(GIN) — Yusuf Bangura will always remember the legendary calypso singer, actor, and social activist Harry Belafonte for “bringing happiness and hope to many people around the world.”

Although many Americans know of Belafonte’s activism to end apartheid in South Africa, the whole story of his no-holds-barred diplomacy is still to be told. 

Kenyan independence hero Tom Mboya first met American stars Harry Belafonte, Jackie Robinson, and Sidney Poitier when he was coordinating an airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the United States. That was the beginning of a warm friendship between Belafonte and Mboya. With funds from an “African Freedom Dinner” and the help of Martin Luther King Jr. and other African sympathizers, Mboya was able to raise enough money to fund the airlift.

Belafonte made his first visit to Kenya in 1963, in time for Kenya’s Uhuru celebrations, along with the great South African singer Miriam Makeba. The two won a Grammy in 1964 for the concert record “An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.”

As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF for 36 years, Belafonte’s dedication and generosity of spirit helped set a high standard for the role. He met with world leaders to secure support for the issues that affected children’s lives, said UNICEF director Catherine Russell.

“Kenya’s decision to abolish school fees is a shining example of just what can be achieved in the developing world by sheer political will,” Belafonte said.

RELATED: Farewell to a beloved elder: Activists reflect on Belafonte

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed deep sadness on the eve of the country’s Freedom Day Celebration. “He was an influencer of his time who spared no energy in supporting our liberation struggle and in campaigning for human rights in many other parts of the world,” he said of Belafonte. “We will remember him as a hero and true friend of South Africa that we must celebrate during our National Orders ceremony and for many years to come.”

Banning Eyre, lead producer of the Peabody Award-winning public radio program Afropop Worldwide, also shared a memory. “It is impossible to overstate the enormity of the loss of this icon of global entertainment and social activism, around longer than most of us have been alive. His story will be told many times and in many ways in the days to come, and most beautifully in his 2011 memoir, ‘My Song.’”

In 1987, Belafonte traveled to Dakar and Senegal, where he served as chairperson of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. In 1994, he went on a mission to Rwanda, and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children. In 2001, he visited South Africa to support the campaign against HIV and AIDS. In 2002, Africare gave him the Bishop John T Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa.

The Beninese-French musician Angélique Kidjo called Belafonte “the brightest star in every sense of that word. Your passion, love, knowledge, and respect for Africa was unlimited.”

Finally, Ittu Aba Farda contributed this to Ethiopian ZeHabesha.com: “To us above all he was a friend of the country that produced us all. He was by her side during her deadly rainy days. May he rest in eternal peace!!!!”

The post Africans bid farewell to Harry Belafonte, a hero and true friend appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

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One of the best new restaurants of 2021 joined the ranks of the city’s most expensive fine dining destinations when it opened on a high floor of a beautiful Art Deco building downtown that year. Saga’s premiere menu was $245 per person (before drinks, tax and gratuity) for around nine elegantly executed courses in luxuriously elegant environs surrounded by some of the best views in and of New York City.

Two years later, the price has risen to $295 (same caveats) for that hours-long, rarefied experience. But Saga introduced a new, four-course option for $100 less this spring. 

Like the longer option, items are expected to change seasonally. The 63rd-floor perch does not post or print its menus (electronic versions are sent in the days after dinner), but original plates included fluke, black bass and dry-aged duck. Guests can expect at least one course that does not appear on the extended, higher-priced menu, reps say. 

Saga is joined by two other related operations at 70 Pine Street: Crown Shy, one of 2019’s best new restaurants, and Overstory, a special occasion bar that also has incredible vistas a flight above Saga on the 64th floor.

Saga’s “short story” menu is available to book Sunday-Thursday.

* This article was originally published here

January is now Muslim Heritage Month in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a joint resolution (SJR105/ AJR194), sponsored by Senators Joe Pennacchio and Brian Stack, and Assemblymembers Angela McKnight, Shanique Speight, and Annette Chaparro, to designate the month during an Eid celebration on April 29.  

“I am proud to designate January of each year as Muslim Heritage Month, as it will shine a light on the rich histories, cultures, and shared principles of Muslim Americans,” said Murphy.

In a statement, Madina P. Ouedraogo, government affairs manager at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, New Jersey (CAIR-NJ), said: “New Jersey’s Muslim community has long awaited this moment, when the Muslim heritage month resolution is passed and signed into law. Today, the Garden State is proudly celebrating its rich religious and cultural diversity. 

“American Muslims have and continue to be a pivotal foundation of this state, but they have long been stigmatized, marginalized, and underappreciated. This new law signals a new tide.”

According to CAIR, 3.5% of New Jerseyans are Muslim—the highest percentage of Muslim residents in the U.S. 

The organization also noted that “Muslim Heritage Month started with a vision from the Honorable Imam Warith Deen Mohammed. The first Muslims to observe Ramadan in America were enslaved Africans who carried their faith with them and used it as a way to stay connected to their identities that were being brutally stripped from them while in bondage. It was their descendants, Black and African American Muslims, who would go on to later lay the foundation for the modern-day American Muslim experience. The Honorable Imam Mohammed sought to make sure that this history is acknowledged and celebrated.”

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* This article was originally published here