Politics Uncut: Harry Belafonte Endorses Bernie Sanders

Christine Chaplik, Feb 11, 2016

Close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Civil Rights activist, singer, and songwriter Harry Belafonte has endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president on Thursday, Feb 11. In a video released on Thursday and uploaded on Bernie Sanders Youtube channel Bernie2016, Mr Belafonte detailed his endorsement.

"I would suggest to those of you who have not yet made up your minds, or maybe even some of you who have made up your minds, to maybe consider and reconsider what it is that Bernie Sanders offers," Belafonte said in a video endorsing Sanders. "He offers us a chance to declare unequivocally that there is a group of citizens who have a deep caring for where are nation goes and what it does in the process of going."

Harry Belafonte endorses Sanders

His endorsement came at a time when Democratic primary race moves to South Carolina. The African-American voter support is an important factor in the upcoming primaries in Nevada and South Carolina than it was in Iowa and New Hampshire. Thirty percent of Democratic voters in the 2008 Nevada caucuses were black or Hispanic, as were 55 percent of 2008 primary voters in South Carolina. Both Sanders and Clinton have intensified their efforts to get as much black support as possible.

Belafonte, along with Sanders, participated in the March on Washington alongside King in 1963. The 88-year old may also help Sanders further resonate with older African-American voters.

On Tuesday, Clinton won the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation while influential writer Ta-Nehisi Coates said he would be voting for Sanders, NBC reported. In a talk show with Democracy Now, Coates said that he is voting for Sanders despite the senator's opposition to reparations.

Ta-Nehisi Coates with Democracy Now