Oscar, Grammy, and Peabody award-winning documentary "Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" has sparked a reimagining of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which the film explores. That sentiment would be eloquently conveyed the followed year with Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey on the Moon" (a song and sentiment that was put to good use in the HBO series "Lovecraft Country"). The first two festivals were relatively successful, but the 1969 event made major waves. Publication of festival information does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with Festivival. The archival performances within are extraordinary and easily stand on their ownbut Questloves direction and dedication in telling the complete story of how this all came into being shines through brightly. The footage shows seas of some 100,000 Black attendees whose dress and manner blend a Fourth of July picnic, a Sunday Best church revival, an urban rock concert and a rural civil rights rally. It was a time of social upheaval, Black power, African influenced fashion, and a younger generation hungry for change. King, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Stevie Wonder were among those to perform during the festival, with performances on Sundays at 3 p.m. in Harlems Mount Morris Park (which is now Marcus Garvey Park). People pushed back against housing discrimination and built their communities to be self-sustaining, even though they had fewer resources and less access to funding. And we're still doing that today in the Bush years. Carol Cooper is a cultural critic. Cookie Policy But here its infused with Afrofuturist language and sensibilities of the now, a belief in the insurgent possibility of the black hacker who disrupts the network, codes the culture and erodes the grid erected as a cage, as Morgan puts it, all in the pursuit of vibrant new-world building. Gladys Knight & the Pips perform at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. July 13, 1969. Harlem Cultural Festival 1969 Setlists Jun 29 1969 Date Sunday, June 29, 1969 - Sunday, August 24, 1969 Venue Mount Morris Park, New York, NY, USA Report festival So far there are setlists of 27 gigs. A new 'guide' can help. Wattstax, the 1973 film of the August 20, 1972, Stax Records benefit concert in Los Angeles (commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots) has probably been the most accessible and well-known document of outdoor African-American stage performances from this erauntil now. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The total attendance was some 300,000 people strong. With the success of the Festival, Lawrence planned to bring it across the country. It was an admixture of disaffection and patriotism, bold as love and black as hell. Tony Lawrence invited the 200 people who had protested the construction of an office building instead of a school. "The fact that 40 hours of footage was kept from the public," he says, "is living proof that revisionist history exists. He began by staging the Love Festival in Newark, New Jersey, in the Fall of 1969, and it attracted more than 60,000 fans. What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented Questlove's debut as a director, the documentary Summer of Soul, revisits a musical event that encapsulated the energies of Harlem in the 1960s. May we celebrate and honor the Harlem Cultural Festival across America from this point forward. Surely some of the seeds for such a movement were planted back in 69, particularly when Simone chose as her final song a felt and pointed rendition of another new number, one shed written in honor of her dear friend, the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, who had died some four years earlier. Welcome to Cedar City Star Search! But the Harlem Cultural Festivals significance is more than worthy of the recent acknowledgement its getting on a nationwide scale. Then, after the 1968 Festival, Lawrence worked during the off-season to secure funding to help expand it for 1969, and he planned to have it broadcast on national television. Sing a Simple Song (Live at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival) Lyrics: Ladies and gentlemen / The internationally known / The dynamic / Sly and the Family Stone! At one point, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, of the Staple Singers, injects a sermon into his performance: "You'd go for a job and you wouldn't get it. Thompsons directorial debut made waves at Sundance 2021 with archived footage and firsthand accounts about the festival. Backed by a reform-minded Mayor John Lindsay, whod built avenues of trust in Harlem by walking its streets on more than one occasion, the festival stood as a symbol of hope and everyday placemaking. ", Hal Tulchin, a longtime television producer, was the only one filming any of itmostly on spec. By most accounts, aside from certain festival excerpts aired early on by WNEW TV and much later the licensing of a few concert clips to record labels like Sony for archival video projects, most of the Harlem Festival footage sat unseen for decades. Prior to this documentary, a lot of people didnt know it existed, as the video footage lived in archives. But he wanted to do more and the result is an exhilarating documentary that both captures a moment in time and assesses its value. King and 100,000 spectators gathered for a concert worth remembering. Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS. Mayor John Lindsay, left, escorted by Black Panthers, who helped provide security for the event. This is a feast for both ears and eyes, as the fashions and wardrobes of the era are on full, colorful display. Sly and the Family Stone in Summer of Soul. South African musician Hugh Masekela joined African American performers in the 3rd edition of the Harlem Cultural Festival's celebration of Black creativity and international solidarity. He listened to Black community leaders then set up summer job and lunch programs for young urban teens. The reality of concealed or lost history has a generational trickledown. By 1968, the Sunday evening shows were bringing in 25,000 fans each night. ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine One especially insightful segment is devoted to the Apollo 11 moon landing nationally televised during the summer of 1969. "But I knew it was going to be like real estate, and sooner or later someone would have interest in it.". It edifies our faiths, soothes our sorrows, and highlights our happiness. He sang a combination of Calypso, R&B, and soul ballads, recording forgotten singles for Jude Records. The Harlem Cultural Festival celebrated African American music and culture. With the Caribbean singer Tony Lawrence at its helm, the festival was a sustained, communal activity and cultural interaction where enterprising street vendors got what The New York Times referred to as their legitimate hustle on. Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson perform at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in Summer of Soul. hide caption. Both Jesse Jackson and Ben Branch were in Memphis with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the time of the assassination on April 4, 1968, and Rev. Unlike Woodstock, these concerts were no sybaritic celebration of hippie counterculture, but a direct response to the profound losses and violence endured by Black activists and progressives that preceded that summer. Admission was free. The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festivals success speaks to how this specific time is a significant snapshot of Black history. People who werent born until decades later know about it. The Harlem Cultural Festival featured black musicians like Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. The festival took place from June 29 to August 24, 1969. One shot from the 1967 festival stands out for its crispness and arresting power. So it came as little surprise when the NYPD refused to provide security for the festival. in Entertainment, Music. Any major music event that brings people together for something pivotal and powerful is more than worthy of preservation. So take a trip back in time and immerse yourself in this glorious film. Lindsay and his advisors walked the streets of Harlem the night after King died. She is currently adjunct professor with the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. Even if this was a movie, there's no way that. A weekly series of six concerts put on in Harlem's Mt. Woodstock is so present in American culture that people can recognize certain photos from it instantly. Produced and directed by Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Summer of Soul was the inspiration for a new outdoor music festival set for 2023. Then the footage sat in his basement for 50 years because he couldnt get anyone interested in turning it into a documentary. It features a girl donning high summertime attire, a sleeveless top and shorts, hair braided to the back hugging the railing to the stage, leaning in looking. King, the Harlem Cultural Festival was vastly overshadowed in the. They took to the streets to angrily vent their frustrations and pain. Source: (Sundance Institute/YouTube/Nerdist). The 1960s were undoubtedly a turbulent yet pivotal decade for Black people. Iterations of the Harlem Cultural Festival were held in 1967 and 1968, but the 1969 events were the apex. To Morgan, the center of community is a marketplace, a business, and a way for people to trade, which is why his concerts, like the Harlem event half a century ago, place so much emphasis on not just music but black business and socio-economic empowerment.. Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) during the summer of 1969, featuring 25 artists that played to over 300,000 attendees. Wattstax, in addition to featuring Isaac Hayes at the peak of his solo stardom as "Black Moses," contained cutaways to early Richard Pryor nightclub routines that resemble the comedy clips Questlove chooses to insert from Moms Mabley and Redd Foxx. The new film "Summer of Soul" accesses a treasure trove of never before seen footage and interviews people who were there to create a vivid documentary about the event. One of the best sequences intercuts the musical performances with the moon landing, and then contrasts reactions from white Americans with those of Black people at the festival. His son, Selema Masekela contributes, My father realized there was this real hunger for Black Americans to feel and see and taste what it would be like to be African. Opens in new tab Opens in new tab Opens in new tab. Did you know that during the sweltering summer of 1969 when Woodstock took place there was another legendary music festival that drew crowds of more than Kate Vlahoulis LinkedIn: #harlem #blackhistory #bhm Published July 2, 2021 at 7:52 AM PDT. Somehow Lindsay and Lawrence knew that a sustained application of the right music at the right time could help heal the great wound slowly festering in the collective soul of New York's black and brown community. I cover arts and culture, from Comic-Con to opera, from pop entertainment to fine art, from zombies to Shakespeare. My aunt, who ran a small business on 125th street, began to hope again. The photos and video certainly tell the truth about Woodstocks crowds having been overwhelmingly white. July 13, 1969. The 1960s were undoubtedly a turbulent yet pivotal decade for Black people. Anthony Mangos proudly serves with the United States Postal Service and is a lifelong union member. Over six weekends in the summer of 1969, the Harlem Cultural Festival drew more than 300,000 