Sarafina Belafonte carried out this week at New York’s Sony Corridor along with her grandfather, the late singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, very a lot on her thoughts.
After debuting an authentic tune referred to as “Wandering Eye,” Belafonte instructed HuffPost that his classes loom massive when she is onstage. She mentioned he preached leisure fundamentals: “Perform big with a big smile.” However he additionally gave her a deeper tip: “Always have the cause with us.”
“Make sure that social justice and the message is in everything we do while creating art,” she mentioned.
Belafonte did so much Wednesday. She sang, danced and modeled in an evening of trend and musical numbers coordinated by her mom, Malena Belafonte.
However the 21-year-old is much more of a a number of risk than you would possibly assume. She is finding out neuroscience at Columbia College. A “botched” mind surgical procedure prompted her maternal grandmother to have months of hallucinations, she defined. She yearned to know what was taking place to her grandma and why.
“I went into a deep dive into neuroscience and I caught the bug,” she mentioned.
Belafonte mentioned she plans on getting her Ph.D. and doing analysis, however declared that performing “is really what fuels me.”
“The dream is to do it all,” she mentioned.
Belafonte conceded that she has been nursing post-election disappointment and that her grandfather, who died in 2023 at age 96, would most likely share her sentiments.
“I think he would be very disappointed in where we are as a country,” she mentioned. “I don’t think he would be surprised.”
Belafonte mentioned the nation may use his voice proper now.
“When the election came out, I cried,” she mentioned. “It was a really terrible day, just worrying what are going to happen to my rights, what are going to happen to the rights of my friends and my loved ones.”
“So many people try to stay out of politics, but I argue at this point in time, everything is political,” she continued. “Our human rights are political.”