
"The Tonight Show"
was definitely his last

1264
00:57:14,634 --> 00:57:17,737
major national
television appearance.

1265
00:57:17,771 --> 00:57:21,274
He didn't have that many
national television
appearances.

1266
00:57:21,307 --> 00:57:22,942
I mean, it's easy to forget

1267
00:57:22,976 --> 00:57:26,713
how segregated American
media still was in that era.

1268
00:57:26,746 --> 00:57:30,250
Dr. King, thank you so
much for being here tonight.

1269
00:57:30,283 --> 00:57:32,652
(audience applauding)

1270
00:57:32,686 --> 00:57:33,787
Goodnight.

1271
00:57:33,820 --> 00:57:34,954
Thank you for being here.

1272
00:57:34,988 --> 00:57:38,792
(audience applauding)

1273
00:57:46,099 --> 00:57:48,702
(brassy music)

1274
00:57:53,073 --> 00:57:54,641
What can I say about
Harry Belafonte?

1275
00:57:54,674 --> 00:57:55,475
He's one of a kind.

1276
00:57:55,508 --> 00:57:56,910
Would you welcome
Harry Belafonte?

1277
00:57:56,943 --> 00:57:57,944
(audience applauding)

1278
00:57:57,977 --> 00:58:01,014
Just about a month
after Harry's hosting gig,

1279
00:58:01,047 --> 00:58:02,949
Johnny Carson had him
back on "The Tonight Show"

1280
00:58:02,982 --> 00:58:03,850
to talk about it.

1281
00:58:03,883 --> 00:58:05,051
Did you have a ball with it?

1282
00:58:05,085 --> 00:58:05,919
I caught you a
couple of nights,

1283
00:58:05,952 --> 00:58:07,087
looked like you were
having a great time.

1284
00:58:07,120 --> 00:58:08,621
I had a marvelous time.

1285
00:58:08,655 --> 00:58:09,889
The grooviest time
in the world here

1286
00:58:09,923 --> 00:58:11,891
the week that I spent here.

1287
00:58:11,925 --> 00:58:13,927
We ended with ratings
that were larger than

1288
00:58:13,960 --> 00:58:15,128
the ones we opened with

1289
00:58:15,161 --> 00:58:17,063
and we opened with
the largest numbers

1290
00:58:17,097 --> 00:58:18,832
in the history of the show.

1291
00:58:18,865 --> 00:58:20,734
I must honestly say that

1292
00:58:20,767 --> 00:58:22,936
each and every member
of your staff

1293
00:58:22,969 --> 00:58:25,572
did everything in the world
to make me comfortable.

1294
00:58:25,605 --> 00:58:28,008
He took out a full
page in Variety,

1295
00:58:28,041 --> 00:58:30,010
thanking the entire staff

1296
00:58:30,043 --> 00:58:31,845
and all the guests
that were on the show

1297
00:58:31,878 --> 00:58:36,916
and it did say I enjoyed
my "sit-in" on
"The Tonight Show."

1298
00:58:36,950 --> 00:58:38,585
You had a great week.

1299
00:58:38,618 --> 00:58:40,920
Once you lay back
and have fun with it,

1300
00:58:40,954 --> 00:58:41,855
you can't go too far wrong.

1301
00:58:41,888 --> 00:58:43,323
But you never know
that in the beginning.

1302
00:58:43,356 --> 00:58:44,057
No.

1303
00:58:45,859 --> 00:58:49,662
I also got a number
of letters protesting

1304
00:58:49,696 --> 00:58:51,598
they didn't want
to be preached to.

1305
00:58:51,631 --> 00:58:53,900
People came there
to be entertained.

1306
00:58:53,933 --> 00:58:58,738
We consciously put
before the public

1307
00:58:58,772 --> 00:59:04,344
all of the issues that they
saw during the past week...

1308
00:59:04,377 --> 00:59:06,613
with the knowledge that
they were hearing

1309
00:59:06,646 --> 00:59:08,682
things that they would
never have heard before.

1310
00:59:09,816 --> 00:59:11,117
There were mixed reactions.

1311
00:59:11,151 --> 00:59:14,688
There were those people
that they've watched
the Vietnam War

1312
00:59:14,721 --> 00:59:16,923
during dinnertime and you
know, by the time it came to

1313
00:59:16,956 --> 00:59:21,061
11:30 at night they
just wanted to relax.

1314
00:59:21,094 --> 00:59:24,764
He willed a world
into being for one week.

1315
00:59:24,798 --> 00:59:28,935
He really wanted to create
this integrated world

1316
00:59:28,968 --> 00:59:31,638
and show us how good
it could be.

1317
00:59:31,671 --> 00:59:33,006
Some people walked
in and loved it

1318
00:59:33,039 --> 00:59:35,675
and some people
slammed the door shut.

