Burning House

Harry Belafonte (1927–2023) was a chart-topping American singer, actor, and civil rights activist best known for popularizing calypso music internationally.Kevin Baker is an American political commentator and journalist, author of the bestselling Paradise Alley (2002), winner of the 2003 American Book Award and James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction. He lives in New York City.

Praise for A Burning House:“Candid reflections from the epitome of the artist-activist.”—John Legend “One of the most gifted conversationalists of our times, Belafonte’s literary panache and vibrant rhetoric are evident on every page.”—Michael Eric Dyson, author of Entertaining Race “A bracing reminder that Belafonte was never only an entertainer—he was always a deeply committed activist working all his life to repair the world. His searing critiques of greed and the passive acceptance of the status quo are unforgettable.”—Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow “Anytime we talked, Belafonte spoke a truth that pierced your soul. He has left us with a beautiful gift in A Burning House.”—Roland S. Martin, host of #RolandMartinUnfiltered “Harry Belafonte created the blueprint for being an artist and an activist long before a path was defined. . . . His legacy reminds us to stand in the light and fight.”—Erica Alexander, actress, writer-producer, activist, co-founder, Color Farm Media “These final reflections reveal the conviction, courage, and political clarity that made Harry Belafonte one of the most consequential movement figures of our time.”—Rashad Robinson, social justice leader and author of From Presence to Power “Belafonte bravely used his gifts from God to uplift our culture, the entertainment industry, art, and the world.”—Omari Hardwick, actor “Harry Belafonte was one of the great organic intellectual and great talkers of our age. There’s no better way to understand all that he still has to teach us than to read his own words.”—Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made “Drawn from a series of conversations with journalist Baker, Belafonte’s reflections on political activism begin with his heroes. Recounting his time with Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte constructs a genealogy for his own style of celebrity activism. . . . Many readers are likely to benefit from Belafonte’s experiences and insights.”—Kirkus Reviews