people. "The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was one of the most exciting things that happened in Harlem," says former congressman and Harlem native Charles Rangel. Sly and the Family Stone, the racially integrated rock band that would go on to play Woodstock, also give an amazingly electrifying performance, including their multiracial anthem of unity, Everyday People. Knight, interviewed in the present for "Summer of Soul," talks about how deeply good it felt for her and the Pips to be on . With this initiative, we want to create something that evokes that same sense of pride in our community that I felt on that special day in 1969. Source: (Butler's Cinema Scene). Presented by Alta Community Enrichment at Our Lady of the Snows Center, Alta UT. Questloves Summer of Soul documentary is revealing this event to the world. But Hendrix was one of the few black musicians at an event that has become a cultural touchstone for white America. Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is showing in both theatres and on Hulu streaming. A A. Interest came from Joe Lauro, who discovered the Black Woodstock video amid his routine prowling of old TV Guide issues (hour-long specials had appeared on CBS and ABC). Where Sandy Amphitheater 1245 E 9400 South, Sandy, UT 84094, United States. Only one professional videographer, Hal Tuchin, came to film the event. Presented by St. George Art Museum at St. George Art Museum, Saint George UT. The police even refused to provide security for the event, and the Panthers stepped in to fill the void. In the Summer of 1969, Woodstock became the music festival to remember. Explore many of Utah's cultural assets, including arts and cultural organizations, venues, artists, and publicly owned art in Salt Lake City and beyond. A lot of you can't read books because our schools have been mean and left us illiterate or semi-literate. School desegregation put Black youth and young adults into hostile environments in hopes of leveling the educational playing field. Music binds us all together. On the surface, the new concert film Summer of Soul may easily read as a black alternative to the well-documented four days of Woodstock the predominantly white music festival that got so much attention in August of 1969. The Harlem Cultural Festival took place on six Sundays beginning June 29 and ending August 24, 1969, in Mount Morris Park (now named Marcus Garvey Park). However, the remainder of Lawrences plans would not be realized. However, the political reality of the time is thoroughly discussed, interspersed with concert footage in a seamless style that makes the documentary as informative as it is entertaining. Presented by Dragonfly Wellness at Dragonfly Wellness, Salt Lake City UT. And whenever you heard the songs you'd remember: I was there. Thompson could have simply strung together the musical performances for a concert film that would have rescued the event from the obscurity it was languishing in. Swinging evangelical combos delivered encouraging yet sardonic sermons over funky backbeats. The Harlem Cultural Festival happened a year after Martin Luther King was . Get your kilt on! ", Reached recently in preparation for a voting-rights march in New Orleans, Jackson reflected on what was accomplished that summer in Harlem, and summers since. . "You had to go to the concerts. The director, producer, and emcee of the event was charismatic promoter and lounge singer Tony Lawrence, described as the glue which brought the festival into being. Thankfully, the long wait is over, and the world can now view and understand how essential and historic these concerts were in relation to the changing times. It was also a time of collective heartbreak with events like Bloody Sunday and the assassinations of Malcolm X in 1965 and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. The Harlem Cultural Festival, also known as "Black Woodstock", was a series of music concerts held in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of Black pride. Where the history of chattel slavery (and its socioeconomic aftermath) sought to permanently elevate European nations over the non-European people they exploited, the history of Pan-Africanism recognized no race or ethnic origin as inherently superior to any other. Over six weekends in the summer of 1969, the Harlem Cultural Festival drew more than 300,000 people. NowPlayingUtah.com is an event promoter and does not plan any of the events you see here. Sign up to receive the latest arts and culture events happening in Salt Lake City and beyond. hide caption. I am interested in going behind the scenes to explore the creative process; seeing how pop culture reflects social issues; and providing a context for art and entertainment. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it." Another young man cooly condemns the waste of taxpayer money on space exploration when it could be used to eradicate poverty and racist oppression here on Earth. In 1967, he started working for New Yorks Parks Department, and they began working on putting together the festival. "It's like how all the great black jazz men had to go to Europe to be appreciated." And the crowds responded looking on reverentially, dancing with one another around the edges of the park. Her words sum up best the collective feeling encompassing this seminal event, But I knew something very, very important was happening in Harlem that day. The festival had a small budget, but still attracted artists like Count Basie and Tito Puente in its first two years. A lot of you can't read newspapers. Observes Ludevig, there remains the irreplaceable notion that you cannot replace the live experience theres something about being in a space and experiencing it firsthand that is utterly singular and potentially restorative in the life of a community. July 