1319
00:59:35,709 --> 00:59:36,743
For those of you who
might not be aware,

1320
00:59:36,776 --> 00:59:39,012
there was a, I guess we
can term it an incident

1321
00:59:39,045 --> 00:59:41,681
that happened during
the taping with

1322
00:59:41,715 --> 00:59:42,882
Harry and Petula Clark on it.

1323
00:59:42,916 --> 00:59:43,817
That was in California,
wasn't it?

1324
00:59:43,850 --> 00:59:45,652
Yes, out of the NBC studios.

1325
00:59:45,685 --> 00:59:49,122
♪ Blessed are the
meek they say ♪

1326
00:59:49,155 --> 00:59:52,192
♪ They shall win
where others lose ♪

1327
00:59:52,225 --> 00:59:55,095
Just about a month after
Petula Clark appeared

1328
00:59:55,128 --> 00:59:57,063
with Harry on
"The Tonight Show,"

1329
00:59:57,097 --> 01:00:00,800
she invited Harry
onto her own special.

1330
01:00:00,834 --> 01:00:04,104
♪ Evil will be
brought to justice ♪

1331
01:00:04,137 --> 01:00:08,041
♪ On the path of glory

1332
01:00:08,074 --> 01:00:09,976
"Path of Glory"
is a protest song.

1333
01:00:10,010 --> 01:00:12,912
It's about these young
men going off to war

1334
01:00:12,946 --> 01:00:16,816
and in rehearsal,
we were both
very moved by it.

1335
01:00:16,850 --> 01:00:20,120
So when we came to tape
it, that emotion showed

1336
01:00:20,153 --> 01:00:22,989
and I put my hand
on Harry's arm.

1337
01:00:24,190 --> 01:00:28,161
♪ Why should man
be forced to kill ♪

1338
01:00:28,194 --> 01:00:31,431
♪ Why should they
be made to die ♪

1339
01:00:31,464 --> 01:00:34,968
And that's when all
the problems started

1340
01:00:35,001 --> 01:00:36,102
with with the sponsor.

1341
01:00:36,136 --> 01:00:39,739
Miss Clark reached up and
put her right hand on my arm

1342
01:00:39,773 --> 01:00:40,874
like this and it...

1343
01:00:42,208 --> 01:00:43,943
(audience laughing)

1344
01:00:43,977 --> 01:00:45,011
I like that.

1345
01:00:45,045 --> 01:00:45,979
(audience laughs)

1346
01:00:46,012 --> 01:00:47,681
Not half bad at all, really.

1347
01:00:48,915 --> 01:00:49,916
Anyway, uh...

1348
01:00:49,949 --> 01:00:51,117
(audience laughs)

1349
01:00:51,151 --> 01:00:53,086
Now wait till you see what
we're accused of tomorrow.

1350
01:00:53,119 --> 01:00:56,189
(audience applauding)

1351
01:00:57,924 --> 01:00:59,759
He's touching
the white lady.

1352
01:00:59,793 --> 01:01:02,495
He's touching, oh,
did he just kiss, oh!

1353
01:01:02,529 --> 01:01:03,797
You know, it's Petula Clark.

1354
01:01:03,830 --> 01:01:04,764
He touched a white lady.

1355
01:01:04,798 --> 01:01:05,932
Not supposed to do that.

1356
01:01:05,965 --> 01:01:10,003
♪ The car called Plymouth's
really made it clear ♪

1357
01:01:10,036 --> 01:01:12,172
She was called
the Plymouth girl.

1358
01:01:12,205 --> 01:01:14,274
The Plymouth representative
on the set,

1359
01:01:14,307 --> 01:01:16,476
he said "No, no, no,
you're not through.

1360
01:01:16,509 --> 01:01:18,812
"We have to take
the touch out."

1361
01:01:18,845 --> 01:01:22,015
They wanted to sell
cars in the South, so.

1362
01:01:23,817 --> 01:01:24,784
That was a no-no.

1363
01:01:24,818 --> 01:01:26,886
My star, that is to say, me,

1364
01:01:26,920 --> 01:01:29,756
can't be touching a
Black man's arm.

1365
01:01:29,789 --> 01:01:32,258
At that point, I turned
to Pet Clark and said,

1366
01:01:32,292 --> 01:01:35,261
"Look, this is your show,
what do you want to do?"

1367
01:01:35,295 --> 01:01:37,497
She said, "The touch stays."

1368
01:01:37,530 --> 01:01:38,765
I said, "Well, that's it."

1369
01:01:38,798 --> 01:01:43,770
In a time when a nation
is really struggling
for its soul,

1370
01:01:43,803 --> 01:01:45,805
you know, on the heels
of the president's report

1371
01:01:45,839 --> 01:01:48,141
on the riots that took
place in the summer,

1372
01:01:48,174 --> 01:01:50,143
I believe that all of
us have a responsibility

1373
01:01:50,176 --> 01:01:52,212
to do everything
we can to salvage

1374
01:01:52,245 --> 01:01:53,380
the best that's in America,

1375
01:01:53,413 --> 01:01:55,081
because there's a great
deal that's good about it.

