This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Robert Bannon: This is Robert Bannon and before I hit the theme song and introduce the show, I want to tell you about some exciting roundtable news. The roundtable has a brand new website. You can go to robertbannon.com, find out all about me, find out all about the show. Brand new and now up and running with brand new roundtable merchandise. Go to robertbannon.com, follow me on Instagram and make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube. Now, let's do a show. Are you ready? It's the roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:33] Robert Bannon: Welcome to the roundtable everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to us on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart, Spotify. And we're excited to have Susanne and Carmen here. We're talking a brand new documentary all about the incredible icon that is Harry Belafonte and all that he did. Welcome to the show.

[0:49] Susanne Rostock: Thank you, thank you for having us.

[0:49] Robert Bannon: So Susanne, tell us about your part in this production.

[0:55] Susanne Rostock: Well, I'm the director and editor of Following Harry and...

[1:01] Robert Bannon: Incredible. So Susanne, when did the idea come to you that, I mean Harry Belafonte is an incredible documentary subject? When did the idea come to you and how long have you been working on it?

[1:11] Susanne Rostock: You know, I don't know. The question makes me laugh these days because I had made a film about Harry Belafonte called Sing Your Song. So Harry came to me with that. So I didn't have an idea that... The idea of meeting Harry Belafonte was so exciting, you know, and I always admired him. But so I made the film about Harry Belafonte, which was his life from birth to 2009-2010. And at the end of that film, Harry says, you know, I could rest on my laurels, but there's too much work to be done. And then he looks around and realizes that trouble is coming and he said, what do we do now? So the film ends with Harry looking at you going what do we do now? And I thought I want to answer that question.

You know, I really do. I was frustrated. I mean I made the film, I ended it that way and I said damn, you know, I put an ending on that's just gonna drive me nuts. And so I thought I'm gonna figure out how to answer that question. And at which point Harry said I'm moving into a new office. Why don't you join me? And I thought he's kind of put me right in the room with him because we had become friends. But you know, it's different when you share an office with someone every single day and we lived four blocks away from each other. So, you know, we were now we were family. And I thought I, you know, I will try to answer the question because I have him, I have him here. But I didn't know what to do.

And at one point I thought I'd do a podcast because there were so many exciting people coming in and out of our office and Harry had invited Carmen from California. He had made her head of the Gathering for Justice, which was a very smart move on his part. And then he invited her to move immediately from California and come and join us in the office. So our office became a really fun, exciting, stimulating place to be with an onslaught of amazing people coming in and out. And so I had this podcast idea, but I'm not a podcaster. I'm a filmmaker. And so then Trayvon Martin was murdered and Harry hit the ground running and everything kind of came together. And it was really at that point that Carmen came in just right before Trayvon was killed.

[3:37] Robert Bannon: Incredible. Carmen, Carmen Perez, Jordan if you know. She has worked on punishing activists. She has worked on everything from women's rights to gender equality to mass incarceration to violence prevention to racial healing to community policing. She's the president and CEO of Gathering for Justice. You've worked to try with Mr. Belafonte to work on ending child incarceration and limiting racial disparity. You make me feel so inspired and honored that you're here. Thanks for being here.

[4:03] Carmen Perez: Thanks for having me.

[4:05] Robert Bannon: Do you sleep at all? Are you just...

[4:05] Carmen Perez: I do. I did not. I was extremely dedicated to the work and my time was always consumed by... I had no real boundaries then. I really felt like the work was my life purpose. I still do believe that, but I do have two children that I now have to feed and bathe and get ready for school. But no, I lived for this. I lived. And it's interesting because I think Mr. Belafonte did too, you know, and so we kind of found ourselves in an office together wanting more. And so no, I often talk about how selfless this work could be, but actually it was very selfish of me to move away from my family. I have 60 nieces and nephews of older siblings and parents who I didn't get to see much because I was so dedicated to the work.

And so sleep is now something that I try to get, but again, there's so much more work to do to be honest. I wish that I could get the rest that is needed. And very similar to Mr. Belafonte, you know, he would tell my mentor Nanny Alejandra, it's like, you know, you get rest when you die. So that's something that Mr. B lived up to because Mr. Belafonte did not stop till the end.

[5:35] Robert Bannon: So Carmen, for you, you were at one of Time's hundred most influential people. You were named Latina Woman of the Year, all of these accolades come after years of hard work. Same thing with Mr. Belafonte. He could be on stage, could be in a movie, he could be singing a sold-out concert and getting all these accolades, but the work is on the ground. So when did you know that this was your calling, that you had to do something?

