The lifelong friendship between Harry Belafonte and Martin Luther King Jr.

I hadn't heard this!

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Belafonte called his friend, Sidney Poitier. They might think twice about killing two Black stars, or they might not. As soon as they stepped off a little Cessna in Greenwood, Miss., the pilot wheeled around and took off. When they got into the car, its finish sanded down to dull its shine, a pair of headlights across the field popped on, then another, and another - more. Federal agents, Belafonte told Poitier. Agents, my ass, said the driver. That's the Klan.

The driver, a man named Willie Blue, made straight for the lights. At the last second, he veered off. Belafonte shouted, faster, man. Uh-uh, said Willie Blue. Sheriff's deputy would pull them over, and they'd wind up just like the three boys the feds pulled out of the river. The car jolted. A truck had rammed them. The car shuddered - the night, dark and wet and hot, pouring in through the windows, Belafonte and Poitier twisting around toward the glaring lights, as if their star power could stop them. It's OK, said Willie Blue. As long as they could stay in front, the men in the truck couldn't draw a bead.

Close to town, a convoy of activists came out to meet them. Hundreds, white and Black, waited in a dance hall. The applause, remembered Belafonte, was like nothing he'd ever known. He let the crowd fall quiet - just Mississippi night. Then he sang - day o."...