1376
01:01:55,115 --> 01:01:57,951
(crowd applauding)

1377
01:01:57,984 --> 01:02:01,521
Like anybody, I would
like to live a long life.

1378
01:02:01,554 --> 01:02:05,959
Longevity has its place.

1379
01:02:05,992 --> 01:02:08,361
But I'm not concerned
about that now.

1380
01:02:08,395 --> 01:02:12,165
Dr. King had developed
severe hiccups

1381
01:02:12,198 --> 01:02:14,868
and he would kind
of sort of...

1382
01:02:17,003 --> 01:02:22,008
In the middle of a moment
have a hiccuping fit.

1383
01:02:22,042 --> 01:02:23,977
And then somewhere
down the line,

1384
01:02:24,010 --> 01:02:27,380
I discovered that that tick
was no longer as evident.

1385
01:02:27,414 --> 01:02:31,251
And I asked him, "You seem to
have gotten over the hiccup.

1386
01:02:31,284 --> 01:02:33,319
"What happened?"

1387
01:02:33,353 --> 01:02:36,289
And he looked and said,
"It's very simple, Harry."

1388
01:02:36,322 --> 01:02:39,159
He said, "I made my
peace with death."

1389
01:02:40,226 --> 01:02:41,828
Yeah.

1390
01:02:41,861 --> 01:02:43,396
Huh.

1391
01:02:43,430 --> 01:02:45,832
(dramatic music)

1392
01:02:45,865 --> 01:02:48,868
Martin had been in my home

1393
01:02:48,902 --> 01:02:51,004
a few days before
he was murdered.

1394
01:02:52,339 --> 01:02:53,940
[Newsreader] At 7:10
this evening,

1395
01:02:53,973 --> 01:02:56,176
Martin Luther King
was shot in Tennessee.

1396
01:02:57,444 --> 01:03:00,113
Martin Luther King,
20 minutes ago died.

1397
01:03:00,146 --> 01:03:04,851
(crowd gasping and exclaiming)

1398
01:03:04,884 --> 01:03:06,219
(crowd chattering)

1399
01:03:06,252 --> 01:03:09,322
I heard that he'd been shot

1400
01:03:09,356 --> 01:03:14,894
when a member of my staff
came into the living room

1401
01:03:14,928 --> 01:03:18,365
at my home to tell me to
turn on the television

1402
01:03:18,398 --> 01:03:20,166
and to take a look.

1403
01:03:20,200 --> 01:03:22,302
And I could not believe.

1404
01:03:22,335 --> 01:03:25,405
(dramatic music)

1405
01:03:27,340 --> 01:03:30,944
I cannot talk a lot about
that period, I get upset.

1406
01:03:30,977 --> 01:03:32,078
The emotion of the time.

1407
01:03:33,146 --> 01:03:35,949
(dramatic music)

1408
01:03:40,420 --> 01:03:42,322
The first time I ever
saw my father cry

1409
01:03:42,355 --> 01:03:46,226
was at the announcement of
the assassination of Dr. King.

1410
01:03:48,361 --> 01:03:51,364
He sort of, I think he kind
of went numb a little bit.

1411
01:03:51,398 --> 01:03:53,933
(dramatic music)

1412
01:03:53,967 --> 01:03:57,170
[Harry] Assassinations
seemed to be a big part

1413
01:03:57,203 --> 01:03:59,406
of the American horror story.

1414
01:03:59,439 --> 01:04:02,275
[Interviewer] What's the
worst experience you had

1415
01:04:02,308 --> 01:04:06,112
in terms of being on the
receiving end of prejudice?

1416
01:04:06,146 --> 01:04:07,881
I think the death of Dr. King.

1417
01:04:11,051 --> 01:04:14,220
Very personally, it was
a prejudiced act,

1418
01:04:14,254 --> 01:04:17,190
a sick act that
snuffed out his life

1419
01:04:17,223 --> 01:04:19,926
in a time when a nation
needed him desperately.

1420
01:04:19,959 --> 01:04:21,227
♪ And I believe
there's a prophet ♪

1421
01:04:21,261 --> 01:04:22,395
We were very, very close.

1422
01:04:24,030 --> 01:04:31,905
♪ In heaven

1423
01:04:32,706 --> 01:04:35,075
♪ Yes there is

1424
01:04:37,410 --> 01:04:42,349
♪ Whatever's been done to
you God is gonna... ♪

1425
01:04:42,382 --> 01:04:43,416
♪ Oh yes He will

1426
01:04:43,450 --> 01:04:47,287
He dove into the work to
defend against, I think,

1427
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:50,223
feeling that deeper
pain and shock

1428
01:04:50,256 --> 01:04:54,060
because how does one
really recover from that?

1429
01:04:54,094 --> 01:04:56,029
That's something that
you carry forever.

