From new york, the tonight show starring Johnny Carson. And now heres the fabulous Harry Belafonte. Here he comes. I found out about that week from Harry Belafonte. I went over to his home and all of a sudden effortlessly he started talking about this week of television and the tonight show. Im thinking wait a minute Harry Belafonte hosted a week of the tonight show. How did i not know this . That was probably the most revolutionary move that Mainstream Television could have done at the time. I write about tv. I write about politics. I should have known about it. Why is this history lost to us . Harry belafonte takes an existing White Institution in american culture, and he turns it into something that represents his world, that it should be multicultural, that it should be politically engaged. What Harry Belafonte did, he combined politics and entertainment like a forerunner to the daily show and the Stephen Colbert show. Is that a fancy way of saying i told you so . I mean, this is early 1968. The nation was really in crazy upheaval. There was increasing and very appropriate black anger. And harry could expose you as a white person speaking as a white person to this vibrant world where black people and white people met as equals. This is an intelligent, sophisticated passionate activist of a black man in that chair that has through the years been the seat of white males. My parents allowed me to stay up late. They said you need to see this. I guarantee you my grandmother had her three kids sitting in the living room watching even though they should have been in bed. It was something that was really inspiring especially to a lot of black people who were watching who had not seen themselves necessarily represented in that way in that American Institution that is the tonight show. Harry belafonte at 11 00 late night was saying were here, were americans, were part of this, were not going anywhere. Yall brought us, now were here. Let me be the last thing you see before you go to sleep. Mr. Belafonte, would you like to look at your guest list from that week . Would love to see it. Oh, my god, i had all these people . When i was there i was a bit overawed by the whole thing. It was so seldom in the 60s that people of color were invited into the homes of, you know, Television Viewers everywhere. First time on the tonight show im scared. Im sitting between Harry Belafonte and paul newman. That was a special night. I knew i was the biggies that night. Me too. As they say stepping in high cotton. You see how pivotal this week was because youre watching this man bring together all of his brothers and sisters in the movement and say we deserve a space, and we deserve to be here and we deserve to talk about these things. From new york, the tonight show starring Johnny Carson. The tonight show was one of the most powerful platforms of communication in the world. If theres anything you dont see just ask for it. Okay, we have a gentleman. Johnny carson was the rage of the evening. If anybody was up after 10 00 they were watching the tonight show. Carson would often mention this on the air, hey, i know youre in bed when youre watching me and its the most unique of frames to watch television between your feet. Not just in your home but actually into your bedroom. The birthrate in this country has dropped and i like to feel my show is partly responsible. Carson was this midwestern very sort of easy to take kind of host. Hi, folks. He was as average of an american as you could possibly get. Well be right back. It was part of his appeal. He was just the kid next door. Ive never seen a human cell. Johnny carson helped define what late night would be. Early on in the 1950s, 60s, as we really started to see these interviews with all these sorts of people. Its agony. You would get to see celebrities as youve never seen them before. You got to see them unsensored. I think as an interested citizen of the United States i cannot think of a greater privilege than serving in the house and the senate. When the tonight show first began it was a comedy show and steve allen became the first host. This is mild little show. I dont expect you to say, boy, what a program. Carson takes over in october 1962, and it really is a whole different approach to the show. He managed to weave in more contemporary news than anybody had tried before. Senator, mrs. Kennedy are expecting their tenth child. I understand mr. Kennedy is demanding a review board. Our bloodshed would be in our racial situation. As most people in the world today have some feelings on the vietnam situation. And the interesting thing on the tonight show is that the guests stayed on the couch. They didnt just make their appearance and leave. So they sat together. So the tonight show now becomes kind of the National Gathering place at night. And whatever is going on in pop culture, whatever is going on in politics, obviously whats going on in the news, it was a place for all those things to come together. 