13, 1969. HFC is also set to run A Harlem Jones open mic night at the Museum of the City of New York in tribute to the 25th anniversary of Love Jones on April 15. This speaks to a larger truth about Black people standing and advocating for ourselves when others refuse to do it. Summer of Soul festival returns to Harlem in 2023. by Peter A. April 13th. "You see the generations teetering," said Neville. He found a fan base by the mid-1960s and then began working as a church Youth Director. The citys new mayor, John Lindsay, felt the initiative could help ease some racial tensions and appease Black residents. Lawrence tried to recreate the festival in 1974, calling it the International Harlem Cultural Festival, but it never happened. And we want our people, we want our people lifting us up.. From W.E.B. This heartbreaking sentiment that poses a major question: How much Black history is still buried or completely lost because the majority didnt think it was worth acknowledgement nor preservation? Musically, culturally, and yes, politically, there is much to learn here. Lauro runs Historic Films Archives, the nation's largest collection of musical footage. Summer of Soul executive producer Joseph Patel commented on the announcement of the HFC, saying, One of the things we hoped would happen with Summer of Soul is that it would open the door for other stories to be told, in all their forms, especially by people from Harlem. Aug. 8, 1969.CreditPatrick Burns/The New York Times. The nonprofit organization will provide mentoring, apprenticeship opportunities and curriculum to high school students to further foster Harlems next generation of leaders in music, media, art, fashion, science, technology, and entertainment. Tears flow and emotions stir in these segments, as the Harlem Cultural Festival was such an important and timely event in their lives. The events were all captured on film by TV producer Hal Tulchin who had wanted to sell the footage to the TV networks but none of them showed any interest and some 50 hours of footage has still not seen the light of day. Reverend Jesse Jackson reflects back on that crucial time and is also seen in original stage footage with Ben Branch and the Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir. Shes watching something before her. To tell the story of the 3rd Harlem Cultural Festival, Questlove intersperses brilliant performance footage with a mosaic of talking heads. The original event was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one that I will never forget, Jackson said in a press statement. In America, this goes back to enslaved people encoding their songs with plans of escaping towards freedom. Woodstock was big and messy, thrilling and stirring and summed up finally by Jimi Hendrix, whose festival-closing set included his towering, take-a-knee reading of the national anthem. All event names, trademarks, and brands are property of their respective owners. Black music often ties into the social climate, making bold political statements to empower and speak for the people. Atop the rocks and down in the grassy field, they were showing up to watch a roll call of black popular music luminaries move through tight sets covering beloved repertoires. King, the avant-garde jazz activists Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the groovy black pop ambassadors The 5th Dimension, the Motown up-and-comers Gladys Knight and the Pips and the youthful Stevie Wonder. The Senate has agreed, by unanimous consent, to designate the last weekend of June 2022 as a time to commemorate the first weekend of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. NowPlayingUtah.com is managed by the Utah Cultural Alliance. July 27, 1967. Poster advertising the event. The lineup featured some of the most influential artists in music history including B.B. 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival later known as the "Black Woodstock" Mount Morris Park, NYC 1969 festival #18 June 29 - August 24, 1969: consisted of six free Sunday afternoon concerts held between June 29 and Aurgust 24. The festival got its start in 1967, when the citys Parks Department hired Tony Lawrence, a local entertainer, to put together summer programming in Harlem. The multiculturalism displayed throughout this film deliberately juxtaposes the unifying values of Pan-Africanism against the oppressive values of white supremacy. In an Afro, mutton chops and an orange-and-yellow dashiki, Jackson also spoke at the festival: "As I look out at us rejoice today, I was hoping it would be in preparation for the major fight we as a people have on our hands here in this nation. Summer of Soul contains an abundance of awe-inspiring material. It was a place for self-expression through clothing and hairstyles, a time when Black pride and nonconformity reigned supreme. The free festivals total combined attendance boasted nearly 300,000 people; however, it has (unsurprisingly) not been heralded or iconized as similar fests of the era have. The comic legends Pigmeat Markham and Moms Mabley made appearances, and the final show included a Miss Harlem pageant. The people showed up to a concert experience that thrived amid grief and persistent rage. A love letter to the next generation and a book of instruction, To Be Young Gifted and Black was the kind of anthem meant to reach that little girl in the crowd who was hanging on her every word. The idea was to celebrate African American music and promote black pride and unity after a difficult period during the late 1960s which saw the Watts Riots and the deaths of Martin Luther King (April 1968) and Malcolm X (February 1965). Total attendance for the concert series was over 300,000. John Lindsay, New York City mayor from 1966 to 1973, fully supported the festival. This led to a job with New Yorks Parks