1430
01:04:57,731 --> 01:04:58,832
In the work that we were doing

1431
01:04:58,865 --> 01:05:02,035
in the civil rights movement,
with not only Dr. King,

1432
01:05:02,068 --> 01:05:04,471
but all of the other
leaders of that period,

1433
01:05:04,504 --> 01:05:09,009
we were aware that we were
stirring up a hornet's nest

1434
01:05:09,042 --> 01:05:13,146
and that there was going
to be a price to be paid.

1435
01:05:13,179 --> 01:05:17,183
Martin Luther King
dedicated his life

1436
01:05:19,319 --> 01:05:24,157
to love and to justice
between fellow human beings.

1437
01:05:25,358 --> 01:05:29,362
He died in the cause
of that effort.

1438
01:05:29,396 --> 01:05:31,564
About a month after he
was on "The Tonight Show"

1439
01:05:31,598 --> 01:05:35,035
with Harry, Bobby
Kennedy actually declared

1440
01:05:35,068 --> 01:05:38,738
that he was indeed going
to run for president.

1441
01:05:38,772 --> 01:05:42,509
For a lot of us young Black
and Mexican American men,

1442
01:05:42,542 --> 01:05:45,478
Bobby Kennedy gave
us hope again.

1443
01:05:45,512 --> 01:05:46,446
(crowd cheering)

1444
01:05:46,479 --> 01:05:50,316
He spoke about an
America that was really

1445
01:05:50,350 --> 01:05:53,319
the dream and the wish
that everybody possessed.

1446
01:05:53,353 --> 01:05:56,322
Every American, no matter
what his background,

1447
01:05:56,356 --> 01:05:58,591
what his creed, what
color of his skin

1448
01:05:58,625 --> 01:06:02,028
or where he lives shall
walk with dignity and honor

1449
01:06:02,062 --> 01:06:03,063
in the United States.

1450
01:06:03,096 --> 01:06:06,366
(crowd cheering)

1451
01:06:06,399 --> 01:06:09,436
I had been campaigning
with him quite intensely.

1452
01:06:09,469 --> 01:06:13,039
So I had been very much
involved with Bobby,

1453
01:06:13,073 --> 01:06:18,311
talking about all of the
issues of a campaign.

1454
01:06:18,345 --> 01:06:21,348
And going to California,
none of us were concerned

1455
01:06:21,381 --> 01:06:25,118
about his welfare
in that community.

1456
01:06:25,151 --> 01:06:28,488
Because of all the places,
California was certainly

1457
01:06:28,521 --> 01:06:31,091
one of the most
liberal environments.

1458
01:06:31,124 --> 01:06:33,093
[Newsreader] Robert Kennedy
is dead.

1459
01:06:33,126 --> 01:06:35,829
He's gone the same way
his brother did.

1460
01:06:35,862 --> 01:06:39,366
When he was taken away
from us, there was a void

1461
01:06:39,399 --> 01:06:42,402
that he just left that
has yet to be filled.

1462
01:06:44,371 --> 01:06:46,840
The loss of Dr. King
coupled with what happened

1463
01:06:46,873 --> 01:06:50,276
with Bobby Kennedy,
set us up as a nation

1464
01:06:50,310 --> 01:06:54,547
to become as mismanaged as
we are presenting ourselves

1465
01:06:54,581 --> 01:06:56,216
to be at this moment.

1466
01:06:56,249 --> 01:06:58,251
The death of those
two men changed

1467
01:06:58,284 --> 01:07:00,220
the American climate severely.

1468
01:07:02,288 --> 01:07:03,823
Good evening and thank
you for joining us tonight

1469
01:07:03,857 --> 01:07:07,427
as we don't plan to do the
usual "Tonight Show" format

1470
01:07:07,460 --> 01:07:08,294
this evening.

1471
01:07:08,328 --> 01:07:09,429
Within a few months
of their appearance

1472
01:07:09,462 --> 01:07:12,532
on "The Tonight Show," both
Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy

1473
01:07:12,565 --> 01:07:13,633
had been assassinated.

1474
01:07:13,667 --> 01:07:16,269
Johnny Carson held
a round table.

1475
01:07:16,302 --> 01:07:19,139
He knew Bobby Kennedy,
but it wasn't just that.

1476
01:07:19,172 --> 01:07:21,274
He knew what was happening
to the country.

1477
01:07:21,307 --> 01:07:23,476
And he thought it was
important enough

1478
01:07:23,510 --> 01:07:26,680
to turn his whole show
over to that topic.

1479
01:07:26,713 --> 01:07:29,482
All of the words and
phrases you've heard

1480
01:07:29,516 --> 01:07:32,552
the past four days, I think
the immediate thing was

1481
01:07:32,585 --> 01:07:35,155
we're a violent nation,
we're a sick society.

1482
01:07:35,188 --> 01:07:36,423
What's wrong with us?

1483
01:07:36,456 --> 01:07:37,524
We're living like animals.

1484
01:07:37,557 --> 01:07:38,892
What is wrong
with this country?