11 30 at night eastern was the most segregated hour in america because white people watching white Johnny Carson in their white homes black people were doing it separately. T sepa. Is this a new buick . I secret santaed myself. I shouldnt have. But i have been very good this year. Wow wow wow this year, turn black friday into buick friday all month long. Now during buick friday, pay no interest for 84 months on most 2020 buick suv models. To help you build a flexible wealth plan. Youll have access to taxsmart investing strategies, and with brokerage accounts online trades are commission free. Personalized advice. Unmatched value. At fidelity, you can have both. Transitions light under control. Upbeat music transitions signature gen 8, available now in 4 new style colors. Transitions. Then the back. tween your fingers and nails. Safeguard hand soap cleans better than ordinary soap in hard water. Absorbing and trapping impurities to wash away germs. Parents teach their children many lessons. Lets make hand washing an important one. Safeguard is donating ten Million Dollars in hand soaps and sanitizers to families in need. Safeguard your family. Wash away germs. Little miser 1968. Lets welcome him. Tell me, 1968, what can we expect from you . Well, theres riots, brutality, sitins, over population, famine. I see. You want to hear the bad news now . This is Johnny Carson. This is usual starting time for the tonight show, nbc news is going to bring you a special program via satellite. 1,100 american soldiers lie dead. In 1968 there were many americas. There was black america, white america. There was establishment america, antiestablishment america and the culture was chaotic. The culture was complicated. The culture was divisive. The tension in the air of 1968 couldnt be ignored no matter how many blinders that you chose to put in front of your eyes. All kinds of changes were pushed through. Its the time when women said, listen, were not just this. We want to run these companies. Were not playing with you anymore. Its the year of the afro. Natural hair. Change. Things were no longer going to be the status quo. It was a time of protest. Black communities had risen up with righteous indignation. We could no longer tolerate the racial indiscretions being heaved upon us. As performers we felt a need to do more than just sing. We had to have a point of view, and we had to speak out. When you look at the late 60s, the exposure that white americans were getting on the news was a covering of the civil rights marches and the Civil Rights Movement that was happening. But we were still watching shows like bonanza, beverly hillbillies, i dream of jeannie, very, very White Television shows. We were still seeing these pretty trivial depictions of the old west, depiction of suburban families. Television shows always had a difficult relationship with reality. And there were a lot of say fantasy sitcoms that really sort of avoided race and what was going on in the country. My personal experience has been theres an enormous reluctance on the part of the media to expose black life as it really is. Hollywood reflects the mood of the nation. It reflects our politics, reflects our culture, our hopes and aspirations and lies a lot about who we are. None of us thought we were going to be in the future. You never saw us represented in the future times of america. For what we are about to receive, we give thanks. We were never there. We were never at the beach. We were never where the boys were. We just werent there. We werent represented. Television was a medium that was still figuring out its relationships to power in a lot of ways. Tv wasnt a cross over medium. There are a few black stars in television at the time who were able to rise to the top. Harry belafonte was one of those. Harry belafonte was a huge celebrity at the time who produced record setting album after album. First performer to sell over a million copies of a single album. What mr. Belafonte wound up doing is taking the art form of calypso music and making it mainstream for americas taste. In the west indies there are many languages that have invaded those islands, the french, the english, the spanish. And when its all put together it comes out in a strong tongue we call say after me, i wonder why nobody like me. I wonder why nobody dont like me. I wonder why nobody dont like me or is it the fact that im ugly harry was also a movie star. He was a household name black and white. In your heart deep down inside dont you still think of us as slaves . We saw him in iconic films like carmine jones, bright road, odds against tomorrow, island in the sun. My skin is my country. Today we take it for granted, but in the 1950s that was a radical idea to have a black artist have a white fan base at a time in which there was still legal segregation. L segregation. Because the pain youre feeling could be a sign of irreversible joint damage. Every day you live with pain, swelling, and stiffness. You risk not being able to do the things you love. Especially in these times, its important to keep up with your rheumatologist. Schedule an appointment today. If you look at some of his Early Television musical sort of variety shows i mean there was just a fascination and an appeal that you couldnt find anywhere else on television. I know when those women whatever nationality they were, when they saw harry it was all about cause sex is sexy no matter what. He was one of the trailblazing cross media superstars. Many sides to the legend Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, activist. As artists we rejoice in the knowledge since it is the artist who reveals the society to itself. My father was a political person before he became an artist. His mother was a political person. His environment that he grew up in and was exposed to was political. He wanted to take every opportunity that he could to bring forth a Civil Rights Movement. He always used whatever platform he had as an opportunity to educate and motivate and activate audiences. Our