Department, where he pitched his idea for cultural festivals in 1967. Someone is holding her attention, maybe dazzling her imagination. Drummer Max Roach appears with vocalist Abbey Lincoln interpreting John Coltranes Africa. But you need to know that some mean stuff is going down. The Harlem Cultural Festival should be a highlight of American music history and a cultural milestone for Black people. Musa Jackson attended the festival as a small child and recalled, "It was the ultimate Black BBQ and then there was the music that made you feel it was so much bigger.". In fact, Dr. Kings friend and fellow activist Jesse Jackson spoke at the Harlem Cultural Festival. Sly and the Family Stone in Summer of Soul. Nina Simone, whose presence is so beautiful, confident, and strong, performs the razor-edged, politically charged Backlash Blues (lyrics by Langston Hughes), To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, and the David Nelson poem Are You Ready, Black People?. A hundred miles to the south of that sprawling rural rock n roll assembly, black folks were building their own musical commons. Out of 40 hours of film he and editor Joshua L. Pearson had to select the most representative moments, be they powerful Afro-Latin numbers delivered by deceased greats like Mongo Santamaria and Ray Barretto, or South African jazzman Hugh Masekela whose presence reminds us that he and countrywoman Miriam Makeba escaped the apartheid regime of South Africa to join musical forces with Black American protest singers. One articulate interviewee declares that the moon landing is in no way more important than the speakers and musicians celebrating black unity at Mount Morris Park. It was incredibly important for me to get that history right.". I couldnt think of a better person to charge through than Musa, whose devoted roots in the community make him the perfect person to represent for Harlem. The festival has been called Black Woodstock, an interesting moniker considering it wrapped up two weeks before Woodstock. Total attendance for the concert. The six shows had a combined attendance of close to 300,000, rivaling that of Woodstock. They were the living embodiment of Sly and the Family Stones everyday people. From 1972s Wattstax in Los Angeles to 1973s Soul at the Center events at Lincoln Center, from Diana Rosss heroic 1983 rain-soaked performance in Central Park to Dave Chappelles 2004 rousing neo-soul-fights-neoliberal-gentrification Block Party, the idea of the large-scale African-American pop concert as community revival, sustenance, triumph and renewal is a recurring phenomenon. Featured Charts Videos Promote Your Music. June 27, 1967. Summer of Soul co-producer Robert Fyvolent eventually acquired the rights from original producer Hal Tulchin, who failed in his own attempt to sell the material as a television special in 1969. Presented by Brigham Young University Museum of Art at Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo UT. July 13, 1969. The Harlem Cultural Festival was a free, peaceful gathering in the midst of a very radical and sometimes violent time in history. The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival's success speaks to how this specific time is a significant snapshot of Black history. July 13, 1969. A rain shower didnt dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds at what is now Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem. Director Questlove makes certain we experience near complete performances from many of the musicians onscreen. The year of Kings death was undoubtedly a major breaking point for Black people. Questlove cuts away from grainy black and white NASA videos to show Walter Cronkite and other TV reporters interviewing unimpressed black festival goers. The Harlem Festival of Culture (HFC) will take place in Marcus Garvey Park, formerly known as Mount Morris Park, the same site as the original festival. Daphne A. Brooks is William R. Kenan Jr. The concert she attended, what some now call the Black Woodstock, came on the heels of two of Malcolm X's former aides being shotone fatally. The word "trouble" back then was a euphemism for chaos. For 50 years, 45 hours worth of footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in New York sat in a basement, remaining unseen by the public. Dilbert is gone from Americas comics pages: Creator Scott Adams is The Lifespan of a Fact explores the world of true-ish journalism, The Rosenberg Case: A play reading, one night only, After months of denial, U.S. admits to running Ukraine biolabs, A few of the Communist women who shaped U.S. history, Free college was once the norm all over America, Israeli government welcomes Azov Battalion leader as honored guest, Protests at SCOTUS as justices move to kill debt relief for 26,000,000. The Harlem Cultural Festival could have easily been lost in time outside of those who are still alive to recall the event and Harlem residents who celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. Co-sponsored by the New York City Parks Department and Maxwell House, the General Foods subsidiary, that years festival consisted of six free Sunday afternoon concerts held between June 29 and August 24. "Summer of Soul" is smartly and passionately crafted. In addition to the performances, the festival provided a stage for issues. Presented by KRCL 90.9fm at Mountain West Hard Cider, Salt Lake City UT. Sly & the Family Stone explored the humanity and equality of all people who have to live together with Everyday People. The artists made people want to laugh, dance, fall in love, and advocate for themselves at the same time. The Harlem Cultural Festival, also known as "Black Woodstock", was a series of music concerts held in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of Black pride. 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