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{"value"=>"<p>Series II contains alphabetically arranged subject files pertaining to Belafonte's activism, humanitarian work, civil rights organizing, and political relationships. These files hold a mixture of correspondence with politicians, announcements, promotional materials, publications, and memoranda. Belafonte often utilized his profile as a performer to raise awareness for the causes he supported, so there are many files related to benefit performances and artists organizations such as MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy), PAND (Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament), People's Music Network, Protest Music for Responsible Citizenship, USA for Africa, and \"We Are the World.\"</p> <p>Among the most comprehensive files in this series are those related to Martin Luther King, Jr. These files are held in the Martin Luther King, Jr. subject files, as well as in the chronological correspondence files, and The Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South files. The Martin Luther King, Jr. files in boxes 31 to 32 include correspondence between Belafonte and King, Bayard Rustin, Sidney Poitier, and Sammy Davis, Jr.; lists of names compiled by Belafonte for organizing efforts; meeting minutes and memoranda from the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King; an announcement for a civil rights workshop conducted by Poitier and Belafonte; a 1962 document addressed to President Kennedy arguing for an executive order prohibiting segregation in the United States; various programs and promotional materials; and condolence letters addressed to Belafonte after King's assassination. Also included among the correspondence with King is a series of telegrams sent from King to Belafonte on July 22, 1963 in which King requests that Belafonte attend the upcoming March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.</p> <p>There is additional correspondence regarding Belafonte's Civil Rights organizing and work with King, Poitier, and Rustin in the chronological correspondence files in box 27. The Committee to Defend Martin Luther King files includes notes of support from celebrities including Marian Anderson, Diahann Carroll, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ruby Dee, Oscar Hammerstein, Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, John Oliver Killens, Kim Stanley, Kenneth Tynan, and William Wyler.</p> <p>Belafonte was invited to numerous presidential inaugurations, and was a featured performer at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. The program for that event is held in the Inauguration Programs file, and includes handwritten inscriptions from fellow performers Milton Berle, Leonard Bernstein, Joey Bishop, Nat King Cole, Tony Curtis, Jimmy Durante, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Alan King, Janet Leigh, Frederic March, Laurence Olivier, Sidney Poitier, Keely Smith, Louis Prima, Juliet Prowse, Anthony Quinn, and Frank Sinatra.</p> <p>There are also many files related to South African politics and the efforts to end apartheid. The Nelson Mandela files hold materials relating to Mandela's 1990 visit to the United States, notes discussing Belafonte's proposed television series about Mandela, files from Artists Against Apartheid, texts of Mandela's speeches, papers from the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, and materials related to his 1994 election as President of South Africa. The South Africa files also include correspondence, an itinerary from Belafonte's 2001 visit to the country, and a program from the 1999 presidential inauguration of Thabo Mbeki.</p> <p>Belafonte's service as Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEF in the 1990s and 2000s is also well-represented in this series. This work is documented through files of memoranda, correspondence, reports and programs. These materials are held in both the UNICEF and United Nations files.</p>"}