1485
01:07:38,925 --> 01:07:40,593
What the Harry Belafonte
week did

1486
01:07:40,627 --> 01:07:44,497
was open the door
to serious conversation

1487
01:07:44,531 --> 01:07:45,565
on these late night shows

1488
01:07:45,598 --> 01:07:47,634
about serious things.

1489
01:07:47,667 --> 01:07:49,602
But I say that this country
has been going through

1490
01:07:49,636 --> 01:07:51,638
a revolution in
the last few years,

1491
01:07:51,671 --> 01:07:53,406
just this country's
in turmoil.

1492
01:07:53,440 --> 01:07:56,509
And I know that there
is a seed of revolution

1493
01:07:56,543 --> 01:07:58,144
that's going through, the seed
of change is going through.

1494
01:07:58,178 --> 01:08:00,447
(tense music)

1495
01:08:13,693 --> 01:08:16,463
The idea that people, just
before they would go to bed,

1496
01:08:16,496 --> 01:08:19,199
would be interested, not
only in entertainment,

1497
01:08:19,232 --> 01:08:20,200
but politics.

1498
01:08:20,233 --> 01:08:22,268
This is something that
Harry Belafonte proved

1499
01:08:22,302 --> 01:08:24,237
in February of 1968.

1500
01:08:24,270 --> 01:08:26,473
And I, for one,
welcome the fact

1501
01:08:26,506 --> 01:08:30,543
that artists have taken
a stand for peace

1502
01:08:30,577 --> 01:08:32,645
and have taken a
stand for justice.

1503
01:08:32,679 --> 01:08:36,483
I think since 1968 it's
been very hard for folks.

1504
01:08:36,516 --> 01:08:40,353
And the country's
never been the same.

1505
01:08:40,387 --> 01:08:41,621
And it's been terrific,

1506
01:08:41,654 --> 01:08:45,358
but I think it may
have angered folks,

1507
01:08:45,392 --> 01:08:48,328
which led us to
where we are today.

1508
01:08:48,361 --> 01:08:50,397
(protesters chattering)

1509
01:08:50,430 --> 01:08:53,366
The violence and hostility
is still in America.

1510
01:08:53,400 --> 01:08:56,670
What have we missed in
trying to reach those people

1511
01:08:56,703 --> 01:08:57,704
with our message?

1512
01:08:59,673 --> 01:09:01,207
(protestors shouting)

1513
01:09:01,241 --> 01:09:03,243
I'm now 90 years old

1514
01:09:03,276 --> 01:09:06,680
and I've been at this game
since I was a teenager.

1515
01:09:06,713 --> 01:09:10,650
The backlash has continued
ever since the 1960s.

1516
01:09:10,684 --> 01:09:13,520
Dr. King said there's going
to be a tremendous resentment

1517
01:09:13,553 --> 01:09:16,523
against the government for
sponsoring civil rights.

1518
01:09:16,556 --> 01:09:19,526
You've had a cynicism and
an antigovernment movement

1519
01:09:19,559 --> 01:09:21,728
as a way of dealing with race

1520
01:09:21,761 --> 01:09:24,497
without actually
mentioning race.

1521
01:09:24,531 --> 01:09:26,766
Television and politics,
late night,

1522
01:09:26,800 --> 01:09:28,668
would come to fruition
in the '90s

1523
01:09:28,702 --> 01:09:33,273
with Jon Stewart and others
making us more uncomfortable

1524
01:09:33,306 --> 01:09:34,441
as we approach sleep,

1525
01:09:34,474 --> 01:09:38,278
worrying about the country
and all the issues facing us.

1526
01:09:38,311 --> 01:09:41,414
Nine people were shot
in a Black church

1527
01:09:41,448 --> 01:09:44,417
by a white guy who hated
them, who wanted to start

1528
01:09:44,451 --> 01:09:46,353
some kind of civil war.

1529
01:09:46,386 --> 01:09:48,455
If you're with a
group of people that are

1530
01:09:48,488 --> 01:09:50,690
chanting things like
"Jews will not replace us"

1531
01:09:50,724 --> 01:09:53,426
and you don't immediately
leave that group,

1532
01:09:53,460 --> 01:09:55,628
you are not a
very fine person.

1533
01:09:55,662 --> 01:09:57,831
Isn't it interesting
how every time

1534
01:09:57,864 --> 01:09:59,632
Republicans create a
voting restriction,

1535
01:09:59,666 --> 01:10:02,736
it just so happens to
disproportionately affect

1536
01:10:02,769 --> 01:10:04,304
people of the brown-brown?

1537
01:10:04,337 --> 01:10:05,338
Hmm?

1538
01:10:05,372 --> 01:10:07,507
Trump isn't the only
one John Bolton implicates

1539
01:10:07,540 --> 01:10:08,608
in his book.

1540
01:10:08,641 --> 01:10:13,313
He also names angry baby
bird, Mike Pompeo. (laughs)

1541
01:10:13,346 --> 01:10:15,348
♪ Pompeo

1542
01:10:15,382 --> 01:10:17,650
♪ Pompeo

1543
01:10:17,684 --> 01:10:19,819
♪ Pompeo

1544
01:10:19,853 --> 01:10:22,722
♪ Pompeo

1545
01:10:22,756 --> 01:10:24,724
Pompeo.

