been uproariously funny. if you have no sense of humor. there s no sense of self deprecation, no sense of humor about themselves. none. you know, next year george, i m gonna move heaven and earth to get you down here so that you can be in the room and see what it is really like. in little time that we have left. this week we lost a great, we lost harry belafonte and you wrote a very moving piece with the headline, the gifts he gave me, the singer, actor, an activist gave generously at this time and wisdom, not just me but to the world. in a time that we have been talking about, harry belafonte, what he meant this country and harry belafonte what he meant to you. well, starting with what he meant to this country we would not have had the civil rights movement the way we had it had he not stepped up as an organizer, a strategist.
and very disturbing that they can get away with it. he spoke about the loss of his mother and how he believed the distance between he and his brother william would not be as great if she were still alive. she died at 36 and i was 36 when this all kicked off. as injanuary of 2020 was when my wife and i basically said, enough, we can t cope, we can t deal with this. we need to carve out something different. so that was an interesting overlap of time. people in the us are generally more into self care than self deprecation, so immodesty, indiscretion doesn t really inspire the same level of criticism here as it does in the uk. and the words harry uses like consent, consciousness that s the language that californians speak. ijust think he s being honest about his life. i mean, i love the fact that he s, you know, he s trying to set the record straight. there s been a lot out there the last few years
we can t deal with this. we need to carve out something different. so that was an interesting overlap of time. people in the us are generally more into self care than self deprecation, so immodesty, indiscretion, doesn t really inspire the same level of criticism here as it does in the uk. and the words harry uses like consent, consciousness, that s the language that californians speak. ijust think he s being honest about his life. i mean, i love the fact that he s, you know, he s trying to set the record straight. there s been a lot out there the last few years about him and his wife. and i think, you know, he s a human being. his wife s a human being. and i can completely understand why they want to. they want people to understand their side of the story. it s interesting to see the exposure of racism or cultural conflicts - in other countries and communities.
like lots of people. i m 60 now and i think a lot about how the certainties that i would enjoy in my 20s and 30s, i don t have them any more. i m more pragmatic. and the recent death of the queen, of course, has been for me and for lots of people, i think a really decisive moment because it s made me realise with more clarity where i am now, it s not the same place. you re very good at self deprecation and you, in the book, make a point of how david used to mock you by when you were angry with each other, he was, ah, britain s best loved vicar! as a joke. but you are britain s best loved vicar. and as such, i just want you, given everything you ve done in different aspects of british culture, to tell me whether you are more comfortable with where britain is culturally now than you were when you were in your radical 20s. do you think britain is a better place culturally?
it costs you again. and sometimes you want to take the armour off and explore your own vulnerability and also explore the unignorable ambiguities of your own position on things, like lots of people. i m 60 now and i think a lot about how the certainties that i would enjoy in my 20s and 30s, i don t have them any more. i m more pragmatic. and the recent death of the of the queen, of course, has been for me and for lots of people, i think a really decisive moment because it s made me realise with more clarity where i am now, it s not the same place. you re very good at self deprecation and you, in the book, make a point of how david used to mock you by when you were angry with each other, he was, ah, britain s best loved vicar! as a joke. but you are britain s best loved vicar. and as such, i just want you, given everything you ve done in different aspects of british culture, to tell me whether you are more comfortable with where britain