[5:53] Carmen Perez: I think I knew that at a very young age. I think it just became a different scope of work when I met Mr. Belafonte. My work was very concentrated in the prisons of California and detention centers and in the community of Santa Cruz. And when I began organizing with the Gathering for Justice initially before becoming the executive director and president CEO, my work became national. I was in communities like Columbus, Ohio. I was organizing in Little Rock, Arkansas, in Chicago. And then it became international where I was doing work in El Salvador, Venezuela, and now Mexico. But it's interesting because Mr. Belafonte always thought bigger, so the work got bigger. It went from initially working to build a national movement to end child incarceration with the Gathering for Justice to his love for women and women's rights and me becoming one of the national coaches of the 2017 Women's March on Washington and bringing that work into my office to give it validity, right?

No one knew what the Women's March was initially. It actually wasn't even called the Women's March. We didn't call it the Women's March until after having a conversation with Bernice King and Mr. Belafonte, who was also part of the original march. But his guidance and strategy really made you think bigger. His historical analysis and I think the foresight that he had in regards to politics and global issues and interdependence, right, also made you think. It's interesting in 2010 we found ourselves in Berlin talking about interdependence. And for the last two, three years, I've been working on a declaration of interdependence. It's just so interesting that now that he's gone, I'm actually doing what he told me to do in 2010. But yeah, it was always dreaming bigger with him.

[7:56] Robert Bannon: Incredible. Beautiful expression. May his dreams become a reality in your lifetime. I love that. That's what the film is also. So I was gonna ask Susanne, tell us for people out here who want to know, what is... How do you describe what the film is? What part of his life? What story is it telling?

[8:18] Susanne Rostock: Well, really this is the story of his whole life. It's his essence. It's what's driven him his whole life. And I begin the film with the idea, his idea that, you know, you live almost a hundred years and you have ten seconds left. And he felt that he hadn't done enough, you know, which... And he said, how with all that we've done, how can we be here? And so he was very upset about where we were. He really felt he had failed and he was rapidly running out of time because he was 90 by then and just so, so upset about it. And so the film is really... It's full of hope and full of joy and full of promise because he wasn't gonna let that stop him. He decided to go out there and figure out, you know, as he said, I don't have that platform now that I don't sing anymore, that my career isn't... I don't have that platform, so I have to speak through the platform of others.

And so he went looking for the others and bringing them into his office and meeting them on the ground and just organizing all kinds of events where artists and activists and politicians and whoever could come together and figure out what to do. So he was always on the search of what to do. There are many answers. And so the film, you know, starts really in 2011 with the death of Trayvon Martin and has that whole arc of history going all the way into the 2020s. You know, he died in 2023, so it really goes up to that. And when you think of all that happened during that time and all the transformations and terrifying things that happened and how Harry chose to approach them and his wisdom and the wisdom of other people who he's inspired like Carmen and so many other beautiful people who are in the film, it's just a plethora of riches of gorgeous people who are fighting for our humanity.

And it's asking you to join everyone in the film to continue, to continue. We all have a responsibility to join in the fight for humanity, equality for everybody. It's important that you get out here. It's important that you vote. It's important that you're active. It's important that you lend a hand to your fellow human being on this planet. Followingharry.org and as of October 13th of this year, it's available on Amazon, Apple, and other digital platforms where you'll be able to watch the movie in the comfort of your homes. Watch it with your husband, wife, kids, family. It's a history lesson on how to be an incredible human being on this planet.

[11:05] Robert Bannon: So Carmen, what do you hope people... Why did you get involved in this? Why are you here today? Why is this film important for us in 2020? The world's on fire. We're all in dire. Democracies at stake. Things are not... I don't know what's going on, but we need to watch this and be inspired.

[11:23] Carmen Perez: Yeah, I think it's because we're living in a moment when so many people do feel overwhelmed, right? They feel divided or uncertain about how to contribute. And watching Mr. Belafonte and Following Harry reminds us that we have choices. We can build relationships. We can stand beside people facing injustice. And he also understood that movements need memory. And this film allows you to see the work that he's done and he also connected us to history that came before us. And so what I hope people will do is I hope that people watch the film, that on October 13th they turn on their TVs and whether it's Apple, Amazon, or Dango, they're actually watching Following Harry and that they leave asking themselves, what can I contribute?

You don't need to have a platform to begin. You can start with your community, your relationships, and the gifts that you already have. And sharing this film is part of that. It allows more people to learn from his example and consider what they want to carry forward. And so again, I think it starts very small. They don't have to organize what... Well, it would be great if they organized a watch party. And I really love what you said, participate in democracy. The elections are coming up November 3rd. There's also opportunities to vote early. And that was something that he often emphasized. He really wanted people to know that you needed to vote.

[12:46] Robert Bannon: My vote's in. Make sure you go and vote with your... What media you watch, watch this film so we can get it the biggest audience. Congratulations to say congratulations to Carmen. Thank you for the life and the work and the dedication you put to all people. Thanks for being here.