1546
01:10:24,758 --> 01:10:27,427
Even if Trump is re-elected,
this Ukraine story

1547
01:10:27,460 --> 01:10:29,529
will haunt him until
the blessed day

1548
01:10:29,562 --> 01:10:31,798
when he's forcibly plunged
out of the White House

1549
01:10:31,831 --> 01:10:33,566
like a toilet clog.

1550
01:10:33,600 --> 01:10:34,567
(audience applauding)

1551
01:10:34,601 --> 01:10:37,804
Late night has become
increasingly political

1552
01:10:37,837 --> 01:10:41,307
in the Trump years,
which is good.

1553
01:10:41,341 --> 01:10:43,810
But remains very, very white.

1554
01:10:43,843 --> 01:10:47,747
Stephen's the first
late night host
from South Carolina.

1555
01:10:47,781 --> 01:10:48,415
[Stephen] Right.

1556
01:10:48,448 --> 01:10:50,784
And the bajillionth white guy.

1557
01:10:50,817 --> 01:10:51,785
(audience laughs)

1558
01:10:51,818 --> 01:10:52,452
Exactly.

1559
01:10:52,485 --> 01:10:54,521
This chewing gum tastes funny.

1560
01:10:56,623 --> 01:11:00,460
It's a thousand dollars for
the 10th anniversary iPhone.

1561
01:11:00,493 --> 01:11:01,695
I didn't spend a
thousand dollars

1562
01:11:01,728 --> 01:11:04,330
on my 10th wedding
anniversary, okay?

1563
01:11:04,364 --> 01:11:05,632
I think it's been tough
for Black people

1564
01:11:05,665 --> 01:11:08,368
to have long running
shows in late night

1565
01:11:08,401 --> 01:11:11,338
because of the lack
of investment.

1566
01:11:11,371 --> 01:11:12,639
Kamala Harris is
being criticized

1567
01:11:12,672 --> 01:11:15,375
for not being Black enough.

1568
01:11:15,408 --> 01:11:16,209
Yes.

1569
01:11:16,242 --> 01:11:18,378
Which frankly is
the same criticism

1570
01:11:18,411 --> 01:11:20,647
I've had to endure
my entire career.

1571
01:11:20,680 --> 01:11:22,849
White male late night
hosts are given

1572
01:11:22,882 --> 01:11:25,618
a lot more room to grow.

1573
01:11:25,652 --> 01:11:27,787
Believe me, however
shocked you are

1574
01:11:27,821 --> 01:11:29,456
that I am doing this job,

1575
01:11:29,489 --> 01:11:31,624
you will never be
as shocked as I am.

1576
01:11:31,658 --> 01:11:34,794
We've had some late night
hosts, as Arsenio Hall.

1577
01:11:34,828 --> 01:11:35,929
I feel great.

1578
01:11:35,962 --> 01:11:38,565
There are probably people
in Utah saying, "Who is he?"

1579
01:11:38,598 --> 01:11:41,801
From 1968 until Arsenio Hall.

1580
01:11:41,835 --> 01:11:44,671
To have that long
without another Black
face in late night

1581
01:11:44,704 --> 01:11:46,373
is wild to me.

1582
01:11:46,406 --> 01:11:48,641
It took a long
time in between.

1583
01:11:48,675 --> 01:11:50,844
'Cause I think he did too
good a job, scared everybody.

1584
01:11:50,877 --> 01:11:52,012
(Harry laughing)

1585
01:11:52,045 --> 01:11:53,947
They said, oh no, we're not
gonna do this for a while.

1586
01:11:53,980 --> 01:11:56,383
We're not giving you
the late night

1587
01:11:56,416 --> 01:11:59,552
and you know, to this day,

1588
01:11:59,586 --> 01:12:02,822
not much dark meat
in late night.

1589
01:12:02,856 --> 01:12:05,825
Now, this week marks one
year since Trump's election.

1590
01:12:05,859 --> 01:12:08,661
Now, the traditional first
anniversary gift is paper,

1591
01:12:08,695 --> 01:12:11,531
so we got him this.

1592
01:12:11,564 --> 01:12:14,134
There's been a rotating
door of women in late night.

1593
01:12:14,167 --> 01:12:15,969
Most never went
beyond one season.

1594
01:12:16,002 --> 01:12:17,837
[Announcer] It's "The Late
Show" starring Joan Rivers.

1595
01:12:17,871 --> 01:12:19,873
(funky music)

1596
01:12:19,906 --> 01:12:21,708
[Announcer] Whoopi!

1597
01:12:23,476 --> 01:12:24,577
Welcome back.

1598
01:12:24,611 --> 01:12:26,846
I need to hear Black women
and I need to hear Black men

1599
01:12:26,880 --> 01:12:29,983
and I need to hear Latinas and
I need to hear Asian people.

