What happened when Harry Belafonte hosted The Tonight Show in 1968 | CBC Radio

For one week in 1968, it was Harry Belafonte’s interview skills, not his singing or acting, that grabbed headlines. Belafonte guest hosted The Tonight Show and interviewed a number of Black icons, including Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s kind of hard for us to believe now in 2023, but the airwaves were still very segregated at the time. And talk shows were definitely all hosted by white men,” Yoruba Richen, director of a 2020 documentary about that week called The Sit In, told Matt Galloway on The Current.

Belafonte, who was known as a performer and activist, died Tuesday at the age of 96, leaving behind a legacy of championing Black voices. 

One of his greatest opportunities to do that came in February of 1968. Johnny Carson, host of The Tonight Show, asked Belafonte to guest host for a week, at a time when race relations were tense. Belafonte agreed, under a condition: he wanted to bring in Black guests.

“I think the legacy of that week was speaking to issues that had serious content and intent, and how easily we did it as a people,” the late Belafonte said in Richen’s documentary.

“The American public was not only entertained, but were glued to what this was all about.”

Addressing civil rights with King

During that week, 15 of the 25 guests he had on were Black. Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin and King all headlined the week-long showcase from Feb. 5 to 9. It also included Indigenous folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Belafonte’s interview with King was just a few months before the civil rights leader was assassinated, making it King’s last televised interview. 

Belafonte convinced King to tell a joke on the program. But it was also an opportunity to talk about the civil rights movement. Belafonte asked King if he feared for his life at the time. 

“I’m more concerned about doing something for humanity and what I consider the will of God than about longevity. And, ultimately, it isn’t so important how long you live. The important thing is how well you live,” King said on the show.

Richen says at the time, King wasn’t well liked, even by some people affiliated with the Black Power movement. But, she says, Belafonte was one of the few people King felt he could talk to about it. 

Belafonte funded protests against the segregation on buses in America known as Freedom Rides. He also paid for a life insurance policy for King. 

WATCH | When Harry Belafonte performed in Vancouver in 1995:

When Harry Belafonte performed in Vancouver in 1995

The legendary singer, actor and social activist known as the King of Calypso died Tuesday at the age of 96.

Lost to history

While an important moment in history, there is little footage of Belafonte’s week hosting the show. Only the interview with King and another interview with Robert F. Kennedy survived. 

“At that time, the next day [people] taped over these shows … so there’s very little footage of the other people who are on that show,” said Richen.

WATCH | Harry Belafonte Sits Down with Robert F. Kennedy:

But Richen hopes that through her documentary, people will get to know more about Belafonte and that week. 

“We remember Harry Belafonte as a giant of, not only black people, but of everybody. As somebody who, till the end, spoke out, was courageous, was fearless and was honest,” said Richen. 

“You could feel his humanity, his warmth, his engagement with you. He’s just an incredible, incredible human being. One for the ages.”