cause is an honorable cause and oftentimes we sometimes feel it is more than we can bear. Rosa parks got me into this. I went down to meet her and i came back. And one day i got a phone call. Mr. Belafonte, i said, yes. You may not know me, no reason for you to except that i need to talk to you. I said fine. My name is Martin Luther king, jr. He said the things youve said and done i believe you could be an important component to this adventure im embarking on. In listening to what i had to say i knew that forever id be in his service. Ladies and gentlemen, the nobel peace prizewinner the reverend dr. Martin luther king. Once i took up with him my life never went anywhere else but there. Not only is harry a great artist, he is a great humanitarian. No performing artist in the United States or in the world has raised as much money for the Civil Rights Movement as Harry Belafonte. Id respond as often as possible to dr. King because i believe the salvation of america and our potential is in our capacity to do humanistically and nonviolently with our difficulties. People who worked with johnny at the time would say he was conversant with the Civil Rights Movement. I cant sit here and say i understand because i cant. He understood many of the issues, but he was not comfortable enough to say im going to do a week of shows about whats going on in the country. When i was out in las vegas i did a thing with the audience and id get questions political, what do you think of soandso. And i found out no matter which side you go youve got to end up if youre a straight entertainer losing half your audience. He as an entertainer did not feel like getting up on the soapbox, but he certainly supported the other entertainers who were doing that. I also admire for his conscience as an american and moral commitment when he believes in something. So i think he thought im going to have a guest host come on, and the guest host can address what i think are serious issues. I do think carson was trying to make a statement. How can you not talk about all the things going on in the craziest year in American History even my midwestern middle of the country audience. They need to see this. This is only 6 years into Johnny Carsons tenure that he did that. So he wasnt doing it from the safe harbor of im the king of late night. He was still fairly new in the job, but it was in his head that Harry Belafonte was the right guy. I said no at first because i couldnt do what johnny did. I cant tell jokes and whatnot. We know Harry Belafonte had been burned by television before. In 1959 he had this special called tonight with belafonte. It was fantastic. It run an emmy. And the sponsor which was revlon actually offered him an ongoing series after that. He called it new york 19. The First Episode ran in 1960 to rave reviews. But when he started to plan the next episode the sponsor called him in and had a problem with the fact that harry used multiracial cast. And the sponsor told him pick a black cast but none of this mixing, and harry walked away. Thank you for being with us. See you around. My father didnt always trust what the outcomes of a certain opportunity might bring and so he turned a lot of things down. Tonight we take a look at negro humor in america. We call it a time for laughter. If it wasnt going to be in an inclusive way that he envisioned both racially but i think most importantly artistically let alone politically didnt want that to be a part of his legacy. I believe thats a bird dog, that sounds like a rabbit dog, oh, thats a old civil rights chaser having this amazing opportunity that might only come once in your entire lifetime and Harry Belafonte had to be convinced. It was johnny that put me at ease and said we just want you to be who you are. And i said in order to be who i am i have to have guests on that share am of my beliefs. You agreed to that condition with the understanding that the network had the right to say no to anybody, but they wanted me to submit my list. After a bit of wrangling they gave him control of the guest list, which was a huge deal. So was there trepidation . Im sure there was trepidation. Im sure there was trepidation. And who knows whats going to happen. Is he going to have a mix of people on, black people and white people, have restrictions . When you see pictures of the guest they didnt just pass each other. They knew each other. So i envision mr. Belafonte making half those calls himself saying, hey, i need you to come on by here and do this show. So he was probably his booker and the host of the show. Booke and the host of the show may your holidays glow bright and all your dreams take flight. Visit your local mercedesbenz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedesbenz winter event. I felt gross. It was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. Four years clear. Real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if youve had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Learn more at cosentyx. Com. Before we talk about taxsaudreys expecting. New . Twins wed be closer to the twins. Change in plans. 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Today has topped 134 million confirmed coronavirus cases. This latest milestone comes amid concern that travel during the thanksgiving weekend could worsen during the outbreak. And another loss for President Trump in his effort to challenge the election results. A federal Appeals Court in philadelphia has rejected his appeals request for an emergency inju