1600
01:12:30,016 --> 01:12:32,652
Like, I need to hear
everyone's opinions.

1601
01:12:32,686 --> 01:12:34,487
Otherwise you're
just getting one.

1602
01:12:34,521 --> 01:12:35,989
And that is never the truth.

1603
01:12:36,022 --> 01:12:37,724
That's what was so
important about

1604
01:12:37,757 --> 01:12:40,593
what Harry Belafonte
did back then in 1968.

1605
01:12:40,627 --> 01:12:42,962
And it's why it's so important
that Black representation

1606
01:12:42,996 --> 01:12:44,731
in late night is
important now.

1607
01:12:44,764 --> 01:12:46,066
Black people in
America are like,

1608
01:12:46,099 --> 01:12:48,568
oh, we've been saying
this justice system
is crazy as shit.

1609
01:12:48,601 --> 01:12:50,470
And now Trump is like,
"So crazy!

1610
01:12:51,771 --> 01:12:53,840
"So wild, who
would have thought?"

1611
01:12:55,742 --> 01:12:58,478
See, if he had Black friends
they would have told him.

1612
01:12:58,511 --> 01:13:00,180
I think we've just
got to keep working

1613
01:13:00,213 --> 01:13:01,981
to make that week reality

1614
01:13:02,015 --> 01:13:03,817
and to create a space
in entertainment

1615
01:13:03,850 --> 01:13:05,752
where Black people will
always have a stake

1616
01:13:05,785 --> 01:13:07,454
and will always have a say,

1617
01:13:07,487 --> 01:13:08,822
and will always be
able to talk about

1618
01:13:08,855 --> 01:13:10,490
the issues that matter.

1619
01:13:10,523 --> 01:13:11,725
Whoa, Black identity...

1620
01:13:11,758 --> 01:13:14,894
To us and matter to
the world at large.

1621
01:13:15,829 --> 01:13:18,631
(brassy music)

1622
01:13:18,665 --> 01:13:20,767
I think the legacy
of that week

1623
01:13:20,800 --> 01:13:25,805
was speaking to issues that
had serious content and intent

1624
01:13:25,839 --> 01:13:29,843
and how easily we
did it as a people.

1625
01:13:29,876 --> 01:13:32,512
I thought that we were
talking about was

1626
01:13:32,545 --> 01:13:34,214
engrossing, entertaining.

1627
01:13:34,247 --> 01:13:35,982
I thought that
all the subtext,

1628
01:13:36,016 --> 01:13:37,851
the social issues of the day,

1629
01:13:37,884 --> 01:13:39,886
to hear people talk
about the craft

1630
01:13:39,919 --> 01:13:42,522
that brought them
to public limelight.

1631
01:13:42,555 --> 01:13:45,859
The American public was
not only entertained,

1632
01:13:45,892 --> 01:13:50,263
but were glued to what
this was all about.

1633
01:13:50,296 --> 01:13:52,565
(brassy music)

1634
01:13:52,599 --> 01:13:56,002
(audience applauding)

1635
01:14:01,808 --> 01:14:04,577
♪ He pursued justice
and marched with kings ♪

1636
01:14:04,611 --> 01:14:07,947
♪ And hosted shows and
broke boundaries and ♪

1637
01:14:07,981 --> 01:14:10,850
♪ He believed in
humanity and ♪

1638
01:14:10,884 --> 01:14:14,821
♪ Shined the light on
adversity and ♪

1639
01:14:14,854 --> 01:14:17,624
♪ Like the souls
of the rivers ♪

1640
01:14:17,657 --> 01:14:20,593
♪ Like the faith
wouldn't quiver ♪

1641
01:14:20,627 --> 01:14:23,630
♪ Like blessings we needed

1642
01:14:23,663 --> 01:14:26,933
♪ He sang songs of freedom

1643
01:14:26,966 --> 01:14:29,803
♪ I wish you
could meet Harry ♪

1644
01:14:29,836 --> 01:14:32,906
♪ He carried the
light into freedom ♪

1645
01:14:32,939 --> 01:14:37,911
♪ Every time he
sang day-o day-o ♪

1646
01:14:37,944 --> 01:14:41,681
♪ One day you
should meet Harry ♪

1647
01:14:41,715 --> 01:14:44,718
♪ He spoke of the
wisdom to lead us ♪

1648
01:14:44,751 --> 01:14:49,122
♪ Through all the
joys and pain ♪

1649
01:14:49,155 --> 01:14:52,092
♪ I said Harry Harry
hosting The Tonight Show ♪

1650
01:14:52,125 --> 01:14:54,894
♪ Was very very big
for the culture ♪

1651
01:14:54,928 --> 01:14:57,964
♪ Necessary necessary
black man on the telly ♪

