You’ll be reading a lot about Harry Belafonte, whose death was announced today. Or you should be reading a lot about him, because he was a titanic figure in the worlds of entertainment and politics. You’ll probably read most about his career as a singer, especially in terms of popularizing the calypso movement in the United States and his crucial work with the civil rights movement. Singing and politics is where he made his most celebrated contributions. These areas were highlighted in many tributes paid to Belafonte in recent years, such as this one a year ago:

It was Harry Belafonte’s 95th birthday on March 1st, and in his honor a benefit was held at the Town Hall in New York City featuring tributes from an impressive array of star talent including Laurence Fishburne, Doug E. Fresh, Danny Glover, Amy Goodman, Alicia Keys, Spike Lee, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Michael Moore, Q-Tip, Tim Robbins, Reverend Al Sharpton, Bryan Stevenson, Jesse Williams, and Alfre Woodard. The occasion was also the inaugural presentation of the Harry Belafonte Social Justice Awards given to Angela Davis, Rashad Robinson, Kimberle Crenshaw, Cornel West, Darren Walker, Hank Willis Thomas, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Announcements for the event described Belafonte as a “legendary singer, songwriter, activist, and actor.” That order makes sense, given the way musical performances and leftist politics have dominated his life for the past sixty years, while acting became an occasional star turn in films like Robert Altman’s Kansas City (1996).