1652
01:14:57,997 --> 01:14:59,332
♪ In Johnny's seat ♪

1653
01:14:59,366 --> 01:15:01,301
♪ Johnny's seat
five days one week ♪

1654
01:15:01,334 --> 01:15:02,836
♪ That's a feat
that's a feat ♪

1655
01:15:02,869 --> 01:15:03,937
♪ It can't be beat
can't be beat ♪

1656
01:15:03,970 --> 01:15:06,940
♪ Make us proud when we
out there in the street ♪

1657
01:15:06,973 --> 01:15:07,574
♪ In the street

1658
01:15:07,607 --> 01:15:08,742
♪ Marching with Martin

1659
01:15:08,775 --> 01:15:09,909
♪ Movements we starting

1660
01:15:09,943 --> 01:15:11,611
♪ Sacrifice to know
what's right ♪

1661
01:15:11,644 --> 01:15:14,714
♪ It's civil rights
spark it let's go ♪

1662
01:15:14,748 --> 01:15:17,650
♪ I wish you
could meet Harry ♪

1663
01:15:17,684 --> 01:15:20,653
♪ He carried the
light of freedom ♪

1664
01:15:20,687 --> 01:15:26,626
♪ Every time he sang
day-o day-o ♪

1665
01:15:26,659 --> 01:15:29,629
♪ Some day you should
meet Harry ♪

1666
01:15:29,662 --> 01:15:32,165
♪ He spoke with the
wisdom to lead us ♪

1667
01:15:32,198 --> 01:15:34,801
♪ Through all the
joys and pain ♪

1668
01:15:34,834 --> 01:15:38,672
♪ Wish you could
meet Harry Belafonte ♪

1669
01:15:38,705 --> 01:15:41,107
♪ I wish you could
meet Harry ♪

1670
01:15:41,141 --> 01:15:44,144
♪ He carried the
light into freedom ♪

1671
01:15:44,177 --> 01:15:49,115
♪ Every time he sang
day-o day-o ♪

1672
01:15:50,917 --> 01:15:53,186
♪ One day you
should meet Harry ♪

1673
01:15:53,219 --> 01:15:56,122
♪ He spoke with the
wisdom to lead us ♪

1674
01:15:56,156 --> 01:15:58,391
♪ Through all the
joys and pain ♪

1675
01:15:58,425 --> 01:16:01,628
♪ I wish you could
meet Harry Belafonte ♪

1676
01:16:01,661 --> 01:16:03,797
♪ See Johnny Carson called
on the Calypso King ♪

1677
01:16:03,830 --> 01:16:05,899
♪ To sing songs and host
his show for a week long ♪

1678
01:16:05,932 --> 01:16:07,367
♪ Belafonte's talking
about right and wrong ♪

1679
01:16:07,400 --> 01:16:08,902
♪ Through TV sets
in living rooms ♪

1680
01:16:08,935 --> 01:16:10,637
♪ He showed them
how to get along ♪

1681
01:16:10,670 --> 01:16:11,871
♪ Jump in line and carry on

1682
01:16:11,905 --> 01:16:12,872
♪ He showed that

1683
01:16:12,906 --> 01:16:14,641
♪ He started speaking
out and speaking up ♪

1684
01:16:14,674 --> 01:16:15,942
♪ Sitting back
just ain't enough ♪

1685
01:16:15,975 --> 01:16:17,377
♪ Sitting and struggling

1686
01:16:17,410 --> 01:16:18,578
♪ Save some time
but get it done ♪

1687
01:16:18,611 --> 01:16:21,381
♪ Turn on the TV you'll
see it's Harry and Bobby ♪

1688
01:16:21,414 --> 01:16:22,949
♪ You'll see it's
Harry and Martin ♪

1689
01:16:22,982 --> 01:16:26,086
♪ The reasons we're
sparking yeah ♪

1690
01:16:26,119 --> 01:16:28,988
♪ I wish you could
meet Harry ♪

1691
01:16:29,022 --> 01:16:32,092
♪ He carried the
light into freedom ♪

1692
01:16:32,125 --> 01:16:33,993
♪ Every time he sang

1693
01:16:34,027 --> 01:16:38,131
♪ Wish you could
meet Harry Belafonte ♪

1694
01:16:38,164 --> 01:16:41,134
♪ One day you
should meet Harry ♪

1695
01:16:41,167 --> 01:16:43,903
♪ He spoke of the
wisdom to lead us ♪

1696
01:16:43,937 --> 01:16:45,972
♪ Through all the
joys and pain ♪

1697
01:16:46,006 --> 01:16:49,175
♪ I wish you could
meet Harry Belafonte ♪

1698
01:16:49,209 --> 01:16:57,684
♪ ♪

1699
01:16:57,717 --> 01:17:05,692
♪ ♪

1700
01:17:05,725 --> 01:17:12,065
♪ ♪

1701
01:17:12,098 --> 01:17:20,073
♪ ♪

1702
01:17:20,106 --> 01:17:28,081
♪ ♪

1703
01:17:28,114 --> 01:17:36,089
♪ ♪

1704
01:17:36,122 --> 01:17:45,031
♪ ♪